Social Studies Lesson Plans

Social Studies Lesson Plans

Grade 1 - Developing and Understand Community

Content Standards:

• CT Social Studies Framework:
• Themes: Explore personal history and relationships with family, school, and community to better understand culture and its importance in shaping students lives
• Hist.1.8 Generate possible reasons for an event and development in the pas
• CCSS.SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups

Prior Knowledge/Connections:

• Students have demonstrated understanding of the definition of a community and gave examples of different communities in their lives
• Students have participated in collaborative conversations with peers and adults

Student Learning Objective(s):

• Students will identify a variety of jobs and determine is each job provides a good or a service
• Students will be able to explain the importance of services and goods to a community

Vocabulary:

• Community: a group of people who live in the same area or have the same interests
• Responsibility: having the job or duty of dealing with or taking care of something or someone
• Business: the activity of making, buying, or selling goods or providing services in exchange for money
• Service: a helpful act
• Goods: products
• Benefit: a good or helpful result or effect

Assessment-Essential Key Question: State essential key question(s) and identify Informal, Formal Formative and Summative Assessment that will be used during the lesson.

• Essential Question: Why is it important to have people ling in a community that provide services as well as goods?
• Formative Assessment
• Students will be assessed based on their responses to “What is a community?” and whether or not they can define/ demonstrate understanding of what a good and service is.
• Informal Assessment
• Students will be assessed based on how successfully they can match workers to their job using the drag and drop activity
• Students will be assessed based on how accurately they identify whether specific jobs provide a good or a service
• Summative Assessment
• Students will be assessed using a checklist that evaluates how well the plans meet the criteria for the assignment.

Does the city include 3 businesses that provide goods?
Does the city include 3 businesses that provide services?
Does the city include 3 different living spaces?
Does the story provide explanation/ reason why someone would want to move to the city?
Do the reasons provide support the importance of goods and services to communities?

Materials/Resources: List the materials you will use in each learning activity.

• City plan template
• Markers/ crayons

Technological resources: List the technology resources that you will use in this lesson.

• Ipad or computers
• Drag and drop interactive activity from Econedlink http://www.econedlink.org/interactives/EconEdLink-interactive-tool-player.php?filename=em310_dragndrop_v2_save.swf&lid=310

Learning Activities:

• Instructional Strategies:
• Whole class discussion: to build schema and prior knowledge, to present ideas about what jobs provide a good or service, to present city plans and stories
• Modeling: teacher will model how to use clues about the workers’ appearances to match them to their jobs
• Independent Practice: students will complete the drag and drop activity independently, students will write stories about their city independently
• Collaborative Learning: students will work in pairs to construct city plans

• Grouping Strategies:
• Independent: students will work at desks to complete drag and drop activity and to write stories about their cities
• Small Group: students will discuss in small groups what jobs provide services and what jobs provide goods in their “pods”
• Pairs: students can choose a spot in the room to work in pairs to draw city plans
• Whole Class: students will be seated on carpet to present cities and city stories, students will be seated at desks to build prior knowledge and present ideas about specific jobs providing a good or a service

Initiation:

            In a whole-class discussion setting, project clearly on the board the content objectives for the lesson including the theme. Ask students “What is a community?” write student responses on the board and tell the students “Today we’re going to be learning about some of the jobs people in a community have to make it a good place to live.” Begin to build schema by asking students “What is a job? What are some jobs people in your community have?” Document the examples students give and briefly explain how all jobs in a community provide either a good or a service to the community. “Does anyone know what a good or service is?” Display the terms clearly and have students read aloud as a class.

Lesson Procedures:

• Pass out ipads or computers, have the link to the drag and drop activity saved into bookmarks. Instruct students to open a web browser and use the link in the bookmarks to get to the activity.
• Model by thinking aloud to use clues such as what the people are wearing, what tools their using etc. to match the people to the appropriate job.
• Students will complete the drag and drop activity independently.
• Have students discuss in small groups whether they think the jobs in the interactive provide a good or a service to the community. Have one person from each group share thoughts from discussion with class
• Pass out markers, crayons, and city planning template. Group students into pairs. Tell the students that they will be creating their own cities with working communities. Project the guidelines for the project on the board and read them aloud to the class.
• Students’ city plans must include three businesses that provide a service, three businesses that produce a good that is used in the community and three types of shelters for people to live in. After students fulfill these requirements they can add any other details they want to add to their community.
• Once students complete their city plans, the students will work individually to write a story about their community including reasons why someone would want to move there.
• Meet as a class to share and present the students’ city plans,

Closure:

            Meet as a whole class to conclude and reflect on the lesson. Ask the class “Why do communities need people who provide services as well as goods?” Use the class discussion and prompting questions to work towards the answer that Communities need a balance and that people need a place to purchase goods and businesses need to carry the items that people need in order to sell them so the community can support itself. Ask the class “What do you think would happen to a community if no one had to work or there were no businesses?” Again, use the discussion to come up with the answer that the community would not be safe and the people wouldn’t have the things they need.

Intervention:

            Students who are having trouble differentiating between jobs providing goods and services will receive guided practice in identifying the differences and organize the jobs into the two categories on a graphic organizer that they can use as reference. Students having trouble explaining the importance of goods and services to a community will receive questions that will help to prompt and guide their written response.

Enrichment:

            Students who complete the requirements for their city plans quickly will be encouraged to add additional features and buildings to their city that people need to live happily. Students who can benefit from more of a challenge will be asked to provide more businesses that provide goods or services.

Grade 3 - Museum of Connecticut History Fieldtrip

Content Standards:

• CCSS.W.3.8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
•  
• Hist.3.2 compare life in specific historical time periods to life today

Prior Knowledge/Connections:

Students are currently completing a unit on Connecticut and local history. Students have experience in analyzing and creating their own interpretations of the significance of primary sources and objects. Students are able to decipher some content vocabulary in primary sources but have trouble with difficult vocabulary. Students are able to name and explain the significance of some historical figures, events, and terms in relation to CT history.

Student Learning Objective(s):

• Students will identify and explain the significance of historical artifacts in a museum
• Students will recall events and gather information on an exhibit and write a response that compares and contrasts historical time periods to present day life.

Vocabulary:

• Governor: the elected executive head-of-state
• Constitution: The document that states the fundamental principles that our country is governed by
• Declaration of Independence: The document written by Thomas Jefferson that declared the U.S. an independent country from Great Britain
• Military: the armed forces of a country
• Charter Oak: an unusually large oak tree that according to tradition, held the Royal Connecticut Charter of 1662 in a hollow section of itself
• Canteen: a container used to carry water
• Gatling Gun: a rapid-fire, crank-driven gun with a cylindrical cluster of several barrels. The first practical machine gun

Assessment-Essential Key Question: State essential key question(s) and identify Informal, Formal Formative and Summative Assessment that will be used during the lesson.

Formative:

• Students will be assessed based on relevancy of oral responses to preliminary questioning and ability to make well-thought predictions about objects they will see at the museum

Informal:

• Students will be assessed based on how accurately they can identify historical objects using riddles on the scavenger hunt

Summative:

• Students will be assessed using a rubric that evaluates their written responses to exhibits at the museum

Materials/Resources:

• 4 parent chaperones
• signed permission slips
• scavenger hunt work sheet and answer key
• paper/ easel

Technological resources:

Computers/ipads

Learning Activities:

                  Instructional Strategies:

Modeling:

• Teacher will model inquiry skills to interpret museum exhibits by thinking out loud
• Teacher will model comparing and contrasting

Guided practice:

• Students will identify museum objects and their significance with guidance from teacher and collaborative work

Independent practice:

• Students will write a summary a description of some museum exhibits and compare and contrast life during specific time periods and life in the present day

            Grouping Strategies:

Whole Class:

• The whole class will participate at their desks to create an anticipation guide for the museum trip
• The whole class will experience the museum exhibits in a tour guided by the teacher

Small group:

• The students will complete the scavenger hunt in small groups

Independent:

• Students will complete written responses and research in the classroom by themselves

Initiation:

Pass out index cards. “Since we’ve been learning about some of our local history from Connecticut, today we are going to visit the Museum of Connecticut History. Based on the lessons we’ve had about the state capital, the ratification of the constitution in Hartford, and people like Nathan Hale or Eli Whitney, I want you to take a second and write down 3 things you might expect to see today.” Have students share what they expect to see and document responses on a large piece of paper. Remind students of appropriate museum behavior before leaving for the museum.

Lesson Procedures:

1. Arrive at museum. Tell students that the class will first go on a tour of the museum and ask them pay close attention to the exhibits and make connections between what they see and hear to what has been learned in the classroom. Encourage students to ask questions and share ideas.
2. Enter Memorial Hall, show class the portraits of past governors portraits. Point out and discuss notables and encourage students to notice the many differences in the paintings including clothing, background, and posture of the governors.
3. Bring students to the Royal Charter of 1662 in the Liberties and Legends exhibit. Ask students to recall the story of the Charter Oak and have a student tell it to the class. Explain that the Royal Charter is the document from the story and discuss it’s significance to the state with the class.
4. Move the class to the Mitchelson Coin Collection. Point out that the collection is one of the best collections of American coins in the world. Ask students to compare and contrast the coins and discuss with their neighbor.
5. After leaving Memorial Hall, stop by the Connecticut Collections exhibit. Show students the state’s official copy of the Constitution and remind students of the ratification of the Constitution in Hartford. Give students a few minutes to explore the exhibit. Encourage students to notice the objects and think of how they are similar or different to objects and technology today.
6. Bring students to the Colt Collection Exhibit. Point out the historical firearms and discuss when and how they were used. Show students the patents and marketing materials and explain their role in making Hartford based Colt, the leading firearms company in the world.
7. Split students into groups of 4-5 students and assign a chaperone to each group. Pass out scavenger hunt worksheet and tell the students to use the riddles as clues to inference what objects to find. Once students find the object they may move on to the next task for the scavenger hunt.
8. Once complete return to the classroom. Refer back to the chart used in the initiation that documented students predictions. Ask students to think about their predictions and evaluate whether they were right or wrong.
9. Ask students to share objects or exhibits they thought were important or interesting at the museum. Document student responses.
10. Ask students to think about the differences in technology, art, military and government, and everyday life between early American life in Connecticut vs. life in the present day. Provide a few examples and model how to point out the similarities and differences between the time periods.
11. Have students think of their favorite exhibit from the museum and have them write a two-paragraph response that a. Describes the exhibit and its significance and b. explains how the exhibit portrays a time period that is different from today and provide examples. Students can use computers or ipads to conduct additional research on objects or exhibits if necessary.

Closure:

Ask students to share their work with the rest of the class. “How did our trip to the museum help you better understand Connecticut History?”  Prompt students to think about how the trip helped students create connections between lessons and the exhibits. Ask students if there was any objects that they wish they saw or wanted more time to see, take notes on responses and use as suggestions to incorporate into future lessons.

Intervention:

Students with audio, visual, or language impairments will receive preferential placement close to the teacher during the tour. Students who have trouble identifying the significance of objects in scavenger will receive prompting questions to decipher the clues to the objects. Students who have trouble recalling the exhibits will receive a list of all the exhibits that were visited with pictures.

Enrichment:

Students who complete the scavenger hunt quickly can spend a few minutes to explore the museum and spend more time with the exhibits. Students who require more of a challenge will begin a brief writing assignment that compares what the students saw in the museum to previous lessons.

Grade 5 - American Revolutionary War

Content Standards:

CCSS.W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information

Hist.5.9 Explain Probable causes and effects of events and developments

Prior Knowledge/Connections:

Students have recently begun a unit on the Revolutionary War. Students have identified the differences between the colonial military, leaders, and daily life and that of the British. Students have used writing strategies to state an opinion and support it with reason and information.

Student Learning Objective(s):

• Students will explain the significance of the slogan “No taxation without representation” and identify it as a cause for the revolutionary war
• Students will write and Op-ed piece that describes how they would feel if they were taxed by the British

Vocabulary:

• Taxation
• The Stamp Act
• Parliament
• Tax Collector

Assessment-Essential Key Question: State essential key question(s) and identify Informal, Formal Formative and Summative Assessment that will be used during the lesson.

• Formative Assessment
• Students will be assessed based on oral responses to “What does it mean to be taxed on something?” and by how well students can infer items that the colonists were taxed on
• Informal Assessment
• Students will be assessed based on responses in think pair share setting to discussions based on the reading
• Students will be assessed on contrasting the differences in M&M that the King has vs. the Colonists
• Summative
• Students will be assessed using a rubric to evaluate how students present their opinion and support it with information from the lesson in an Op-Ed writing piece

Materials/Resources:

• Dixie cups
• Large Paper
• Printouts of “The Stamp Act” for all students: http://www.ducksters.com/history/american_revolution/the_stamp_act.php
• M&M’s
• Rubric for Op-Ed piece

Technological resources: List the technology resources that you will use in this lesson.

Projector

Learning Activities:

                  Instructional Strategies:

• Think Pair Share:
• Students will share responses to reading discussion questions with one another before sharing to the class
• Guided Practice:
• Students will have guided practice with teacher to define taxation and infer how the colonists felt about being taxed
• Students will complete a taxation simulation with help from the teacher
• Independent Practice:
• Students will complete an op-ed writing piece on their own

            Grouping Strategies:

• Whole Class:
• Students will be seated at desks during initiation to find the definition of taxes
• Students will work around the classroom to complete the taxation simulation
• Pairs: students will share responses with their neighbor at their desks
• Independent: Students can work at their desks or a comfortable spot around the classroom to complete their op-ed writing piece

Initiation:

“Today we’re going to do a fun activity about purchasing items with tax.” “What do you think it means to tax something?” Document student input on the board to work towards an accurate definition. Explain to students that King George, the King of Great Britain was the person to tax the colonists. “What goods might have been taxed?” Make a list of student responses on the board.

Lesson Procedures:

1. “In 1765, the British Parliament started the Stamp Act to raise colonial taxes to fund the cost of the French- Indian War in North America.” Project on the overhead images of colonists’ reaction to the enactment of the Stamp Act (ie documents, songs, mob/crowd action, and tar and feathers). “The colonists reacted right away to this because they were tired of continuing to be taxed by parliament without having a party to represent them.”
2. Pass out print outs of “The Stamp Act” use popcorn- reading strategy to read the article as a class.
3. Project the phrase “taxation without representation” on the board and explain that the slogan (which was in the reading) was used as a rallying cry by colonists seeking independence from great Britain.
4. Ask students the following questions in a think pair share
1. What do you think taxation without representation means?
2. Why do you think the colonists were angry about being taxed?
3. Was it right for Britain to have a tax on goods?
5. After the students have discussed the questions and shared with the class, tell the class that the activity for today will let them experience being taxed on goods.
6. Ask the class to brainstorm a list of things that could be taxed in the classroom. Come up with 10-12 items that could be taxed. Examples of taxable items are pencils, pens, folders, books, etc.
7. Ask the class for two volunteers to be tax collectors, and one to be a parliament member. The teacher will be the king in the simulation. Remind students that it does not matter what role they play that everyone in the class will have an equal amount of M&Ms as a treat at the end of the simulation.
8. Review the list and hand out 40 M&Ms to each student. Tell the students that after the king has read the taxable items, the tax collectors will collect the taxes from the students, and keep 10 percent for themselves, give 40 percent to the parliament member, and 50 percent to the king.
9. Explain to students that if they are in possession of any of the taxable items they will have to pay the tax. If the students refuse to pay the tax they will have to go to “jail” and their entire cup of candy will be taken.
10. After the taxes have been collected and divided, have the students share how much candy they have left. How much candy do the tax collectors have? The parliament member? The king?
11. Ask the students how this activity made them feel. Use this to introduce the op-ed writing assignment. Display the following questions on the board for students to use as guidelines
1. How did you feel being taxed?
2. In what ways were the taxes fair or unfair? Is there a way to make taxes fair for all? How?
3. Is your anger justified for being taxed without representation from the British?
12.  Describe to students that an opinion editorial is a section of the newspaper where people share their feelings about a topic. Display an example or two on the projector and read aloud to students pointing out features of the pieces that make them characteristic of an opinion editorial.
13. Display the questions and guidelines of for the op-ed writing assignment. Remind students that their piece should answer the three questions above so their pieces should each be three paragraphs of 5-6 sentences for each paragraph. Tell students that they will be graded based on paragraph development, spelling and grammar, and whether or not they answered the questions with support from the article and lesson.

Closure:

Students can begin to write their op-ed pieces and if they do not finish they will be assigned to complete them for homework. Once students complete the op-ed pieces, have students share their pieces and their reasons for their opinions on being taxed without representation. Explain to students that this was just one of the reasons that the colonists were angered and wanted independence from the British and that future lessons will cover more main causes for the revolutionary war.

Intervention:

Different candies can be substituted for students with food allergies. For students who struggle with writing, the teacher will be available for guided practice, prompting questions, and editing and revising student pieces. Students who struggle to comprehend the reading will be able to complete the discussion questions in a small group or with the teacher

Enrichment:

Students who excel at math can be used as volunteer to find what fraction/ percentage the king, parliament members, and tax collectors have of the total taxes at the end of the activity. Students who finish the writing activity quickly will be asked to brainstorm other reasons why the colonists wanted independence or write a mini op-ed piece from the point of view of a tax collector or British loyalist.