IN THE CLASSROOM:

Second-graders in Lenore Piskel’s class at Jefferson Elementary School were pointing fingers during a social studies lesson, but they didn’t get in trouble for it.

Students were learning about California land forms through an activity called speed-pointing. A study sheet with vocabulary words sat on top of each of their desks, and as Piskel called out a word, such as “urban,” “desert,” “island” or “water,” the students pointed to them.

The faster the words were called out, the quicker they needed to point.

“They use these words in sentences and we do speed bingo because we have students from all spectrums of English literacy,” Piskel said.

As they finished the speed-pointing bingo, Piskel handed each student a map of California. The map illustrated the state’s mountain ranges, valleys and bodies of water.

“Some of the land forms are high and some are low,” Piskel said, pointing to the mountains on the map. “Look at the mountain land forms; look at the Cascade Ranges.”

Students traced the mountain ranges with their fingers. They ran their fingers through the valleys on the flat map, from the Sacramento Valley to the Imperial Valley.

Arlene Contreras, 7, kept her finger on Death Valley and slowly circled around the region where the desert was on the map.

“There’s a lot of desert there,” Arlene said. “I’ve been to Death Valley and it’s pretty hot there.”

Sitting at the desk next to Arlene, 8-year-old Brian Babakhanyan looked at his map. He found Catalina Island on the map after he traced the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges.

“The brown parts are the highlands,” Brian said. “I went to Catalina Island and I played at the beach.”

The activity on California land forms is part of standard social studies curriculum, Piskel said.

After they finished the lesson, the students created their own land forms using a pre-traced map of California. The students took out their pencils and crayons and began drawing mountains, rivers, valleys and other land forms they studied.

Christian Fragoza, 7, drew upside-down V’s with a brown crayon to indicate the mountain ranges in Northern California filling in the chaparral surrounding the region in green.

“These are the mountains,” Christian said. “I’ve never been to the mountains. One time I went to the ocean. It was kind of cold so I didn’t go that far.”

Arman Zograbyan, 7, used his blue crayon to illustrate bodies of water. He drew a thin line to represent the Sacramento River.

“I’ve learned about mountains, deserts, plains, water in California,” Arman said. “I saw the Pacific Ocean when I was going to Santa Barbara.”

When students finish studying land forms, they will do a hands-on lesson on natural resources, Piskel said, adding that the lesson is also part of the social studies standards.

“They are visual learners,” Piskel said of her students. “We try to incorporate visual literacy.”

KIDS TALK BACK

The Glendale News-Press visited Jefferson Elementary School and asked students: “Where in California would you like to visit?”

“The valley. The hills. I’d dig in the valley for dinosaur bones and that kind of stuff.”

MAYIS GARIBIAN, 7

Glendale

“I would go to Death Valley. I think there are wild animals there, like snakes and lions. It will be too hot.”

CARMEN MIRACHIAN, 8

Glendale

“The place I would like to visit is the Mojave Desert. Because it’s the desert and I’ve never been to the desert. I’ll see rattlesnakes, but I wouldn’t like to live there.”

ANGEL CARDONA, 7

Glendale

“San Diego. I haven’t been there. It is south toward the ocean.”

KEVIN ABEDI, 7

Glendale

“Santa Catalina. I would discover more stuff like how cold it is there and any beautiful plants. I’ll go swimming.”

ELINA TEMRYAN, 7

Glendale