Kindergarten
Social Studies
Unit: 11
Lesson: 03
Suggested Duration: 3 Days
Cumpliendo tareas: Pasado y futuro
Lesson Synopsis:
In this lesson, students focus on specific tasks that have changed because of technology. They compare the task of
writing and mailing a letter to the task of sending an e-mail.
TEKS:
K.3
K.3A
K.3B
History. The student understands the concept of chronology. The student is expected to:
Place events in chronological order.
Use vocabulary related to time and chronology, including before, after, next, first, last, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Social Studies Skills TEKS:
K.13
K.13A
K.13B
K.13C
K.14
K.14A
K.14B
K.15
K.15A
K.15B
Science, technology, and society. The student understands ways technology is used in the home and school and
how technology affects people's lives. The student is expected to:
Identify examples of technology used in the home and school.
Describe how technology helps accomplish specific tasks and meet people's needs.
Describe how his or her life might be different without modern technology.
Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a
variety of valid sources including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
Obtain information about a topic using a variety of valid oral sources such as conversations, interviews, and music.
Obtain information about a topic using a variety of valid visual sources such as pictures, symbols, electronic media, print
material, and artifacts.
Social studies skills. The student communicates in oral and visual forms. The student is expected to:
Express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences.
Create and interpret visuals, including pictures and maps.
GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION
Performance Indicator(s):

Create a three-part picture showing a task being accomplished in the past and in the present and predicting how it
might be accomplished in the future. Describe each picture in writing. (K.3A, K.3B; K.13A, K.13B, K.13C; K.14A,
K.14B, K.15A, K.15B)
1C
Key Understandings and Guiding Questions:

Las personas crean, usan y dependen de la tecnología para resolver problemas y mejorar nuestro mundo.
— ¿Cómo las personas crean, usan y dependen de la tecnología?
— ¿Cómo la tecnología ayuda a resolver problemas y a mejorar nuestro mundo?
Vocabulary of Instruction:

tarea

tecnología

problemas
Materials:

Refer to the Notes for Teacher section for materials.
Attachments:

Teacher Resource: Sample Parent Letter
©2012, TESCCC
05/10/13
page 1 of 5
Kindergarten
Social Studies
Unit: 11 Lesson: 03
Resources and References:

Use local resources and references as appropriate.
Advance Preparation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Become familiar with content and procedures for the lesson.
Refer to the Instructional Focus Document for specific content to include in the lesson.
Select appropriate sections of the textbook and other classroom materials that support the learning for this lesson.
Ask parents to send a postage stamp to be used on Day 1. Make this request at least a week in advance.
Have a computer with email access available.
Prepare materials and handouts as needed.
Background Information:
Technology helps us to accomplish tasks and has changed the way many tasks are accomplished. Change is often
prompted by the desire to solve a problem, and the result is often an improvement in our world. Advances in technology
enable us to accomplish a task faster, easier, and more efficiently. We have become dependent on technology in many
aspects of our lives.
GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION SUPPLEMENTAL PLANNING DOCUMENT
Instructors are encouraged to supplement and substitute resources, materials, and activities to differentiate instruction to address the needs of learners.
The Exemplar Lessons are one approach to teaching and reaching the Performance Indicators and Specificity in the Instructional Focus
Document for this unit. Instructors are encouraged to create original lessons using the Content Creator in the Tools Tab located at the top of the page.
All originally authored lessons can be saved in the “My CSCOPE” Tab within the “My Content” area.
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
Instructional Procedures
Notes for Teacher
ENGAGE – How Tasks Have Changed.
1. Display concrete objects to illustrate how tasks and tools have
changed. Place objects in a box or behind a larger object and
uncover them one at a time, beginning with the older object.
2. Ask students to predict the technology (tool) that improved the
way a task is completed before you reveal the newer tool.
3. Conclude that even though some of the changes that have
occurred are very minor changes, they can make a big
difference in our lives.
4. Ask:
 What would life be like without technology? How
would it be different? Answers will vary, but should
include that technology makes our lives easier and in
some ways better.
NOTE: 1 Day = 30 minutes
Suggested Day 1 – 5 minutes
Materials: (suggested objects for display:
 electric pencil sharpener, manual pencil
sharpener
 electric can opener, manual can opener
 small hand-held vacuum, dust pan and broom
 pencil and paper, computer
 record album, CD or ipod
 spoon in a bowl or whisk or hand-held egg
beater, electric mixer
 mercury thermometer, digital thermometer
 analog clock; digital clock
Purpose:
 The purpose of the section is for students to
recognize how much change has occurred in
simple tasks.
TEKS: K.3A; K.3B; K.13A; K.13B; K.13C; K.14A;
K.14B; K.15A; K.15B
EXPLORE – Steps in completing a task
1. Display a letter, a school newsletter, and a bill.
2. Ask:
 What are these? Answers may vary. They are all ways to
communicate in writing.
3. Explain that communication has come a long way in the past
few hundred years. Show a picture of mail stagecoach, the
©2012, TESCCC
05/10/13
Suggested Day 1 (continued) – 8 minutes
Purpose:
 The purpose of this section is for students to use
the task of writing a letter to illustrate how
technology makes even simple tasks easier and
less time consuming.
TEKS: K.3A; K.3B; K.14A; K.14B; K.15A; K.15B
page 2 of 5
Kindergarten
Social Studies
Unit: 11 Lesson: 03
Instructional Procedures
Notes for Teacher
pony express, and the telegraph. While each of these
inventions helped communication get to the intended person
quicker, the invention of automobiles (mail trucks) and
airplanes (air mail) have made mailing a letter much faster than
the pony express days.
Instructional Note:
 Display the timeline for writing and mailing a
letter using a visual, such as the example below.
4. With students, create a timeline of the steps for writing and
mailing a letter. Model using appropriate vocabulary for
chronology and time. Timeline should include:
 Get paper and pencil and an envelope.
 Write the letter.
 Fold the letter.
 Address the envelope.
 Place a stamp on the envelope.
 Take the envelope to a mailbox and mail it.
 After the letter is mailed, it takes one or more days for
it to arrive in the person’s mailbox.
5. Ask:
 Is there another way we could send a letter or written
message to someone? Students brainstorm ideas.
Responses may include e-mail, text message, etc.
6. Ask:
 Which do you predict is faster, mailing a letter or an
electronic message? Obvious answer is technology.
EXPLAIN – Composing the letter
1. As a group, students compose a sample letter explaining this
unit of study and asking parents to share one task that has
changed over time that has changed their lives. The teacher
scribes the letter as the students offer ideas.
2. Students write/dictate their own letters to their parents,
following the class example. (Teachers may also provide a
copy of the letter with “fill in the blanks” for students who have
difficulty writing the entire letter.)
3. Students address envelopes and mail letters. Teacher
Resource: Sample Parent Letter can be used as a model
letter or copied for students who cannot write their own.
4. Students follow the timeline developed earlier by placing the
letter in the envelope, putting a stamp on the letter, and
walking the letter to the school office (or mailbox) to mail
letters.
5. Return to the classroom. Students turn and tell a partner the
seven steps of writing and mailing a letter.
©2012, TESCCC
05/10/13
Suggested Day 1 (continued) – 15 minutes
Materials:
 handwriting paper (1 sheet per student)
 envelope (1 per student)
 stamp (1 per student)
Attachments:
 Teacher Resource: Sample Parent Letter
Purpose:
 The purpose of this section is for students to
follow the process of writing and sending a
letter.
TEKS: K.13A; K.13B; K.13C; K.14A; K.14B; K.15A
Instructional Note:
 Students report when the letters arrive at their
homes. As they arrive, the teacher will make a
tally mark on the graph showing how long it took
the letters to be delivered
Mailed letters
Letters arrived
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
page 3 of 5
Kindergarten
Social Studies
Unit: 11 Lesson: 03
Instructional Procedures
Notes for Teacher
ENGAGE – Writing a letter vs. email
Suggested Day 2 – 10 minutes
Materials:
 computer with access to email
1. Choose an electronic form of delivery – such as email - to send
a message to parents.
2. Projecting the email for the class to see, demonstrate the steps
of writing and sending an e-mail.
3. In the email, tell parents that their child has hand-written a
letter and mailed it to their home address. Explain that the
letters are on their way and students will send another email to
share the results of the graph they create that reflects how long
it takes for the letters to arrive. Press the “Send” key and ask:
 How long did it take the e-mail to arrive in your
parents’ “inbox”? Instantly
4. Create a time line reflecting the steps in writing an email, just
as you did for writing a letter, using a similar sequencing
graphic organizer.
Purpose:
 The purpose of this section is for students to
compare the task of writing a letter with sending
an email.
TEKS: K.3A; K.3B; K.13A; K.13B; K.13C; K.14A;
K.14B; K.15A; K.15B
Instructional Note:
Emailed msg.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Email arrived
5. Ask students to compare the steps. Which is quicker? Which
is more personal? What would they prefer to get… an email or
a letter?
EXPLORE – Technology is created, used and depended
upon
1. Ask:
 How did technology such as email or text messaging
come to be? Students brainstorm ideas.
2. Although we might not know the exact process, it probably
started with someone who had a problem – maybe someone
needing to send written communication more quickly than
mailing a letter. That person probably shared his/her idea with
others. The idea was most likely developed and created by
several people. Now many people use email as a way to
communicate in writing with others. It arrives more quickly and
it takes less time to complete the task. A small problem was
solved using technology.
Suggested Day 2 (continued) – 10 minutes
Purpose:
 The purpose of this section is for students to
compare the task of writing a letter with sending
an email.
TEKS: K.13A; K.13B; K.13C; K.14B; K.15A
3. Another example of a use for email is to send classroom
newsletters. Ask:
 Whose parents receive the newsletter by email? Many
probably do.
 We depend on email. What would happen if the
newsletter didn’t arrive? Parents would not receive
important information about the activities of the class.
Someone might not know to bring a permission slip for a
field trip or money for lunch.
4. Conclude with these or similar statements/questions:
 Someone created email; now many people use it and
we depend on it to communicate with other people
©2012, TESCCC
05/10/13
page 4 of 5
Kindergarten
Social Studies
Unit: 11 Lesson: 03
Instructional Procedures

Notes for Teacher
every day.
Would our lives be different without the convenience
of email? Yes
EXPLAIN – Making Predictions
1. Students work in pairs to answer this question:
 What might written communication look like in the
future?
Suggested Day 2 (continued) – 5 min
Purpose:
 The purpose of the section is for students to
predict how communication might be
accomplished in the future.
2. Pairs share their predictions with the class.
TEKS: K.13A, K.13B, K.13.C; K.15A
ELABORATE – Key Understandings and Guiding
Questions
1. Facilitate a discussion focusing on Key Understandings and
Guiding Questions:
 People create, use, and depend on technology in order to
solve problems and improve our world.
 How do people create, use, and depend on
technology?
 How does technology help solve problems and
improve our world?
Suggested Day 2 (continued) – 5 minutes
Purpose:
 The purpose of this section is for students to
demonstrate an understanding of how
technology might help solve problems in our
world.
ELABOARATE – How tasks have changed
Suggested Day 3 – 5 minutes
Materials:
 letters returned from parents
1. Some of the letters should have been returned to school with
parents’ tasks written at the bottom. Read aloud the tasks to
find out how parents lives have improved because of
technology changing one task.
2. Facilitate a discussion about the tasks and how our world has
improved. Students brainstorm other tasks.
TEKS: K.3A; K.3B; K.13A; K.13B; K.13C; K.14A;
K.14B; K.15A; K.15B
Purpose:
 The purpose of this section is for students to
explore other tasks that have improved lives.
TEKS: K.3B, K.13A, K.13B, K.13C; K.14A; K.14B;
K.15A
EVALUATE – Demonstrate Mastery

Create a three-part picture showing a task being
accomplished in the past and in the present and predicting
how it might be accomplished in the future. Describe each
picture in writing. (K.3A, K.3B; K.13A, K.13B, K.13C; K.14A,
K.14B, K.15A, K.15B)
1C
Suggested Day 3 (continued) – 25 minutes
Materials:
 12 X 18 piece of paper (1 sheet per student)
Purpose:
 The purpose of this section is for students to
demonstrate learning by completing the
Performance Indicator.
1. Distribute paper.
TEKS: K.3A; K.3B; K.13A; K.13B; K.13C; K.14A;
K.14B; K.15A; K.15B
2. Students choose a task to illustrate.
3. The first picture should show how the task was accomplished
in the past. The second pictures should show how it is
accomplished in the present. The third picture should show a
prediction of how it might be accomplished in the future.
©2012, TESCCC
05/10/13
Instructional Note:
 Demonstrate how to fold paper into thirds or fold
paper ahead of time:
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