Merz 1 American Superhero! First Grade Social Studies Unit on the Concept of Heroes Anna Merz Differentiated Instruction for Social Studies Dr. Timothy Reynolds 3 December 2012 Merz 2 Index Title Page……………………………………………………………………………1 Index………………………………………………………………………………...2 Demographics……………………………………………………………………..3-4 Rationale…………………………………………………………………………….4 Unit Generalizations………………………………………………………………...5 Concept Map………………………………………………………………………..5 VA SOLs…………………………………………………………………………...6 Curriculum Framework…………………………………………………………..6-7 Scope and Sequence o Introduction………………………………………………………………..8 o Unit Goals………………………………………………………………...8-9 o Scope and Sequence Chart………………………………………………9-13 Lesson Plan 1 o Day 1/Superheroes in Real Life………………………………….……..14-17 o Worksheets……………………………………………………………...18-24 Lesson Plan 2 o Day 3/George Washington: America’s First Hero……………………...25-27 o Worksheets…………………………………………...…………………28-30 Lesson Plan 3 o Day 5/What do you know about American Heroes?...............................31-34 o Worksheets………………………………………………………………35-36 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………..37 Unit Resources…………………………………………………………………...38-39 Merz 3 Demographics I will be teaching a first grade class a lesson centered on the social studies concept of Heroes. This class will be typical of most classes; it will have all levels of readiness observable among the students. Most students will be on or near grade level, but there will be some below grade level, some just above, a few gifted students, and a few students with learning disabilities. Students will be between the ages of six and seven and our class will meet every day. The Social Studies content will also be taught every day, but for about 30 minutes a day. My class will have 16 students in it, and because it will be an inclusion classroom, I will be teaching with an aid. I did extensive pre-testing at the beginning of the year and this resulted in my understanding that I have lots of students with different learning preferences. The following list shows the learning preferences of my first graders, as well as personality characteristics and learning styles. Avery-Visual/Spatial; Introvert; On grade level Brent-Bodily/Kinesthetic; Extrovert; Above grade level Camilla-Visual/Spatial; Extrovert; Above grade level Catherine-Logical/Mathematical; Introvert; On grade level-ADHD diagnosis, has IEP Davy-Interpersonal; Extrovert; On grade level; Dan-Visual/Spatial; Introvert; Below grade level Emily-Intrapersonal; Introvert; On grade level Evan-Visual/Spatial; Extrovert; Below grade level Heather-Intrapersonal; Extrovert; On grade level Jamie-Verbal/Linguistic; Extrovert; Above grade level Kevin-Logical/Mathematical; Extrovert; On grade level Mason-Interpersonal; Extrovert; Above grade level Rebekah-Logical/Mathematical; Introvert; On grade level Sam-Musical/Rhythmic; Extrovert; Below grade level-Autism diagnosis, has IEP, aid in room Yvonne-Bodily/Kinesthetic; Extrovert; On grade level The school that my class is a part of will be an elementary school, so it will house classes in grades Pre-K to fifth. It is a medium to small sized school with between 150-200 children per grade level. The school is situated between a suburban and a rural area, so it serves children who live in both. The children are mostly from middle-class economic backgrounds, but there are some who have more than others, and some who have less. Although the school is smaller, it has a wonderful principal who is a huge advocate of her student’s right to an amazing education. This means that most facilities inside the school are new, all facilities are in marvelous condition, and all students have access to the tools they need to be successful. Students have access to laptops and iPads in the classroom when the teacher deems these tools appropriate for learning, Merz 4 and there are enough that every child can use one on his or her own. Teachers have access to technological teaching tools in their classrooms as well, such as smart boards, video recorders/flipcams, movie makers, and other programs. The library in this school is amazing and art, music, and theater classes are all heavily emphasized parts of each student’s education. Because the principal is so engaged in student learning, teachers have a great support system and do not feel high levels of stress when they need things from the central office. Field trips are encouraged in every class, and each grade level takes one major field trip per year. My classroom is spacious. In the front there is room for students to sit on the floor on a carpet. Towards the back of the classroom, desks are pushed into groups of four to create group work areas, but which allow the kids to make a transition from the kindergarten and Pre-k style table setup. Desks in the groups of four are arranged so that students face each other. Students do not have assigned seating, and group organization changes almost every day. Students keep their belongings in cubbies which are lined up against the back wall of my room. They have access to everything they need (pencils, paper, etc) whenever they need them. They each have access to textbooks and are required to have a pencil and a social studies 1 subject notebook for my class. In my classroom there are lots of colors, pictures, and opportunities for hands-on learning. There are several playtime stations that are set up around the room for times when it is too cold or rainy to go outside for recess. These stations are: dress-up station, blocks station, music station, art station, and reading station. Sometimes these stations are used in a more “educational” way to compliment teaching. The classroom is arranged in such a way that students can have fun and be successful at the same time. Parent support is incredible this year. Every student has a parent who works very hard to make sure they are successful in school. There is great parent/teacher communication as well. As the teacher, I communicate to parents primarily by sending letters home in folders on Wednesdays and Fridays. These folders are returned on Monday and Thursday and parents can use these folders to communicate any concerns or ideas to me through forms that are always inside of the folders. I use the folders to send classroom news home to parents, information about projects/fieldtrips, and display examples of student work. I communicate concerns by sending notes home in folders that request a meeting time or a good time to call home. Because of this great communication and amazing support from parents, I am able to assign more complicated, but enriched projects. Students in my classroom should have everything they need to get an amazing education experience. Rationale The concept of the hero is a very important concept in the History of our world, let alone the subject area of Social Studies. Great heroes in fields of technology, literature, language, government, and attitudes have changed the world time and time again. I want to use my unit to talk to my students individuals who are responsible for these changes in technology, literature, language, government, and attitudes that have changed the world. I feel that this approach will make my topic and SOL very relevant to the students in my class because they will be able to study individuals who had big ideas and used those big ideas to change our country for the better. Instead of feeling bored and tired of learning about people who died long ago, my students will Merz 5 be excited to learn about the superheroes who changed our country forever with their innovations and big thinking! Generalizations: Heroes face challenges. Heroes work to make positive changes in their environments. Heroes have certain personal characteristics that help them to succeed. Heroes can exist in any time period. Concept Map Heroes work to make positive changes using Exceptional characteristics existing In all times facing Great adversity Merz 6 Virginia SOLS used in Unit Virginia Social Studies SOL 1.2: The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Virginia Computer/Technology SOL K-2.2 The student will identify and use available technologies to complete specific tasks. A. Identify the specific uses for various types of technology and digital resources. a. Open and read an electronic book. Curriculum Framework Below is the curriculum framework for the First Grade Social Studies SOLs involving important leaders in America whose contributions positively affected the lives of others. The topic I plan on teaching will be famous Americans’ contributions to the United States. The SOL associated with it is 1.2: The student will identify George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt and describe their stories and their contributions to our country, however, my unit will only cover George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt in conjunction with President’s day in February. Merz 7 Merz 8 Scope and Sequence Unit Sequence: Although the SOL I chose covers five individuals, because of the time that I will be doing this Unit, I will only be covering those individuals connected with Presidents and I will be covering any goals mentioned in the SOL and not in the Unit at another time during the year. This unit needs to cover the life stories and contributions of three important Americans. In order to introduce the concept of heroes I will include aspects of our current president’s life in the unit and in assessment at the end of the unit. First I will cover Barack Obama’s contributions, then I will cover each of these individuals in sequence by the times in which they lived. The unit will progress as I introduce each new hero of American history in the order in which they appeared in history. This unit will appear in the curriculum after a unit on time, time lines, and how things have changed over time, and will also appear in February close to the time of President’s Day. However this subject is very applicable to lots of themes in social studies so plans could be modified to include this lesson at another time of year as well. This unit will last two weeks, which will give students a chance to get familiar with the concept of heroes and give the teacher an opportunity to introduce each individual and thoroughly examine their contributions. This time allowance will also allow the teacher to provide ample time to assess student understanding and offer differentiation as the need occurs, in addition to planned differentiation within lessons. In the first week students will be introduced to the concept of heroes through media and fine art they are familiar with. I will explain that heroes can be in real life and in movies. I will introduce Barack Obama as a hero they know about in real life. We will spend days 1 and 2 on the concept of heroes and President Obama. Days 3 and 4 will be used for George Washington. Day 5 will be a chance to review the weeks’ lessons and give students who are struggling, an opportunity to catch up and the students who are excelling a chance to explore heroes in a different context. Day 5 will also be used to introduce the Unit Project, which I will explain in detail to students and send a letter home to parents on this day so that parents can help students work on the project over the weekend. Day 6 and 7 will be used to talk about Abraham Lincoln, Days 8 and 9 will be used to talk about Eleanor Roosevelt. On day 9 there will be time for students who need to work with the aid on unit project to do so, and for us to review as a group. Day 10 will be a chance for the class to review the unit with a short unit picture test and with individual projects and to share with the class what they each learned about heroes. Unit Goals Do Goals: TSW discuss aspects of heroes and heroism especially in American culture. TSW use information from print and non-print sources. TSW use a word document to take notes on heroes. TSW open and read an electronic book. TSW practice active listening. Know Goals: TSW list reasons that Barack Obama, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt fit into the category of “hero.” Merz 9 TSW display knowledge of pieces of the lives of Barack Obama, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Understand Goals: TSW understand that heroes face challenges. TSW understand that heroes work to make positive changes in their environments. TSW understand that heroes can exist across all times. TSW understand that heroes use special skills and knowledge from their lives to make changes. Week 1 Superheroes in Real Life (Barack Obama, George Washington) Generalizations Heroes work to make positive changes in their environments Heroes have certain personal characteristics that help them to succeed. Heroes can exist in any time period. Heroes face challenges. Goals TSW discuss aspects of heroes and heroism especially in American culture. TSW list reasons that Barack Obama and George Washington fit into the category of “hero.” TSW display knowledge of pieces of the lives of Barack Obama and George Washington. TSW open and read an electronic book. TSW use information from print and non-print sources. TSW practice active listening. TSW understand heroes work to make positive changes in their environments TSW understand heroes have certain personal characteristics that help them to succeed. TSW understand heroes can exist in any time period. TSW understand heroes face challenges. Objectives Activities Day 1: Topic: Superheroes in Real Life Day 1 Know: TSW list two ways that Activities: heroes are special verbally. Whole group Do: TSW compare and Fine art superhero examples contrast superheroes and real Superman John Williams Theme music life heroes by drawing and The Incredibles film clip labeling an illustration. picture of superheroes in comics Understand: TSW recognize Brainstorm-What makes a superhero special? What do one characteristic that Barack superheroes have that other people don’t have? Obama and a superhero have Introduce Concept and Generalizations in common by stating it Connect to Real Life Hero: Barack Obama verbally. Visit “Times for Kids” website photo album of President Obama’s life and discuss events Merz 10 Day 2 Topic: Barack Obama as a Hero Know: TSW write down two times in Barack Obama’s life when he faced challenges or worked to make positive changes. Do: TSW classify two of Barack Obama’s personal characteristics as “things that help him help other people.” Understand: TSW explain how Barack Obama fits into the category of hero using visual representation. Day 3 Topic: American’s First Hero: George Washington Know: TSW open and read an electronic book using an IPad provided in the classroom. (SOL K-2.2, a.) Do: TSW draw George Washington as though he was a superhero facing one challenge that he actually faced. TSW practice active listening. Understand: TSW recognize that heroes can exist in different time periods. (SOL 1.2) Day 4 Topic: George Washington’s Contributions Know: TSW identify four positive changes George Washington made in the United States. (SOL 1.2) Do: TSW report (to the class) about their drawings from the previous day, including what challenge they chose to draw. Individually Compare/Contrast real heroes with superheroes by illustrating Day 2 Activities Whole Group Review Concept and Generalizations Put Obama on a Unit Timeline on the year 2013 View Youtube.com video on Barack Obama Brainstorm: What characteristics does President Obama have that help him be successful? What challenges did he face in his life? What things has he done to make positive changes? Do you think President Obama is a hero? Cooperative Groups Use magazine images to create a collage/chart/picture clothesline that shows how Barack Obama is a hero. Day 3 Activities Whole Group View fine art representations of George Washington. Make predictions about George Washington’s personal characteristics and challenges he faced In cooperative pairs Use IPads to open and read a passage about George Washington using the electronic version of their textbook, Our World Then and Now out loud to each other. Work cooperatively on a comprehension worksheet taken from the text. Individually Draw George Washington as though he was a superhero facing one challenge that he actually faced. Homework Finish Drawing/Be ready to talk about them next day Day 4 Activities Whole Group Share drawings from previous day with the rest of the class (teacher prompts as necessary). Add George Washington to Unit Timeline at 1789 Make a new timeline of George Washington’s life and challenges using information from the text on a smartboard. Brainstorm using Venn Diagram: What do George Washington and Barack Obama have in common? What is different about them? Did they Merz 11 Understand: TSW recognize through explanation that heroes can do different things, be different people, and live at different times and still have the characteristics of a hero. face similar challenges? Did they make positive contributions? Individually/Cooperative Groupings Write, draw, or chart (students pick based on interest) a comparison of Washington and Obama within the context of American Heroes. Exit Ticket Day 5 Topic: Unit Project/Review Concept Know: TSW list four events in George Washington’s life. (SOL1.2) Do: TSW act out an event from an American Hero’s life. (SOL K-2.2, a.) Understand: TSW apply unit concept and generalizations to the lives of George Washington and Barack Obama. (SOL 1.2) Day 5 Activities Center Groups Interact with George Washington timeline on Smartboard and fill out timeline worksheet. Use dress up station and flipcam to act out and record one event from Barack Obama’s life and one event from George Washington’s life. Read children’s literature at reading station about Barack Obama and George Washington. Whole Group Introduce Final Project. Notes sent home to parents in folders about projects that will be due on the 10th day of the unit. Week 2 Heroes of America (Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt) Generalizations Heroes work to make positive changes in their environments Heroes have certain personal characteristics that help them to succeed. Heroes can exist in any time period. Heroes face challenges. Goals TSW discuss aspects of heroes and heroism especially in American culture. TSW list reasons that Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt fit into the category of “hero.” TSW display knowledge of pieces of the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt. TSW practice active listening. TSW understand heroes work to make positive changes in their environments TSW understand heroes have certain personal characteristics that help them to succeed. TSW understand heroes can exist in any time period. TSW understand heroes face challenges. Objectives Activities Day 6 Topic: Lincoln the Hero Day 6 Know: TSW name 2 major Activities Merz 12 achievements/positive changes made by Abraham Lincoln. (SOL 1.2) Do: TSW construct a “villain group” to use to identify challenges that Lincoln faced. (SOL 1.2) Understand: TSW relate Abraham Lincoln’s struggles and life events to the concept of the American Hero. Day 7 Topic: Specific Characteristics that Helped Lincoln Know: TSW identify personal characteristics of Abraham Lincoln that helped him overcome challenges discussed the day before. (SOL 1.2) Do: TSW practice active listening in cooperative groups. Understand: TSW explain that heroes have existed throughout United States history orally. Day 8 Topic: Women Superheroes (Eleanor Roosevelt) Know: TSW list characteristics that made Eleanor Roosevelt special and helped her succeed. (SOL 1.2) Do: TSW collect information from discussion that Eleanor Roosevelt helped. (SOL 1.2) Understand: TSW recognize that American heroes do not Whole Group Listen to “Lincoln Portrait” excerpt by Aaron Copeland. Make predictions about Lincoln based on Symphony. Read Excerpts from Picture Book “Who Was Abraham Lincoln?” as a class Class discussion Identify challenges Lincoln faced/list on board Discuss challenges, compare briefly to Obama’s and Washington’s challenges Individually Visually connect Lincoln’s challenges with the concept of heroes by depicting at least two of the challenges discussed as comic book villains through drawing, making a chart, or pantomiming. Homework Finish visual villain interpretation Day 7 Activities Whole Group Review challenges Lincoln Faced. Students share visual representations with class. Place Lincoln on Unit Timeline at 1861, work as a group to identify heroes on timeline and make connections. Discuss Lincoln’s personal characteristics using the student textbook. Cooperative Groups Make “hero hats” with groups with hero characteristics printed on the outside of the hats. Day 8 Activities Whole Group Class discussion/Brainstorm What did all the other heroes have in common? Are there only men heroes for the United States? Can you think of any women superheroes? Did those superheroes have the same characterstics? (YES!) Introduce Eleanor Roosevelt by talking about women’s rights (lack of) in the early 1900s Eleanor Roosevelt hero for women and people in trouble place her on Unit timeline for 1933. View pictures of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and of her Merz 13 have to be presidents to help our country. Day 9 Topic: Eleanor Roosevelt/Review Unit Know: TSW list connections between heroes discussed and generalizations made from concept. Do: TSW make last minute preparations for final project tomorrow. TSW review for final test. TSW practice active listening. Understand: TSW apply generalizations to their own lives by writing autobiographical hero picture books. Day 10 Topic: Heroes/Can we be Heroes? Know: TSW verbally list two challenges and two life events of a chosen hero. (SOL 1.2) Do: TSW report projects to class. TSW practice active listening. Understand: TSW classify Barack Obama, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt as heroes based on generalizations and knowledge of individuals. (SOL 1.2) helping people. Could help them because of personal characteristics and position of power Classroom group game of tag outside, one person gets to be Eleanor Roosevelt (it) and tags/freezes “challenges” (students with red bracelets) and tags/sends to “better conditions” (students with green bracelets who give Eleanor their bracelets and then help “frozen” challenges become unfrozen by collecting bracelets). Game ends when students have had a chance to be Eleanor and all bracelets are collected. Day 9 Activities Whole group Review Eleanor Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Barack Obama by looking at the timeline and discussing what we remember. Go over generalizations one more time and apply them to students in the classroom. Play Picture Jeopardy Game to review for final test Individually Students who need more review time have time with aid to review and work on projects and transition to book work. Students who don’t need more review time work on autobiographical hero picture book. Day 10 Activities Individually Take unit tests (picture/word matching test to assess general understanding) Whole Group Students will present their unit projects. Merz 14 Works Cited Chandra, D. (2007). George Washington's Teeth. (Reprint ed.). New York City: Square Fish. Leutze, E. (Artist) (1851). Washington Crossing the Delaware [Print]. Masoff, J. (2005). Our World Then and Now. (Teacher ed.). Waccabuc, NY: Five Ponds Press. Nazar, J. (Designer). 10 Lessons Startups Can Learn from Superheroes: Superheroes Can do it by Themselves but are More Powerful in Teams [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.jasonnazar.com/2008/09/23/10-lessons-startups-can-learn-from-superheros/ Pascal, J. (2008). Who was Abraham Lincoln?. New York City: Grosset & Dunlap. Stuart, G. (Artist). George Washington [Print Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_31_00003.htm TheTrailerGal. (Producer). (2010, February 11). The Incredibles (2004) Trailer [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZbzbC9285I Times for Kids. (2012, August 28). Barack Obama: A life. Retrieved from http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/slideshow/barack-obama-life/44576 Williams, J. (Composer) (2003). The Music of John Williams-40 years of film music [MP3]. Merz 15 Unit Resources Chandra, D. (2007). George Washington's Teeth. (Reprint ed.). New York City: Square Fish. Copeland, A. (Director) (1988). Lincoln Portrait [MP3]. crimsoncg. (Producer). (2007, January 17). Barack Obama Biography [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWl7EGjiGSE Edwards, R. (2009). Who is Barack Obama?. New York City: Grosset & Dunlap. Grimes, N. (2008). Barack Obama: Son of promise, child of hope. (Library Binding ed.). New York City: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Harness, C. (2006). George Washington. (Reprint ed.). New York City: National Geographic Children's Books. Heilbroner, J. (2001). Meet George Washington. (Reissue ed.). New York: Random House Books for Young Readers. Hulton. , & Getty (2013). The Young Eleanor Roosevelt. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1906747_1902044,00.html Leutze, E. (Artist) (1851). Washington Crossing the Delaware [Print]. Masoff, J. (2005). Our World Then and Now. (Teacher ed.). Waccabuc, NY: Five Ponds Press. Nazar, J. (Designer). 10 Lessons Startups Can Learn from Superheroes: Superheroes Can do it by Themselves but are More Powerful in Teams [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.jasonnazar.com/2008/09/23/10-lessons-startups-can-learn-from-superheros/ Obama, B. (2010). Of Thee I Sing: A letter to my daughters. New York City: Alfred A Knopf. Parin D'Aulaire, I., & Parin D'Aulaire, E. (2008). Abraham Lincoln. (Bicentennial ed.). New York City: Beautiful Feet Books. Pascal, J. (2008). Who was Abraham Lincoln?. New York City: Grosset & Dunlap. Stuart, G. (Artist). George Washington [Print Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_31_00003.htm TheTrailerGal. (Producer). (2010, February 11). The Incredibles (2004) Trailer [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZbzbC9285I Times for Kids. (2012, August 28). Barack Obama: A life. Retrieved from http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/slideshow/barack-obama-life/44576 Merz 16 Williams, J. (Composer) (2003). The Music of John Williams-40 years of film music [MP3]. Winters, K. (2006). Abe Lincoln: The boy who loved books. (Reprint ed.). New York City: Aladdin.