Teaching Social Studies

Mrs. Ami Hawkins' Professional Portfolio

Teaching Social Studies

In Teaching Social Studies I gained my very first experience in writing up a lesson plan which reached the standards and benchmarks. This was my first semester in the UNM program and I had never written a formal lesson plan before. Below is one of the unit lesson plants that I developed to be taught over the course of a week. I have always believed that students will rise to the expectations the teacher sets, but looking back at some of my earlier lessons they were a little bit farfetched. When writing my first lesson plans I had not had any experience teaching real children and I focused on quantity of standards taught, not so much quality of instruction. I think this lesson is a good way to assess student’s knowledge on the topics, but for them to obtain a thorough understanding of the concepts they would of course need further instruction and experience throughout the year.

This would be the hand out I would give my students to begin their project.

The First Americans

Research the following with a partner and make a research paper. Split the work evenly. At the end of this week you and your partner will present your findings to the class. Include maps, pictures, drawings, documents and anything else you think will help show what you learned. Use many different methods or research including the internet, books and anything else. Have fun. On the last day we will have a party with food while we present. Make sure you have maps and graphs to display your information.

Ÿ Explain how early Native Americans government was different then ours.

Ÿ What was their societies like? How did tools and environments affect their life’s?

Ÿ Make a map of tribal territories.

Ÿ How do plains, mountains, plateaus and basins support Native Americans life’s and make them different form other tribes?

Ÿ How did their resources make their life’s different then ours?

Ÿ How do their costumes and celebrations contribute to our national identity today?

Ÿ What did they use for money?

Ÿ How did the environment and seasons affect them? (Did they move, survive, die, reproduce, and when?)

Ÿ How did the human activity affect the environment? Compared to European impact?

Ÿ What were some of their beliefs?

Ÿ How did the stars affect their life and beliefs?

Some things I also want to see.

Ÿ The difference between estimated, rounded and exact population numbers.

Ÿ Population information about the tribes and Native peoples as a hole.

Ÿ Population displayed in percentages, fractions and hole numbers in graphs, charts, diagrams, tables.

Ÿ Area and perimeter of territories in miles, acres, yards and feet.

Ÿ Make a food web of one of the tribes.

Ami Hawkins

S.S

5 Day Lesson Plan

Across the Curriculum

Standards/Benchmarks: 59 met.

Math-Numbers & Operations:1-1,2,3. 2-5. 3-3,4,7. Algebra: 1-3. 3-1,3. Measurement: 1-1,2,4. 2-1,2,3.

Science-Thinking & Practice: 1-2,3. 3-1,2,3. Content- Life Science: 1-2,3,4. Earth Science:1-1,2,3. 2-4.

LA- 1a-1,2,3,4. 1b-1,2,3. 1d-3,4. 2b-1,3,4,5,6. 2c-2. 3a-1.

S.S.- 1b-6. 1c-1. 1d-1,2,3,4,5. 2a-1,4. 2d-1. 2f-1. 3a-4. 3b-2,3. 4a-3.

Objectives/Goals :

The goal of this 5 day project is to cover several benchmarks in Math, Science, Social Studies and Language arts in one unit.
The students will learn how to use many different sources to find information.
They will learn how to work with partners and split up work evenly.
They will learn how to write a research paper and express their thoughts on paper.
They will learn how to present communicate and speak well.
They will learn how to read, draw and present maps.
They will learn the geography of North America and how it affected tribes way of life.
They will learn about the stars, constellations, planets and solar system.
They will learn to compare and contrast that era with today and understand available resources and the difference they make.
They will learn how to present data analyze and graph data.
They will learn to represent populations in fractions, percentages, and whole numbers with proper place values.
They will learn how to work word problems applicable to real world situations.
They will use mathematical models, graphs, chats to depict measurements in land areas.

How this lesson will be taught:

Day 1- Research paper.

Teacher read aloud- The People Shall Continue — Simon J. Ortiz . Encompasses the entire history of Native American Peoples, from the time of creation to the present day.
Shared reading- Next we will discuss the book and the main ideas. I will givea print out of their assignment and we will talk about information in the book we just read that will fit their criteria for their project. The goal is to get them started so they know what kind of info they are to look for, and also to give them a heads start so they have some of the things I am looking for.

Language arts-

We will go over again the elements of a good paper and how to write and outline it. They should be familiar with this process, so this should be a refresher at best. We will go over the difference between a sloppy copy, rough draft and final draft.

Writing, Research and Independent Reading-

The students will have the rest of their time to start researching and writing their project. I will put them in groups of two and give them some ideas of how to split up the work evenly. They are to use several different types of research materials including computer, books , etc.

Day 2 Discuss universe, stars and solar system.

Teacher read aloud- Coyote Places the Stars - Harriet Peck Taylor. Coyote arranges the stars in the shapes of his animal friends.
Shared reading- Next we will discuss the book and the main ideas. We will talk about information in the book we just read that will fit their criteria for their project.

Science-

We will use a lot of the time today to discuss the solar system and stars. We will look at models and tie it all together with Native Americans stories and beliefs.

Writing, Research and Independent Reading-

The students will continue with their research and start making flashcards for their presentation with the information they found. I will help each group and give them ideas, suggestions, and other help.

Day 3 Percentages, fractions, ratios.

Teacher read aloud- The Birchbark House — Louise Erdrich . About traditional Ojibwa life
Shared reading- Again, we will discuss the book and the main ideas. We will talk about information in the book we just read that will fit their criteria for their project.

Math-

We will use the information we have gathered so far and use it in teaching our math lesson. We will figure out an approximate number of Native Americans in North America and represent each tribe as a percentage and also a fraction. We will also represent the populations using charts and graphs.

Preparations-

They will start piecing their info together and making maps graphs charts etc. Today is the day they will draw pictures of and do a lot of the math. They can also print pictures.

Writing, Research and Independent Reading-

Finish up research. I will be floating around as usual helping and guiding as needed. Today they will turn in the paper so I can go over it.

Day 4

Teacher read aloud- Star Boy — Paul Goble. About how the Sun Dance was given to the Blackfeet people.
Shared reading- Again, we will discuss the book and the main ideas. We will talk about information in the book we just read that will fit their criteria for their project.

Writing, Research and Independent Reading-

They will finish up with whatever they haven’t finished yet and get ready for their presentations. I will havelooked over their papers the night before and give them back with corrections and suggestions for more info or whatever they need to fix or elaborate about. Today they will try to fill in the gaps and they will take home their papers to edit and make final copies.

Math and Science-

They will include in their research paper our discussion on the solar system and the percentages and fractions of the populations of the different tribes.

Day 5

Teacher read aloud- A Promise Is a Promise -Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak. Blends the traditional and the modern of Alaska native life.

They will present their Projects. We will talk as a class about the importance and tie everything together. This is a fun day that could include a food, dressing up and a colonization party.

Accommodations

I will make Any accommodations that are necessary; mix groups with higher and lower kids working together etc.

Assessment/Evaluation

The research papers and observation is the way this lesson will be assessed. I will watch to see if they are all participating. I will be able to tell if they comprehended it or not through their interaction with each other and presentations.

In addition to writing several lesson plans which reached deep into one subject area or reached long across several subjects we also…

·         Learned how to structure a fieldtrip experience so that students are organized and learning through hands-on activities with maximum benefits and understanding of learning objectives.

·         Went on a fieldtrip which showed us in first person how a well ran fieldtrip should look and function.

·         Discussed classroom instances which can be challenging and how to approach them, control new problems as well as deal with old ones.

·         Gained understanding and experience with best practices in the teaching field.

·         Focused on how to make information, topics, objectives and new knowledge stick in student’s heads so that they will remember information in the long term.

·         Dissected our text book, explored the information and answered any questions.

·         And much more