Andrea Coates
ISP: INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
PLAN
UNIT TOPIC:
UNIT OVERVIEW
The
topic of the geography and
topography of the
The purpose of this unit on
This
unit is targeted for fifth (5th)
grade. Students often learn about
some
This
unit is designed to be two and a half
weeks in length.
5 UNIT LEARNING GOALS
1. The learner will be able to a. name the major regions of the U.S and
will b. learn how to read a map. (part b makes use of
the critical thinking/analytic cognitive level)
2. The learner will be able to recognize and describe the physical
features of the
(This makes use of the knowledge
cognitive level)
3. The learner will be able to create a
4. The learner will be able to research and report on what various
states are famous for.
5. The learner will be able to identify the state to which various
state capitols cities belong.
The Unit Learning Goals meet the
following California State Standards:
1.
Research topic from various resources including use of
textbook, library, and internet.
2.
Social Sciences—Familiarity with
3.
Social Sciences—Understanding how to create a map
4.
Presentation—Ability to orally present information to
others
INSTRUCTIONAL OVERVIEW
I
will teach some aspects of this unit in a deductive
fashion, while I will teach other parts of this unit in an inductive manner. I will begin the unit using the deductive approach, from
generalizations to specific facts, so that my students are all on the same
level of knowing the major regions of the
I
will use direct instruction to
introduce the information we will be learning in each lesson. It is important to use some direct
instruction where the teacher lectures for a few minutes because this will
prepare students for high school and college where most of the instruction is
direct instruction. However, I believe a
combination of direct and indirect instruction is necessary. Elementary school children learn better from indirect instruction methods, so the
majority of the time for each lesson will be taught in and indirect style. Students will learn to discover things for
themselves and this will help them retain the knowledge which makes the
indirect approach better than just “spoon-feeding” the students.
Once
my students have developed sufficient background knowledge of the topic I will
switch to a more inductive approach
in which students will explore and research facets of the topic on their own so
they can learn to think for themselves.
This will be accomplished by having the students work cooperatively in
groups on projects at various learning
centers such as a “map-making” learning center, for many lessons in the
unit. Cooperative learning will give my students the chance to learn from
one another. It will also give my
students a sense of responsibility, internal locus of control, and it will
increase their enthusiasm and participation since they have the opportunity to
engage in hands-on learning. Cooperative learning group learning centers will
help the students learn how to work in a group environment. Also, the class
discussions will provide students with the chance to share their ideas and
opinions and they will remember this more than the monotonous tone of a teacher
lecturing. In this way this unit is student-centered
and it espouses self-directed learning.
The unit is student-centered because the students will contribute to
class discussions, ask questions to which they will be answered with feedback,
and students will have the opportunity to discuss what they are learning with
their peers.
TEACHER FACILITATION: The
teacher will facilitate student learning in general by prompting insightful
questions during class discussions, by monitoring students via kid-watching,
and by asking individual students questions and by giving students the
opportunity to ask questions. The
teacher will answer questions, clarify points of confusion, and will use many
visuals such as children-friendly maps.
The teacher will also facilitate student learning by using techniques
that support different learning styles.
I will have some lessons that appeal to visual learners, other lessons
that appeal to auditory-focused learners, and other lessons that include
hands-on activities for students who learn by doing. Some activities will be well-structured to
appeal to field-dependent students while other lessons will be more open ended
and creative to appeal to field-independent learners. I will also model activities and projects while
explaining them for my students so they have a better idea of what to do. Furthermore, I will give my students an
assessment rubric so they can see exactly what they must do to earn different
levels of points and the teacher will provide a great deal of feedback. Another example of teacher facilitation I will use is that I will use scaffolding
techniques including the method of “previewing” vocabulary to help increase the
amount of comprehensible input for those of my students who are English
Language Learners. Moreover, another
aspect of teacher facilitation that should not be overlooked is the energy and
enthusiasm the teacher puts into the lessons.
Instead of giving a boring lecture that strains children’s attention
spans, I will try to make the lessons fun, enjoyable, interesting, and
authentic in quality.
Furthermore,
I designed this unit to be thematic in that the lesson plans draw on various
other subjects such as language arts, technology, writing, research and
investigation skills, and the arts.
The
lessons in this unit build upon one another.
Knowledge students learn from the first lesson are useful background
knowledge that help them complete the second lesson, and they learn things in
the second lesson that help them with the third lesson and so forth.
In
this unit we will also have class discussions in which we consider questions
such as why
This
unit is designed to help students
acquire a good understanding of, and become aware of, the land in which they
live. Knowing the topography and
geography of the
Lesson
number 1/ U.S. Topography will open the unit by giving students an overview of
I
will begin Lesson 1/ “U.S. Topography: Physical Features of the
Lesson 2/ “Regions
of the
Lesson 3/ “Research
and Presentation on a U.S. State” is designed to deepen students
knowledge of the particulars of a
Lesson 4/
“Reading a Map” is will build on students’ knowledge
from the prior lessons. It is helpful
that they already have an idea about where states are and where physical
features of the
800 miles X 1 hour/
60 miles
In this case the
miles cancel since miles are in the numerator and the denominator and we are
left with 800/60 hours. We reduce 80/6
and do long division to determine that it will take us approximately a little
over thirteen hours. This kind of
application will be very useful for students to know in the future. I will have the students work collaboratively
in groups of about four and I will give each group a similar problem, “How to
go from
The unit will
culminate with Lesson 5/ “Drawing a Detailed Map of the
Since my goal is
to have my students walk away knowledgeable about the topography and geography
of the
Clearly then, I
have designed my lessons based on the tenet that variety of instruction
techniques is the best method. This is
how I will facilitate the instruction of my unit. I will use a variety of instructional methods
so every student can relate to some technique and students will learn about
different ways of learning. The
introduction to many lessons starts out with a
deductive approach that involves direct instruction and modeling by the teacher
to get the students started. The
activities are based on a more inductive approach in which students engage in
discovery learning where they learn things by drawing their own conclusions
rather than being constantly spoon-fed the information. Most of the activities during my lessons
included cooperative learning experiences for my students in which they worked
on a project with several peers at learning centers to produce a final product.
I will also
facilitate the instruction of these lessons by constantly monitoring the
students by circulating through the classroom and noting how students are doing
on their activities. I will use
kid-watching techniques to monitor students’ interest and attentiveness in
various activities. If students seem to
be having a hard time or look bored I will explain the concepts again, answer
questions, and I might choose to modify the activity to make it appeal to my
students more.
COGNITIVE PROGRESSION/STRUCTURE OF THE UNIT: the
activities I planned invoked a range of different cognitive levels with the
earlier lessons focusing on knowledge levels and then invoking reasoning,
critical thinking, analytical and application knowledge levels as the lessons
progressed and built on one another over time.
First we learned about the lay of the physical landscape of the
Students should
come away from this unit with thorough understanding of the regions of the
U.S., an idea of where states are located, an appreciation that each state is
unique, an understanding of the physical features of the U.S., skills regarding
map-reading and map-making, reasoning, researching and critical thinking
skills, and a better idea of how to work cooperatively with others.
ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW:
--All the ways
in which I will obtain evidence of student learning:
I will use a
wide variety of assessment techniques during this unit. At the beginning of the unit I will use
mostly informal assessments such as personal communication, student
self-assessments, kid watching, and class discussions. Students will still be learning the material
at the beginning of
the unit, and they learn at different rates, so it is best to
give them time to learn the material before they are formally tested on
it. The informal assessments I will use
during the earlier lessons, such as the lessons I will present the first week,
are used mostly to give me, the teacher, a better idea of how my students are
digesting the material. From these
informal assessments I
will learn what I should clarify, where the students are having trouble, what
they already know, and how I should modify the following lessons. The students will do self-assessments when
they write in their journals about what they learned,
what they felt confused about and need to review, what they feel very
knowledgeable about, etc.
During the
second week of studying this topic, after students have background knowledge
about U.S. topography and geography, I will use more formal assessment methods such as performance assessments (in which I will take the product and the
process of completing that product as evidence of student learning) which
measure skills, some selected response
questions including selected response, true and false questions, and matching (
which will assess basic student knowledge), and I will use some short essay questions which will be a good
evidence for students’ knowledge, reasoning, and affect/dispositions regarding
the topic (according to Stiggins).
RATIONALE FOR
WHY I CHOSE EACH ASSESSMENT METHOD: I chose to use a variety of assessment
methods because different assessment methods provide me with different kinds of
information. My goal is for my students
to achieve a variety of outcomes, and I want my assessment methods to be well
matched to Stiggins target areas of learning. I used performance assessment so I will have
evidence that students can do a skill such as determine from the key of a map
how many miles it is from point A to point B and I will also use performance
assessment to evaluate students’ ability to collaboratively construct a
product, namely, their final project, the map of the U.S. Since the performance assessment won’t tell
me much about the affect/dispositions of my students I will use personal communication and
essay questions to ascertain this.
Furthermore, since reasoning skills involve the opportunity for
explanations by the student I will use personal communication and essay
questions to assess students’ reasoning ability. Throughout the unit I will assess
students knowledge of the topic. I will
asses them informally during the first week by personal communication and then
I will assess them formally during the second week via essays, performance
assessments, and selected response test questions. I used a variety of assessment methods also
due to the fact that students with different cognitive learning styles do
better on different types of assessments.
Since some of my students are English-Language-Learners I might better
discover how much they really comprehend by personal communication and
performance assessments since they might not understand the questions on a
selected response test. Other students
have a terrible time with selected response tests but can show they know the
subject when given the opportunity to write about it in their own words. Still, other students do best when they can
create things in a hands-on fashion, so those students will be able to shine
during the part of the assessment where I assess the products they produced,
and the related skills used.
HOW I WILL
COLLECT, AND USE, MY ASSESSMENT INFORMATION:
Personal
Communication Method: I will collect
evidence of learning via personal communication by class discussions and by
talking privately with individuals.
During class discussions I will note how students are responding, and I
will note any inconsistencies in their explanations. I will ask them to clarify when their
responses imply incorrect information. I
will ask the class questions continually during class discussions to collect
evidence that students are learning the material. Also, when the students are working either
individually at their desks or in groups I will circulate around the classroom
asking various students if they have any questions and I will ask them some
questions so I can get an idea of how well they understand the concepts by
talking to them. I will keep a little
notepad in my pocket and I will jot down notes of areas of confusion amongst my
students.
Other
Informal Assessments such as Student Self-Assessments: I will collect other informal evidence of
learning by collecting students’ journals and I will read their short responses
to my questions. This will not be graded
but it will give me a sampling of what they have learned. One such journal question might be “Tell me
about all the mountain ranges you know of in the
Formal
Assessment methods: I will have each
student write a short essay about the state that he or she researched. This essay is to include all major
topographical features in the state, the location of the state (the region),
and the capital and big cities in that state.
I will take the essay as evidence that the student knows how to research
a topic and how to write an essay in paragraph form. This essay will give me some insight into the
students’ conception of where a particular state is located and what physical
features are found in that region of the
To
collect evidence of student learning from Lesson 1 I will use personal
communication during the class discussion and I will collect their poems
(product/performance assessment) about the physical features of the
To
collect evidence of student learning from Lesson 2 I will use personal
communication as I ask individual groups questions and I will use monitoring
while I watch how much trouble students have in completing the jigsaw puzzle
“Name the Region” game. Students will
write about their experience in this game in their journals (student
self-assessment) and I will read their journals (informal assessment) to
collect evidence of student learning and points of confusion.
To
collect evidence of student learning from Lesson 3 I will use personal
communication in which I will talk with individual students about how they are
coming on their research projects for the state they will write their essay
about. I will also collect evidence of
student learning from reading their essays. Their essays will be given a check
plus if they included 9-10 the items I asked for on the check-ist, a check if they included 6-8 items I asked them to
include and a check minus if they included five or fewer items that I asked for
on the checklist.
To
collect evidence of student learning for Lesson 4 I will use personal
communication and performance assessments in which I will collect students
responses to my questions and I’ll take this as evidence of student learning. I will ask students to show their work so if
they set up the conversion from centimeters to miles correctly but did not
compute the correct answer I will still take it as evidence of student
learning.
To
collect evidence of student learning from Lesson 5 I will use performance
assessment in which I will take their product, their hand-drawn detailed map of
the
AUTHENTIC PEFORMANCE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT:
The authentic performance
assessment instrument I have chose to assess the product (detailed hand-drawn
For
Lesson 5 the project will be for the students to draw a map of the
AUTHENTIC PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT RUBRIC:
PRIMARY TRAIT SCALE:
________________________________________________________________________
| TRAIT A: | TRAIT B: | TRAIT C: |
| Topography | Regions | Capitols |
LEVEL 1 student drew 5 student colored 46-50 Student wrote the correct
(3pts) physical features states the right color name of the capitol of
and the features according to major and the state name of
were located in
the proper shaded noted in the key.
region. (ie.
(ie. The Rocky colored yellow
Mountains were because it belongs
drawn in the to the Southwestern
orange-shaded Region and yellow
Region.) according to the key.
________________________________________________________________________
LEVEL 2 student drew 3-4 student grouped 40-46 Student wrote the
(2pts) physical features states into the correct correct name of the
and 3-4 of the major
topographical coloring 40-46 states of 40-46 states.
features were the proper color for
located within the region as noted in
the proper major the map key.
Level 3 student drew student colored 39 student wrote the
(1pt) 2 or fewer or
fewer
Topographical the proper color for the capitol and the
Features in the their region as state name of 39 or
Correct major depicted in the map’s fewer states.
Level 0 No attempt No attempt No attempt
I will add up all the points a student earned by adding up the total number of points he earned on this rubric. The following grading scale will be used:
9pts=A+, 8pts=A, 7pts=B+, 6pts=B, 5pts= C+, 4pts=C, 3pts=D+, 2pts=D, 1pt=F
LESSON PLANS:
LESSON PLAN #1:
Introduction, Purpose, Overview
LESSON TITLE: “Physical Features of the
Unit Topic: Topography and Geography of the
Time: 1 class period, about 90 minutes
Grade Level: Fifth (5th) grade
Subject Area:
Goal: To introduce students to the physical features of the
Specific Behavioral OBJECTIVES:
1. The learner will be able to make a list of at least five physical features of
the
2. The learner will identify the approximate locations of various physical features of
the
3. The learner will create an acrostic poem in which they describe features of the
physical landscape of the
STANDARDS:
This lesson meets standards in the following areas:
Reading Comprehension—Students will comprehend what they read about academic subject matter.
Writing Standards—Students will be able to write more complex poems that do not necessarily rhyme.
Social Studies/Geography—Students
will be knowledgeable of the location of various physical features of the
MATERIALS: National Geographic Educational Video about the physical features of the U.S. landscape, television, overhead projector, overheads, chalk for the board, social studies textbooks, 30 sheets of lined paper, 30 pencils, teacher’s model poem, dictionary.
PROCEDURE (Steps)
ANTICIPATORY SET:
1.
We will watch the National Geographic educational video
on the physical features of the
PROMPT:
2.
Hold a class discussion about the
3. Ask students to name all the physical features they already know and draw the features on an overhead that you project via an overhead projector. For example, if one student says “The Cascade Mountains” ask him where you should draw them on the map.
ACTIVITY:
1. Discuss the term “topography.”
2.
Popcorn-read the selection on the
3.
Explain what an acrostic poem is and tell the students
they are to write such a poem in which they describe physical features of the
4. Model the project for the students and show them the example the teacher has written (see my explanation in the Instructional Overview section).
CLOSURE:
5.
Have the students work independently on their poems and
provide each student with a map of physical features on the
6. Have the students hand in their poems and ask them if they had any questions.
FOLLOW-UP/Extension Activity: Have the students read their poems to one another in partners so they learn about other landscape features that they did not include in their own poems.
ASSESSMENT FOR LESSON 1: I will use informal assessment methods such as personal communication with individual students while they are writing their poems and I will evaluate their learning from the responses they give to the questions I ask them during the class discussion. This will tell me what I need to clarify or re-teach. I will grade their poems by judging them according to the checklist that I provided the students. If the students included all the aspects on the checklist the student will receive a check plus. If the student was missing several items in the poem from the checklist I will return the poem with feedback about what the student needs to do in order to improve. I will give the students who were missing several items the chance to polish their poem up for homework and then they can re-submit the poem to get a check plus. This will show me how well students are internalizing the new information.
LESSON PLAN # 2
TITLE: “REGIONS OF THE
UNIT TOPIC:
TIME: 1 class period, about 90 minutes
GRADE: Fifth (5th) grade
SUBJECT AREA: language arts (spelling, speaking), geography, critical thinking
GOAL: To introduce students
to why
Specific Behavioral OBJECTIVES:
1.
The learner will categorize
(match) individual states to the appropriate geographical region to which
they belong (ie. by saying “Southwest” when shown the
piece of the jigsaw puzzle labeled
2.
The learner will compare
and contrast the sizes and shapes of different
3.
The learner will be able to describe in detail why various states belong to the same major
STANDARDS:
This lesson meets standards in the following areas:
Analytical skills--students learn how to compare and contrast.
Oral Communication skills—students will be able to explain academic matters
Study Skills—students will be made aware of ways to help them study (such as flashcards)
MATERIALS: 30 Worksheets/Handouts with outline of the borders of the U.S., 30 pencils, overheads, overhead projector, dry-erase marker, (50 states X 5 groups=) 250 small note-cards, U.S. maps from the AAA, 30 copies of U.S. map from textbook, jigsaw puzzle of the U.S., scorecard to keep track of points.
PROCEDURE:
ANTICIPATORY SET:
1.
Pass out the worksheet/handouts of the outline borders
of the
2.
Ask students to share with the class how they divided
up the
PROMPT:
3. Hold a class discussion. Prompt students with questions such as, “Why should we group certain states together into the same region?” “Does it makes sense to classify different regions in terms of north, south, east, and west?”
4. Ask students why they think western states are generally larger than eastern states?
5. Discuss with students why certain states have certain shapes (when a major river borders the state).
ACTIVITY:
1. Have the students get into groups of about 5
2. Teacher will distribute a stack of 50 small flashcards to each group.
3. Students in each group will divide up the note-cards between them.
4. The teacher will instruct the students to write the name of a U.S. state on one side of the notecard and the region to which it belongs on the reverse side (for example, they will write “Oklahoma” on one side of the notecard and “Southwest” on the reverse side.
5. Once they complete their notecards, each group will quiz each other using the notecards as flashcards.
6.
The teacher will instruct the class that they will play
a group game with a large jigsaw puzzle of the
7.
One person will call out the name of a state (say
8. Continue the sub-steps in step 7 until you have completed the jigsaw puzzle.
CLOSURE:
9. Have the students gather/sit around the completed jigsaw puzzle and take a photograph (provided parents’ earlier permission) for the class scrapbook.
10. FOLLOW UP/EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Have the students get back into their earlier groups. One student in each group will count the number of states in the region they were assigned to, another person in the group will record it in their journal, another student in the group will write the name of the region with the corresponding number of states on the board (i.e. New England Region: 6), an another student will report the number to the class.
ASSESSMENT FOR LESSON 2:
For this lesson I will use solely informal assessment because students
are just starting to learn about which states belong to which regions of the
LESSON PLAN # 3
TITLE: “RESEARCH AND
PRESENTATION ON A
UNIT TOPIC:
TIME: 2 class periods, about 120 minutes
GRADE LEVEL: Fifth (5th) grade
SUBJECT AREA: language arts, speech, researching, technology, and writing
GOAL: For each student to
develop an in-depth understanding of one
Specific Behavioral OBJECTIVES:
1. The learner will demonstrate that he/she knows how to
use the internet to research his/her state by providing a list of websites used to research his/her state. (Application)
2. The learner will write a short essay in which they summarize and describe several noteworthy points about their state.
3. The learner will explain to the class audience where his or her state is located, the physical setting, and one other interesting fact about the state. (Comprehension)
STANDARDS:
Students will be knowledgeable about how to use the internet for research.
Students will be able to write an
essay about academic content, students will be ale to summarize and present
academic material to an audience.
MATERIALS: Computers with
internet access, a selection of library books on
PROCEDURE:
ANTICIPATORY SET/PROMPT:
1.
The teacher will ask her class if they know what
certain
2. Hold a class discussion and write down student input on the board
3.
Count up the number of facts students know about the
4.
Tell students that there are so many interesting facts
about
5.
Ask the class if anyone knows the home of President
Lincoln is
ACTIVITY:
1.
Each student will choose one
2. Take the class to the school library and have them find books that they can use to research their state of interest.
3. Bring the library books back to the classroom and have the students read about their state.
4. Teacher will list several questions on the board in the form of a checklist that students must answer: a. What is this state famous for? b. What types of manufacturing occur in this state? Do a lot of people live in this state? What’s the weather like? What’s the capitol of this state? What would you recommend a tourist to visit? Why are you personally interested in this state?
5. Students will take notes regarding the answers to these questions in their journals while they are reading about their state. If several students choose the same state they can work in small groups or in partners.
6. While most of the students are reading about their state by reading library books, the teacher will call several students at a time over to the computer and she will give them tips on how to research their states on the internet.
7. Each student will have some time to use the internet to research various websites. The students will list in their journals at least five websites they used to research their state of interest.
8. Once students have compiled their notes about their state of interest they will begin writing their essays. They will write an introductory paragraph followed by one paragraph for each of the questions on the checklist. Finally they will write a concluding paragraph in which they describe why they are interested in that particular state.
9. The students will exchange their essays with a classmate to proof-read their work.
10. The students will submit their papers to the teacher.
11. The next day during the same period each student will give an oral presentation about his/her state by reading his/her one-page report in front of the class.
12. While each student gives his/her presentation the other students will write brief answers to the questions on the checklist about the state (listening comprehension) and they will turn these papers in (ex: Idaho, potatoes, relatively sparse population, snows, Boise, etc.)
CLOSURE: Hold a class discussion in which you ask the students what states they want to visit and why. Tell the class what states you (the teacher) have visited and what intrigued you about that state.
FOLLOW-UP/EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Have the students get into small groups and have them ask each other about what states they want to visit someday.
ASSESSMENT FOR LESSON 3: I will use formal assessment to assess students’ essays in that I will give them a check plus if they include answers to all (7/7) the questions on the checklist. I will give them a check if they answer 5-6 of the questions on the checklist. I will give them a check minus if they answer four or fewer questions on the checklist. I will give any student who wishes to improve the opportunity to add to his/her essay the missing section for resubmission and re-assessment. Also, I will informally grade my students on their oral presentations (via oral communication, occasional question-asking) to check for their knowledge.
LESSON PLAN # 4
LESSON TITLE: “READING A
MAP”:
UNIT TOPIC: Topography and
Geography of the
TIME: 1 class period, about 90 minutes
GRADE LEVEL: Fifth (5th) grade
SUBJECT AREA: mathematics, geography, analytic skills, critical thinking
GOAL: Students will read a map, will learn how to use a legend, and will be able to calculate the distance they would have to drive to get from city A to city B.
Specific Behavioral OBJECTIVES:
1. The learner will be able to distinguish big cities from smaller cities on the map after studying the map’s key or legend.
2.
The learner will calculate
the distance (in miles) along a driving route between city A and city B, after
taking into consideration the highways on the map and given the scale comparing
centimeters to miles in the map’s legend.
3.
The learner will use
their math skills to determine the time it would take to get from city A to
city B, given that the car’s average speed is 50 miles per hour.
STANDARDS:
--Interpretation of information
(such as the map’s key/legend).
--Application of mathematical
skills to practical situations.
--Critical thinking and
analytical skill regarding real situations.
MATERIALS: 10 maps from the
Automobile Club covering different sections of the
PROCEDURE:
ANTICIPATORY SET/PROMPT:
1.
Ask a student what
2.
Ask the class for another city they would like to visit
that is located in the same geographical region as city A and call this city B.
3.
In a class discussion, ask the class how they would get
from city A to city B.
ACTIVITY:
4.
Use overheads to
explain the meaning of a map’s key/legend.
5.
With the
overheads give the students an example of how to find the route they would take
if they were going to be the navigator to help their mom drive from city A to
city B.
6.
Teach students
how to determine the number of miles it would take to drive from city A to city
B, using the map’s legend.
7.
Use a ruler on
the overhead projector to measure how many centimeters along the driving route
from city A to city B. (North on route X for 4 cm, then west on route Y for 2
cm. Total distance= 4cm + 2cm= 6
cm. Then look at the map’s legend and
see that on the map 1 cm is equal to 100 miles.
Since you have covered conversions in math lessons before do the
following:
6
cm X 100 miles/ 1 cm = 6 X 10 = 600 miles (the centimeters cancel).
8.
Now model how to find the time it would take to get there if the car was
going
at an average speed of 50 miles per hour. Set it up so the miles cancel.
600 miles X 1 hour_ = 600/50 = 12 hours to get from city A to city
B.
50 miles
9.
Have the students get into groups of four.
10. Give each group a map and give
them an assignment, such as “Going from
11.
Have each group repeat steps 7-10 for their cities, for practice.
12.
The students will show their work on a piece of paper, showing how they
answered the
above questions and they will turn this paper in to the teacher.
CLOSURE:
13.
Have a class
discussion in which you ask the students what items they would
bring
with them if they were traveling from
FOLLOW-UP / EXTENSION ACTIVITY:
Have the students write in their
journals (for homework) about somewhere they have driven to with their
families. Ask them to describe the route
along the way including how the scenery changed and how the climate changed
throughout the trip.
ASSESSMENT FOR LESSON 4:
I will use informal assessment to
determine how well students understand how to use a map key/legend. I will do this by asking questions during the
class discussion that ensues after I explain how to read a key. I will also circulate from group to group as
they are deciding on the route they will choose to get from city A to city
B. I will assess the students formally
about their knowledge of how to interpret the scale by collecting their group’s
answers to the questions (how far is it from city A to city B along your route,
how long would it take you to get there if the car’s average speed was 50 miles
per hour).
I
will disregard mathematical errors as I will be focusing on the process of how
they set up their calculation (if they just multiplied wrong but set up the
problem right I know they understand the concept of how to interpret a map’s
scale). Also, I will use personal
communication with individual students throughout the lesson to determine
whether or not they need more practice.
LESSON PLAN # 5
LESSON TITLE: “DRAWING A MAP OF THE
UNIT TOPIC:
TIME: 2 class periods, about 120 minutes
GRADE LEVEL: Fifth (5th)
grade
SUBJECT AREA: Art--Visual
Arts, penmanship, geography, social studies
GOAL: For students to learn how to
go about creating a map, to give them hands-on experience with the locations of
states and capitol cities, to cement in their minds the relative sizes,
locations, and regions of various states.
Specific Behavioral OBJECTIVES:
1.
The learner will create a map of the
2.
The learner will
be able to correctly label the
capitol for each
3.
The learner will
be able to draw and label five
physical features of the land on the map (ie. draw
and label the Cascades in the northwest
STANDARDS:
This lesson meets standards in the
following areas:
--Visual
arts: students will learn to pay attention to spatial relations and shapes.
--Interpersonal
skills: students will learn how to work with group members on a project by
dividing up tasks with each
person in the group taking on a specific role.
--Classification/Categorization
skills
MATERIALS: 5 3ftX2ft
pieces of blank construction paper, 5 packets of marking pens, reference maps,
reference atlas, students’ journals so they can access
their notes
PROCEDURE:
ANTICIPATORY
SET/PROMPT:
1.
The teacher will
ask her students to raise their hands if they know when Open House is
scheduled.
2.
Every student who
thinks his/her parent/relative/friend might come to Open House is to raise
his/her hand.
3.
The teacher will
comment on how many people will be coming to the classroom and how nice it
would be to have more projects up on the walls.
4.
The teacher will
tell the class that they could draw maps of the
ACTIVITY:
1. Have the students get into groups of five.
2. Give each group a large piece of white construction
paper and a packet of colored markers.
3. Explain to the
groups that each person in the group should take on a specific role so that the
group can divide up the tasks.
4. The teacher will
explain that the students are to draw the outline of the
5. The teacher will
show an example map that she created as a model. She will explain that the students are to
write the name of each state and the capitol of each state within the
state. They will shade in all states
that belong to the same region the same color as noted in their map’s
legend/key. They are to draw and label
five physical features of the land in the correct region on the map (ie. They will draw
triangles in the
6. The teacher will
give a rubric that explains what they are required to do (as described in step
5) and the rubric (a primary trait scale) will tell them what their point value
grade will be based on (please see this rubric, shown above in the “Assessment
Instrument” section).
7. The teacher will
tell the students that they will be graded on three main things:
a.
shading the states different colors by region (as noted
in the key)
b.
writing the correct capitol city for the corresponding
state
c.
drawing and labeling 5
physical landscape features (mountains, rivers…) in the approximately correct
location (ie. Within the correct geographical
region).
8. Tell the students
that they should be proud of their maps as they will all be posted on the walls
for Open House. Encourage the students
to include other things on their maps after they have finished with the required
features. To add more detail students
can write a word that describes what each state is famous for (this would
involve adding “potatoes” to the state of
9. Tell students
they can use their notes, maps, atlases, textbooks, etc. to help them.
10. While the students are working on their maps
the teacher will circulate from group to group giving advice and encouragement.
CLOSURE:
1.
When a group is done with their map the teacher will
ask them to discuss with their other group members how well their map meets the
requirements detailed on the Assessment Instrument Rubric.
2.
Each group will grade their own map according to the
rubric by marking the number of points they calculate their map merits for each
of the three areas.
FOLLOW-UP/EXTENSION ACTIVITY:
1.
When groups are finished with their maps they will
exchange their maps with another group and each group will discuss how well the
other group’s map meets the requirements on the rubric. Then the groups will give each other feedback
and each group can modify their map before turning it in to be graded by the
teacher.
2.
Since all groups will finish with the map activity at
different times (after which they can read or work on another art project), the
teacher will grade each group’s map when they turn it in. She will use the Primary Trait Scale
described in the Assessment Instrument section to assign points. She will give the rubric marked with comments
and feedback back to each group so they can see exactly what their strong
points and weaker points were.
3.
Finally, the teacher will post each group’s map on the
walls to get the room ready for Open House.
ASSESSMENT FOR LESSON 5:
Group Map of
the Physical Landscape Features and Geographical Regions of the
(Please see the Primary Trait
Scale RUBRIC in the Assessments Instrument section on p. 10)