GEO-NARRATIVE

Natasha Aguon

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Unit/Theme Title: Social Studies: United States Symbols
Description: This lesson is to teach students to recognize the United States symbols and traditional practices that honor and foster patriotism in the United States identifying the United States symbol and meaning or importance of that symbol.
Goals and Objectives: Students will be able to: Define the meaning of a Symbol. Find and identify the United States Symbol using Google Earth: The White House, Statue of Liberty, and Mount Rushmore. Discuss the importance or meaning of the United States symbol. Create a topic board on the United States symbols.
Grade Level: 1st grade
Standards: 1.4.2 Recognize the symbols and traditional practices that honor and foster patriotism in the U.S. by doing the following: ·       • Identifying the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, Arlington Cemetery, Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty.
Duration: Introduction – 5 Minutes Instruction – 20 Minutes Interactive Lesson- 30 Minutes (Google Earth) Independent Work- 20 Minutes Assessment- 5 Minutes Closing/Review- 10 Minutes
Skills Addressed: Collaboration with peers, identification, vocabulary, using Google Earth
Key Vocabulary:  Symbol, Google Earth, Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument, The White House, Arlington Cemetery, Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty.
Materials: Computer, PowerPoint Presentation, Internet access & Google Earth, United States Symbols Mini Flip Book, United States Matching Worksheet Assessment
Resources:  Teachers Edition Social Studies Textbook, Internet Resources and Information to create PowerPoint, Flipbook and Assessment
SIOP Features* (See 6 components below and checkmark boxes that apply.)
1. Preparation xAdaptation of content xLinks to background xLinks to past learning xStrategies incorporated 2. Integration of Processes xReading xWriting xSpeaking xListening	3. Scaffolding xModeling xGuided practice xIndependent practice xComprehensible Input 4. Application xHands-on xMeaningful xLinked to objectives xPromotes engagement	5. Group Options xWhole class xSmall groups xPartners xIndependent 6. Assessment xIndividual oGroup xWritten xOral
Lesson Sequence: Introduction (5 Minutes) ·       Tell students that today they will be learning about some of the most important symbols in the United States of America.  ·       Ask students if they can define or remember from previous lessons what a symbol means. After discussion, define what a symbol is and that it is an item that represents something else. ·       Ask students if they can name any American symbols. ·       Help guide them through this discussion by naming items such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, Arlington Cemetery, Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty. ·       Tell students that they will be going on a virtual fieldtrip using Google Earth to see these amazing places. ·       Explain what Google Earth is and what it can do.  Show them how to use the program and how to search for one of the US symbols. Instruction (20 Minutes) ·       Using PowerPoint the teacher will review the American symbols, discussing the importance of them and what it stands for. Ask the children if they can identify the symbol you are holding up.  See if they can tell you anything about that symbol that you are showing them.  Next, read the slide for that symbols, showing other images of that symbol. Make sure to go through all six symbols. Interactive Lesson (30 Minutes) ·       In small group or with a partner the students will use Google Earth to locate the 6 United States symbols and answer a list of questions that the teacher writes on the board. Students must write: 1.     Name of the U.S. Symbol. 2.     The street address and state the symbol is located at? 3.     The meaning of the symbol or what the symbol represents. Independent Work (20 Minutes) ·       Students will complete a U.S. Symbol mini flipbook. Assessment (5 Minutes) ·       Students will match the image of the U.S. symbol with the correct name (Worksheet). Review and Closing/Reflection (10 Minutes) ·       After the students have completed their Google Earth Assignment, Independent work and Assessment the class will come back together.
Reflections: Ask each student to tell the class one fact they learned and what their favorite activity was. Review the 6 United States Symbols and their meaning. Ask students did they enjoy using Google Earth and would they like to use it for other lessons or activities?

*Adapted from the SIOP Model for English Language Learners.

Google Earth Lesson Plan sample:  http://www.gelessons.com/lessons/newlessonfiles/whereareyoufrom.html

Effective Literacy Website #7

PBSkids.org

PBSkids.org is a nonprofit organization that offers kids a fun and educational website.   This website allows students to use technology to strengthen their knowledge, improve their critical thinking skills and encourages them to use their imagination.  This website helps teachers and parents to improve the student’s educational and social skills and get them ready for school and the world around them.

This website touches on all educational subjects including reading, language, math, science, social studies and health, just to name a few.  The science games and activities allow the students to be inventors and to use their senses.  For social studies it allows the students to explore the world they live in by using the globe and navigation system. PBSkids has over a 100 different games that are free and easy to access. 

This website also has many TV shows that encourage learning and does not only make it fun for the kids but for their parents as well.  Parents can enjoy watching an engaging and creative PBSkids TV shows that strengthens their child’s skills.  For example, PBS WordGirl encourages kids to improve their use of words and vocabulary.  In one episode I heard the words vigor, encouraging, modest and discouraging in less than three minutes, how amazing is that?  Check out PBSkids.org today to have some fun and learn something new!

Website Resources:

http://pbskids.org

Effective Literacy Website #6

ReadWork.org

Readwork.org is a wonderful website that allows teachers to have free access to articles and stories that can be incorporated into their classroom lesson.   This websites is a nonprofit organization that promotes literacy skills and strengthens student comprehension.  This website is aligned with the Common Core State Standards and allows teachers to create online assignments for their class using research based materials and resources.

Readworks offers over 1,000 reading passages for kinder to twelfth grade.  Interactive read-aloud lessons are readily available for educators to access and use in their classroom.  These lessons are broken into teacher modeling, guided student practice, and independent student practice.  The teacher will review the article and ask questions making sure that the student understands what is being read.

These short stories and articles also have story vocabulary.  The teacher would review the vocabulary words and how it is used in a sentence so that students better understand the word.  Lastly these articles have question sets for the students.  The teacher would also use this as an assessment to see if the student understood what was read and what they learned from the story.

Overall, I think this website is something that every teacher can use in their class.  It has many topics for all ages and grade levels.   The read aloud for primary grades is a wonderful tool to have for students who are still struggling with reading and are continuing to work on their comprehension skills.  Readworks also provides the lexile number of each article to make sure that what is being read is not too difficult but still a challenge for the students.  This website is a huge tool that would benefit any grade-level.  I encourage every teacher to look in to readworks.org today!

Website Resources:

https://www.readworks.org

Effective Literacy Website #5

ReadWriteThink

Readwritethink is a website that provides teachers and parents with free resources and literacy tools.  This website has free printables, activities, videos, and lesson that are easy to access with a click of a button.   Readwritethink is broken into four main sections: Classroom Resources, Professional Development, Videos and Parent & Afterschool Resources.

The classroom resources provide the teacher with lesson activities and online student interactives that they could use in the classroom.  They also have a list of mobile apps that could be downloaded on school tablets and ipads, so that students can easily access these activities.  One of my favorite things about this website is that it has calendar activities. 

The calendar activities list special events or people that are authors or who have made history and provide teachers with small lesson for these people on the calendar.  For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15^th 1929.  On January you can pull up Martin Luther’s mini lesson for the class and whatever extra resources is provide from the readwritethink website and use it for that day.

Another great part of this website is the strategy guide from the professional development.  This provides the teacher with effective strategies and a list of resources to help the students to become stronger in reading, writing and comprehension.   Lastly, this website also provides parents and teacher afterschool resources for students to strengthen their skills with extra practice at home.  Overall, I highly recommend this website to every parent and teacher.  I am amazed at how much wonderful resources is given freely on this website.

Website Resource

 http://www.readwritethink.org/