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California Mission Vent, anyone?

by KimK1ca

Feb 13, 2011

I was in Michael's today getting some last-minute Valentine stuff for my K-1 kids when I saw them. Lined up in a rack, organized with tabs in alphabetical order. Above the display are bags of accessories - tile roofs, cisterns, flora and fauna, little cemetery crosses.

YES. The pre-made California Missions are still vexing me. Since I haven't vented about them in awhile, allow me to spew a little.

When my boys were younger, the 'mission project' was an exercise in parent 'creativity,' complete with sawn lumber, nuts, bolts, screws, and poorly affixed dirt. Variations on the theme included sugar cubes, popsicle sticks, and cut-up cardboard. Toothpick cemetery 'crosses' were a nice touch.

You have to wonder what the instructional efficacy is for these things but the final straw has to be the pre- fabricated mission KIT. Yes, you can buy the kit, slide Tab A into Slot B and have yourself a genUine model of a California Mission of your choice.

How does...See More

view previous comments

judy5ca You asked!

When my oldest was in 4th grade, he came home with a giant (10 lb.?) sack of wet clay (old fashioned gray clay). His assignment: build a mission.

We were in the midst of a giant remodel and the new upstairs had uncovered plywood floors, so I told him to have at up there while I put his sister to bed. I forgot about him ...See More

Feb 14, 2011

dc I was lucky. My three kids had great teachers who offered choices. All three kids made a "mission board game" instead of creating the actual mission. The board game had to have questions to answer so they actually learned something instead of building something worthless.

Feb 14, 2011

Jan An amazing number of my former students have great stories to tell about their missions. At that time, we had no choice so we had the project in our class. They had to write a report about it also and they liked the reports as well as the missions. I'm thinking that perhaps just the fact that this event stands out as memorable means that they devel...See MoreAn amazing number of my former students have great stories to tell about their missions. At that time, we had no choice so we had the project in our class. They had to write a report about it also and they liked the reports as well as the missions. I'm thinking that perhaps just the fact that this event stands out as memorable means that they developed some interest in the missions that they wouldn't have otherwise. Here we visit Capistrano and many of the parents took them to visit the mission they built. All I remember is the day they brought them all to school for Open House....cars were jamming the parking lot as the treasures were being unloaded and then trying to find a place for all of them in the classroom was a nightmare. Some of the missions were enormous! Then there are always a few that are never picked up after the event and you're stuck with them for the rest of your teaching life.

We spent a lot of time on the missions and I must say my class knew it all. Every question the docent asked, they could answer in great detail. One docent finally said, "This is the first class that can answer any of the questions." They were telling her all about how the altar came from Barcelona and how many people were killed in the earthquake of 1812. 4th graders are very serious and also very excited about learning, so they regaled her with more information than she ever wanted. She looked exhausted when we left! One year the docent wrote a letter to the class commending them for their vast knowledge! I'd never seen that before.

I took the docent training down there which I loved, so that trip was the culmination of a whole year of "in depth" study. We took our lunches and ate then at Dana Point afterwards. That's another thing the kids all remember, and they are STILL talking (30 years later) about how the kids from other schools were so horrible. We were very fussy about our field trips and told them this was 'school outdoors' and you behaved the same way there as you did at home. We also reminded them that the bus had our school district's name plastered all over it and it was our responsibility to make a good impression. Well every year when we arrived, the other schools were climbing on the ruins of the old church (my class nearly had a collective heart attack on that one), jumping in the pond and rushing through the little chapel screaming. My class just stood with their mouths open...they could hardly look at the mission they were so busy with the other kids. They wanted to check the buses to see which ones they came in but since there were about 30 there I thought it might be a little difficult. LOL

On 2/14/11, dc wrote: > I was lucky. My three kids had great teachers who offered > choices. All three kids made a "mission board game" instead of > creating the actual mission. The board game had to have questions > to answer so they actually learned something instead of building > something worthless.

Feb 15, 2011

cavey Oh puleeezzeeee. At least missions can be built with square little blocks and sugar cubes. These things are even and stack up neatly.

You don't know parental pain til you've had to do an authentic Native American longhouse. You have to go out in the woods, gather real authentic branches, take these branches back in and soak them in water ...See More

Feb 16, 2011

LOL...is there some educational point to building useless stuff like this anyway, since it's just going to wind up cluttering up people's houses or in the dumpster? Wouldn't it make more sense for the students to look at photographs or slides of the real things, and discuss the real-life challenges that went into making them at the time?

I could almost see it if they were remo...See Moreto building useless stuff like this anyway, since it's just going to wind up cluttering up people's houses or in the dumpster? Wouldn't it make more sense for the students to look at photographs or slides of the real things, and discuss the real-life challenges that went into making them at the time?

I could almost see it if they were remotely authentic, but come on, missionaries didn't use sugar cubes, and Native Americans didn't use glue guns. If the parents are doing the building these days, I'm surprised you haven't taken branches in hand and staged an angry revolt.

We had to something like this when I was in third or fourth grade, and I thought it was stupid then. I forget what the structure was, but I used a cardboard box and a few Barbie and Ken dolls and got an A. The teacher barely looked at them, too. Her big thing was making sure we all took them home the same day, because they were piled up all over her shelves in the way. Mom had to drop me off at school that day and pick me up (I usually walked), and after all the painting and costume making (they did have to wear Native American clothes, which I patched together out of an old pillowcase dyed brown), their house wound up in the trash, and Barbie, Ken and Francie went back into their Toys R Us house where they belonged. I think it was Ken whose eyes I scrubbed off trying to remove the makeup. Big waste of time and Ken's eyesight for a pointless, stupid project that taught us nothing but how to be annoyed.

There should probably be a "Useless Project-Based Busywork" section on every teacher's evaluation sheet.

On 2/16/11, cavey wrote: > Oh puleeezzeeee. At least missions can be built with square little blocks > and sugar cubes. These things are even and stack up neatly. > > You don't know parental pain til you've had to do an authentic Native > American longhouse. You have to go out in the woods, gather real authentic > branches, take these branches back in and soak them in water til they bend. > Most branches that you find in the woods on the ground, don't bend. Most > branches also don't hold together well with Elmer's glue either. You have > to use hot glue and when the branches pop off, you have to do it again and > again. Then you have to go back in the woods and try to find more bendable > branches. Popcicles sticks just won't do. Oh no, not for an authentic > longhouse! We're in Virginia for pete's sake. I have no idea why we were > even building a longhouse anyway. I think they got to pick any old type of > native structure but I could never talk my kids into teepee or igloo. Oh > no, we're a longhouse family. > > We actually did some very lovely longhouses. They were rivaled only by my > relief map of VA made out of salt dough and my model of a cell made with > cookie dough.

Feb 20, 2011

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