Name: ________________________ #:_____ Date: ________________________
4th Grade California Project Portfolio Book
Project Due Date Timeline
Friday April 25
Friday May 2
Friday May 9
Friday May 16
Tuesday May 20
Final Paragraph Subject
County Letter and Landmark, CA symbols
My California, cover, national park, state park
Mission, major county city, and Gold Rush town
Tourist attraction, *important Californian
Introductory and conclusion paragraph Final
map, and CA government, My Future Adventure
Directions:
For this project you are creating a California portfolio using your expert 4th grade knowledge of
our state. You will share history, a map, your county information, and special places to visit. You
will also personalize your portfolio with “My California”, a first-hand account of your feelings
and experiences while you have lived here. Finally, we will leave an open space to add future
adventures.
Use your social studies book, field trips, websites, and reference materials to show what you
have learned and to describe interesting places in California.
Add pictures and illustrations with captions to your final subject paragraphs. Remember you are
showing California for the beautiful state that it is, so you want to create a portfolio that is
inviting to others who want to visit. Your portfolio should be descriptive, visual, and
knowledgeable about your state. Your final paragraphs can be written or typed but all content
should be student created, paraphrasing your resources. Be creative. Be neat. Do your best,
quality work.
You will follow the time table above and work will be done in class. I will check your rough
draft paragraphs when they are completed. If you need time to type them at home to be turned
in by the due dates, you must clear it with me first. You can also bring in materials from home to
create the project piece, a diorama, a model, a video or a poster. Remember your work must be
your own.
Gathering information
You will gather information about the following places. You must first begin in your county to see
if any of the locations are there. If not, you can choose another place that interests you. For
example, if you do not have a gold rush town because you are in Los Angeles County, you can
Kelly Russo-O’Carroll April 2014
research another gold rush town and choose one that interests you. You should make sure that
the places you choose have variety to show the state when you travel outside of your county.
Remember the regions of California, coast, desert, mountains, and the Central Valley. Write the
name of you location on the line next to that general description.
o County Landmark
___________________________
o CA National park
o CA State park
o Mission (previously assigned)
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___________________________
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o Major city in your County
o Gold Rush Town
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o Tourist Attraction in your County
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o Important Californian (optional)
o California Government
___________________________
___________________________
Sources of Information
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Use books, including encyclopedias and travel atlases
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Use newspapers or travel magazines
Visit the location or go to a travel agency and ask for brochures (AAA)
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Use websites- most locations have a website and show pictures or do virtual tours
Interview someone who has been there for a first-hand account
Actually visit the place you are including in your project
Writing Guidelines
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You may print, write in cursive or type your pages. Neat and readable.
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Work must be student generated though and not parent created. Parents can help with
proper spelling, and punctuation.
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Use correct verb tense. The paragraphs should be present. The exception would be history
information which would be past tense. Any first-hand accounts would be written with “I…”.
A project rubric will be provided so that you can check your work and score level.
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Home vs. School Production
Class work:
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research
writing
proofreading
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constructing of portfolio and project, if you choose the diorama or poster
Kelly Russo-O’Carroll April 2014
Homework:
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location visits *optional, but encouraged- we have a great state!
typing and printing of final copies
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interviews, as needed for resources
construction of final project, if you choose the model or video.
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materials for projects may be needed from home- poster board, shoebox etc.
History Paragraphs:
These paragraphs should include important dates, people and the impact on California’s land,
growth, and development. I should see evidence of your learning from the year.
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county landmark
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mission
Gold Rush town
Important Californian *optional
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California Government
Interesting Places to visit Paragraphs
These paragraphs should include why they are interesting, how and why they came to be, and any
personal experiences you may have going there.
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CA national park
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CA state park
major city in your county
tourist attraction in your county
Introductory Paragraph
This paragraph should be written after your project is done. It should include an introduction
to the state and highlight the places you will show us in your portfolio. You will summarize with a
concluding statement about your feelings for the state.
Conclusion Paragraph
This paragraph should be written after your project is done. It should be a reflective paragraph
that shares what you have learned during social studies about California this year. What
information and experiences will you remember about the state, include field trips, history,
projects we have done things that surprised you...? Wrap it up with your favorite California fact.
Kelly Russo-O’Carroll April 2014
California Map
Label the location names of the places you have written about. Use map symbols to show where
they are: star for state capital, green for park boundaries, dots for city/ town locations, lines
for rivers etc. Use your SS book, California wall map, encyclopedias, and atlas.
o CA national park
o CA state park
o mission
o major city in your county
o Your county boundaries *draw your boundary location using your county info page
o Gold Rush town
o tourist attraction in your county
o county landmark
o Cities: Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno
o Water: Lake Tahoe, Colorado River, Sacramento River, American River, San Joaquin River,
and the Salton Sea
o Desert: Mojave
o Mountains: Sierra Nevada, Coast Ranges, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Whitney, Mt. Diablo
o National Parks: Yosemite, Redwood, Sequoia/King’s Canyon, Death Valley, Pt. Reyes,
National Seashore, Joshua Tree National Monument
California Symbols, Pictures, and Illustrations
Complete the CA symbols poster using accurate colors. You may use the entire poster or cut and
glue the individual pictures with the labels. Each page should also include pictures and/or
illustrations to show visuals of your writing. *You should use white glue not a glue stick. Glue
around the object with dots to ensure that the edges are glued down properly. Neatness counts
so be careful!
Bibliography
List all of the resources that you have used in proper bibliography form on the page provided.
Include books, encyclopedias, maps, websites etc. Follow the proper format for each source using
the page provided.
Kelly Russo-O’Carroll April 2014
Completed Project Checklist
Cover: You should use the California label provided or design the name title yourself.
Portfolio Pages: one page should be used for each paragraph and the matching pictures and
illustrations. We are using front and back. The information should fit on the page below the
cutouts at the top of the portfolio. White glue should be used for final drafts. If you have
multiple pages, see me for staples. Your work should be done in the following order:
o inside Cover/ Pg 1 light blue right: California Symbols or symbol poster
o light blue left: Introductory paragraph *leave space, done last
o white right: county landmark paragraph
o white left: county major city paragraph
o gray right: mission paragraph
o gray left: gold rush town paragraph
o purple right: CA national park paragraph
o purple left: CA state park paragraph
o orange right: county tourist attraction paragraph
o orange left: My California paragraph
o Share your personal travels around California. What is life like for you here? Where
would you like to visit? Where would you like to live, if you had a choice? Why?
o green right: CA government paragraph
o green left: CA map paragraph
o yellow right: conclusion paragraph
o yellow left: Important California paragraph
o brown right: bibliography
o brown left: Future Adventures *optional
Kelly Russo-O’Carroll April 2014
California Portfolio Project
Due Date: May 22nd, if possible for open house
My Project Choice: _____________________ Your Subject Matter: ___________________
Parent Signature: ______________________ Student Signature: ____________________
Diorama (at school with home materials):
This project was inspired by the county boxes that line the hallway as you approach the governor’s office.
Your diorama should be built and layered two-dimensionally in a box or shoebox no larger than one for a
pair of boots. You should show your county locations, CA national park, CA state park, or county tourist
attractions. Make sure items are glued down well with white glue, rubber cement, or a cool glue gun. Think
of the background, middle ground, and foreground to create a layered scene from a location in your
portfolio project. Include the Title and a caption with your project telling what it is and the name and
location.
County Poster (at school with home materials):
The poster should represent places in your county. Think about what makes your county unique. Include
titles special landmarks, parks, recreation areas, tourist attractions, historical events etc. Explain what
we see on your poster with captions, pictures, illustrations, short descriptions, and titles. We should see
the writing from a foot away. Capture our attention. What’s your selling strategy? How will you appeal to
us to visit? Use your creative advertising know-how to make us want to visit your county!
Model (at home):
Model of a Mission: The model should be of all natural materials, (no legos, blocks, sugar cubes or prefabricated materials). Colors and materials should replicate the mission as accurately as possible. Buildings
should be to scale with each other; (a church would be larger than a kitchen.) Detailed finished products
are encouraged. Final projects should be no larger than 2 or 3 feet square. Include the Title and a caption
with your project telling what it is and the name and location.
Model of Tourist Attraction: The model should be made of natural materials. Buildings should be to scale
with another. We should recognize landmarks, rides, signage to visual know where you are in California.
Detailed finished products are encouraged. Final projects should be no larger than 2 or 3 feet square.
Include the Title and a caption with your project telling what it is and the name and location.
County, Landmark, Tourist Attraction, or National/ State Park Video (at home):
The video should be no longer than 15-20 minutes. You should take us on a visual trip of the places in
your portfolio. You can also use clips from family trips, if you have already traveled there. For example,
if you have Alameda county, you can travel around to the places in our county to show us first-hand what
it looks like. If you have Orange county and are traveling to Disneyland, video tape your time there and
tell why it is an important tourist attraction. Be creative- the only perimeter is that it must include your
portfolio locations in California. Please put it on a CD that can be played in a standard VCR/DVD player or
put it on a portable drive.
Kelly Russo-O’Carroll April 2014
Bibliography Format
Insert the information into the format and use the exact punctuation shown.
When you conduct research, it is important to keep a list of the sources of information you used to
prepare your report. This is included as the last page of your project. There are different formats
you can use. Listed below is a general format.
Book
Author’s last name, first name. Title of the book. City of Publication: Publisher, Date of publication.
Example:
Scott O’Dell. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1960.
Print Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia Title, Edition Date. Volume Number, "Article Title," page numbers.
Example:
World Book Encyclopedia, 2001. Volume 25, “George Washington,” pages 102-130.
Website
URL or www address. Author or web site name, date you found the information.
Example:
http://www.mountvernon.org/meet-george-washington. Mount Vernon.org, September 22, 2012.
Kelly Russo-O’Carroll April 2014
California Map
by: ___________________________________________
Bibliography
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