NEW! Living River Online
Mississippi Park Connection presents a virtual version of a Mississippi River field trip for fourth grade teachers and students: Living River Online!
Based on the Living River spring field trip on a paddleboat, and associated with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Living River Online introduces students to the Mississippi River floodplain forest and two river species, northern pike and mussels. Three learning stations or “modules” consist of four sections:
Introduction: A special welcome video for students and teachers, along with 'I Wonder' questions, a vocabulary list, and a word search puzzle.
Understand It (Learning): Students engage with each topic through slide presentations, readings, and videos.
Do It (Activity-Product-Project): Students use what they’ve learned to complete a related activity or project.
Quiz It (Self-Assessment): At any time, students can complete a quick assessment to see what they know using drop-down answers for immediate feedback.
The program also offers a fun literacy component: the River Poetry Challenge! Students can use their newfound vocabulary words to write a poem related to each module’s themes. The top ten entries will be showcased on the website!
This program was created for teachers by teachers. National park rangers and our outstanding River Educator team of teachers who have worked in the classroom, designed a flexible site resulting in a non prescriptive model. Students will be inspired to explore and begin at multiple starting points, and teachers can supplement each module with their own lesson plans, using the program to enhance their curriculum designs.
Living River Online acknowledges and supports teachers who may face challenges with new learning models in the coming school year. An increase in online interactive materials and river expert videos will supplement the changing nature of field trips and in-person learning.
Although the 2019-2020 regular school year is winding down (in a rather unusual way), this new online program can also enhance summer learning plans as well, showing how the Mississippi River teaches us about change, renewal, and opportunity.