Layers of Communities

Submitted by: Michael Feher & Amy Branstetter EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science Nevada State College Spring 2013 Instructor: Karen Powell

Layers of Communities Social Studies Lesson Plan Day 5 Summary of the Lesson Plan: This is a 5th grade history lesson and it will teach the students about the different aspects of communities. This lesson uses the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook United States History (p. 694-695). Target Population: Fifth Grade. All levels Whole group reading, individual assessment. Materials: Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook United States History. Paper, computers, projector, white board, pencil, posters, magazines Objectives: H3.5.2 Recognize that communities include people who have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, and who make contributions to the United States. H3.5.2 I can recognize that multiple things go into making a community. Procedure: 1. Class will read pgs. 694-695 together as a class. The teacher will create a scenario where the classroom is a community. The teacher will explain that we all have different backgrounds but we are all here together as a community now. On a half-sheet of paper, the teacher will have the students write down their traditions for Christmas, if they even celebrate it, what they do, etc. The teacher will read a few of these aloud and show the class that we all have different traditions. 2. Have each student do research on their family background (students will already have begun this). Each student will create a Poster Board about their family background. Class will break into groups of 4 to present their poster. This presentation will include where their family originated from, why they moved to the United States, what foods they eat, what they do for fun, etc. After, one person from each group will present their board to the class (they can cut out pictures form magazines, the internet, or personal family pictures. They will then organize the rest of the information on the poster however theyd like.). The teacher will then close by explaining that all of these different backgrounds make up the United States today.

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Submitted by: Michael Feher

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Layers of Communities Social Studies Lesson Plan Day 5 Assessment: The teacher will assess by the class discussion with the differences in the traditions. The teacher will also assess by the Poster presentations that are presented. Reflection: Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? I think the easiest part of the lesson will be the differences in the traditions. After going over the Christmas traditions, students should clearly see we all do something different. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? The difficult part will be the family background presentation. If the students failed to research this at home, this part of the lesson will be very difficult for them. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? I would follow up by having them go home and talk to their parents about their family background in more depth. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? For students who dont grasp the concept I would help them out by giving them one on one time. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? I might need to send home a note to the parents letting them know we need their help in researching the family background of each student. The student probably wont be able to do this part on his or her own. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? The most difficult part was trying to find an activity that related to the standard.

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Submitted by: Michael Feher

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