Social Studies Grade 4 Shifted Lessons – March 2011
Grade 4 SS
Teacher(s)
Scott Zachmann &
Leanne VanSanten
School
Johnsville
Lesson Title
Pre-Assessment Diagnostic
Assessment
Bonnie Robertson
& Stacy Carlson
Amanda Britz,
Dave Edholm,
Karen Hart, Ruth
Mickley
Jefferson
Andover
Lewis and Clark – The Midwest
Region
South UBD #9
Sarah Brezinka
Crooked
Lake
Harriet Tubman’s Influence on
the South
Kara Johnson
Lincoln
South Unit, #4 Climate
Katie Bergh
Franklin
Elementary
Poster Inquiry
1
Brief Description of “shift”
We are “shifting” our Midwest Social Studies Diagnostic and 2nd activity for the
Midwest Region to make it more inquiry based. We will use the Midwest Matrix to say
“I notice” and “I wonder” and will bring in packets of pictures to use to jumpstart the
students’ thinking before we show our Midwest video.
We will be learning about Lewis and Clark in S.S. and we will watch a short video. We’ll
then use a wonder wall doing this.
-Present essential question to students.
-Students choose or are assigned from a list of names of significant people from the
South.
-Possible significant people: Ruby Bridges, Walt Disney, Rosa Parks, Eli Whitney, MLK,
Jr., Abe Lincoln, Gloria Estefan, Brett Favre, Sam Houston, LBJ, Louis Armstrong,
George Washington Carver, Tim McGraw, George Washington
-Students use various resources (textbooks, computer, guided reading books, etc.) to
learn and record information, using notebooks, about their significant person and
answer the essential question.
-Students choose the best way to research and present information based on what
they believe is best for the person they are studying. Students discuss answer to
essential question for each significant person.
-Question – How did Harriet Tubman shape the development of the south?
-Create a K,W,L chart in your Geography Journal. Write the things you already Know
about Harriet Tubman. What would you Want to learn?
-Watch video, Harriet Tubman, from Discovery Ed. Write what you Learned, about
Harriet Tubman. Describe how her life shaped the south.
-After viewing the video share out what you learned with your partner. ---What
questions do you still have about Harriet Tubman? How could you find the answers?
-Extension: Research your new questions about Harriet Tubman. What did you find
out?
Students use climographs of major cites in the south to infer how people are affected
by the climate/weather patterns of the area.
Students will look at different resources including leveled books, online sources,
atlases, artifacts, etc. and creatively create a collage of what discoveries they made
researching their interests driven by inquiry. They self-directed their learning by
inquiry by working cooperatively or independently.
Grade 4 SS
Teacher(s)
Amy Sundem and
Abby Payeur
2
School
Sand Creek
Lesson Title
Immigration Simulation
Brief Description of “shift”
As a culminating activity, our entire grade level set up an “Ellis Island Simulation Day”.
Students came to school dressed as an immigrant and were given a passport to travel
to Ellis Island. We loaded the ship in the gym serving crackers and water to First Class
passengers only. Second and Third class were in roped sections feeling cramped and
uncomfortable. After the journey across the Atlantic, the kids got off the ship and
circled through our classrooms experiencing a job interview, medical examination,
etc...
Some of the kids even got deported!
Overall, the day was very successful and even emotional for some students. However,
an experience our 4th grade students will never forget!
Social Studies Grade 5 Shifted Lessons – March 2011
Grade 5 SS
Teacher(s)
Jodi Schwab
School
Johnsville
Lesson Title
Early Settlements Map
– Introduction to
Colonization
Robin Parks
Jefferson
American Colonies
Judy Curtiss
Sand Creek
Slavery in the Southern
Colonies
(Text 213-215)
Jennifer
Bicknese
Crooked
Lake
Encounter
Brief Description of “shift”
Map will include: shading for New Spain, New France and the British Colonies, dots for St.
Augustine, Roanoke, Jamestown, Plymouth and Quebec, all words and the title will be missing.
Partners will do an I notice/I wonder T chart in their journal, so the shift will have: text after
observation, group work, use of journals and students will be asking open-ended questions.
Use of overview video rather than book first and the use of journals for all notes, observation, and
questions.
We started by talking and generating a list about what we know about slavery. Next I gave students
a packet of narratives from the book To Be A Slave by Julius Lester. Students then worked in groups
and wrote down and discussed, I Think and I Wonder statements based on the narratives. Students
then read the text to see if the accounts of slavery differed or if they were able to make connections
between the narratives and the text.
Rather than just reading the story and having a teacher lead group discussion we read the story in
parts and had students record their thoughts in their journals. We asked that they put themselves
in the position of the Tiano people and asked them to answer the following questions as we paused.
1. What do you think these people want?
2. How do you feel?
3. What are you going to do?
Deb Cordes
3
Sand Creek
Benjamin Franklin was
a Pretty Big Deal
The students answered the questions as the Tiano people.
Students in one of my classes had a huge interest in Ben Franklin and his inventions. We created our
I Noticed/I Wonder list in our notebooks, then spent some time with a Discovery Ed video on Ben,
and also investigated some pictures books/nonfiction books about Franklin. We decorated our
journals and shared them in our class. We also started a list of his accomplishments that students
have added to as they find more information about him.
Grade 5 SS
Teacher(s)
David Reines
School
Monroe
Lesson Title
Colonization / New
Amsterdam
Brief Description of “shift”
In small groups students read articles from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American
Indian, taking notes and jotting down questions in Journals.
Article 1 Manahatta – background info on the Native Americans living in the area of Manhattan in
the 1500’s .
Article 2 Manahatta Changed – Information on the Lenape Indians first encounter with Europeans
and sale of Manhattan Island to the Dutch.
Resource #2 Student text, pages 144 and 145, Dutch Colonies. Read in same small group, compare
and contrast with the information found in Article 1 and 2. Record findings and questions in journal.
Discuss in whole group the differences and similarities in the information presented and theorize
why the differences exist and/or what they mean.
Rob Gamache
Lincoln
Exploration
Anne Rozek,
Jen Myers,
Kristi Vetsch,
Laura Bratland
Andover
Explorers Unit
Students worked independently to find the information needed to fill in the matrix. They had a
variety of information at their disposal from multiple sources including: small books, text books,
printed internet sources, and lap tops. Students did all of their note taking and matrix completion in
their social studies journals.
At the beginning of our Explorers unit, we followed the UBd's using the book "Traveled Distant
Lands". We used to Matrix to record information about Leif Eriksson and Marco Polo (as in the
UBDs).
We then did an "I noticed..." followed by an "I wonder..."
Students worked with their table groups on this, then we shared out.
Students shared out questions they had come up with to help created our own class list of
questions.
Students read to find answers to the question noting the resources they found it in. We marked if
answers were found in more than one resource (Resources: HM social studies textbook, a few old
social studies textbooks, and books I could get from the library).
It was a great experience for the students to get them engaged in the explorers as well as reinforce
the use of resources. They found that not all answers could be found from our resources. They also
found out that not all the books had the same information.
Great follow up from when we did our Native American projects (more than one resource).
From there we have moved through the unit using our Social Studies UBDs.
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