Directions for the California Travel Journal Project
Due date: May 1st Name: ______
For this project you will pretend that you are traveling throughout California. The Travel Journal you create will be a diary of sorts that you will write as if you are taking an actual vacation and seeing these places for the first time. You will write in first person (Today I went to …. or We thought the view from the mission was spectacular….) You will need to map your journey, write about each place you visit and create a picture/collage for each place you visit as well.
Gathering Information: Begin by deciding what you want to see and do along the way. During your journey you must visit each of the following places in California in any order:
- 1 National Park
- 1 State Park
- 1 Mission
- 1 Major City
- 1 Gold Rush Town
- 1 Tourist Attraction
You must make sure that the places you visit include 3 of the 4 regions of California (Coast, Desert, Mountains, Valley). For example, you may not travel only in the Pacific Coast Region.
Sources of Information: To help you plan your trip and gather information you may:
- Use websites
- Use books.
- Use newspapers or travel magazines
- Go to a travel agency and ask for brochures
- Actually visit the place you are including in your project.
*** Make sure to record each source you use for your bibliography.
General Writing Guidelines:
- Work must be student generated and not parent created. Parents may help with proper spelling and punctuation.
- Proofread carefully for correct spelling and punctuation.
- Remember to use first person point of view. (We first went... I was excited to learn…)
Introductory Page:
This paragraph should list all the places you will saw in order. You should decorate this page with pictures which represent some of the places you visited, or with pictures related to California such as the state bird/flower etc. These pictures may be hand drawn, printed from the computer or can be stickers. They can even be photographs if it is a place you have actually visited.
Map:
Use the outline map of California provided to label all 6 places and the route you took.
Special Places Pages:
You will need to write 1-3 paragraphs for each of the locations visited (National Park, State Park, Mission, Major City, Tourist Attraction, and Gold Rush Town). You should write these paragraphs as if you have actually visited these places. At least one picture should be included on each page.
The following information should be included if applicable:
- What you can do there
- What you might see there (animals, plants, buildings, landmarks…)
- Any special features or interesting facts
- When it was built or established
Conclusion Page:
The last page should wrap up your trip and summarize the favorite things you’ve seen or experienced. It might include your hopes for future travel in California.The conclusion page also needs to be decorated with California pictures.
Bibliography:
List all the books, encyclopedias and websites you use to make your report.
Books need a title and an author, encyclopedias need the type of encyclopedia (e.g. World Book) and websites need the actual address (like NOT google).
Completed Project:
Your final project can be stapled together to form a book or can be submitted a report folder.
* Cover: Title, your name and the date. Decorate it with California related items.
* Map of California
* Introductory paragraph
* 6 special places pages
* Conclusion page
*Bibliography
Oral Presentation
Students will give an oral presentation about their travel journal. See Oral Presentation Guidelines for details.
Students who type their projects and save them on Office 365 can use available class time to work on their projects. However, the majority of this project should be completed at home as computer access is limited during this time of year.
If you have any questions, ask your teacher.
Thank you,
The 4th grade teachers
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