Traveling the USA _________________________________ An Interdisciplinary Thematic Learning Unit

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for Course Requirements EDU234 - Interdisciplinary Planning for Children & Family April 22, 2014 Team Members: Sarah Jansen, Rachel Lesko, Ally Lewandowski, & Ashlee Marvin

Table of Contents
Section Title
1.

Page 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 7-8 9 10-11 12-36 37-43 44-46

Introduction & Unit Overview

2.

Enduring Understandings & Authentic Connections

3.

Unit Learning Targets

4.

Unit Alignment to Common Core Standards

5.

Academic Language
6.

Essential Questions
7.

Organizing Center - Planning Wheel

8.

Unit Assessment Plan Unit at a Glance Family Communication

11.

Learning Activities & Lesson Plans

12.

Family Engagement Activities - OPTIONAL

13.

Learning Center Activities - OPTIONAL

Introduction & Unit Overview

This unit was developed by a team of developing education practitioners as a course requirement for EDU 234 Interdisciplinary Planning for Children & Family. The following contains a research project about traveling in the USA. After completing this unit, each student should be able to effectively plan a trip to a chosen city in the United States. Students will be placed into groups of three and will choose a city in the U.S. to travel to from the starting point of Alliance, Ohio. The students will then be asked to work as a team to make a visual aid and present their findings to the class. Each student will also be asked to individually write a research paper of about two pages, on their destination and trip in general. This unit is anchored in fifth grade language arts and involves math and social studies. Students will be expected to meet the content standards for English & Language Arts: Literacy and Writing, and Math Content: Measurement and Data. The content standards may be adjusted for this unit depending on the grade level of the students.

Enduring Understandings / Authentic Connections

Throughout this unit students will learn how to plan a trip to a city in the United States from a specific starting point. The students will also understand how to calculate the distance of their travel in both feet and miles. Using this information, they will then be able to calculate how long their driving trip will take them to reach their destination. The students will also be able to calculate the amount of money they will need to travel. They will learn how to use different sources when researching information about their specific city. They will also take into consideration how to prioritize what to pack based on the destinations climate and how to plan what tourist attractions they would be interested in seeing while there. Overall, the students should learn the necessary skills to plan a trip in general and gain new experiences with the different cultures of states along the way.

Unit Learning Targets

Students will be able to do the following at the end of the unit: Researching with Textbooks When given a textbook, students will be able to annotate and highlight key words/phrases of the work. When given a textbook, students will be able to use the references in the work (ex. index, table of contents, glossary, etc.) to find specific pages and information quickly and efficiently. Math By the end of this lesson the students will be able to convert the distance it is from one point to another in feet and miles, and vice versa. Students will be able to calculate the exact amount of money they will need when traveling to another state to the exact mile. Students will be able to figure out the expected time needed to travel from a starting point to the planned destination. Writing After completing the lesson plan, students will be able to plan a written outline of a research paper with support and guidance from the teacher. Researching with Online Websites/Articles Students will be able to find online resources that will provide accurate and useful information for a given project. Students will be able to correctly use the online Citation Machine resource to cite all of their resources used for their project. Students will know the following at the end of the unit: The state flower of the state they are traveling to The state flag of the state they are traveling to The weather of the state they are traveling to in April

Unit Alignment to Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 5 here.)

Academic Language

Annotate Skim Index Table of Contents Glossary Resource Reliable Research Paper Outline Introduction Paragraph Body Paragraph Conclusion Paragraph Inches Feet Yard Miles per gallon Miles per hour

Essential Questions

How do I plan a trip? How do I research reliable and relevant information (when planning a trip)? How do I gather information from multiple sources to help write a research paper?

Unit At A Glance
Day 1 Introduce Research Project Math Lesson (Day 1): Miles to feet conversion & how long it takes to reach destination (Ashlee Lesson Plan) Day 4 Research in Textbooks Lesson (Day 2): References in Textbooks and how to use them for research & Library independent research session (Ally Lesson Plan) Day 7 Group work day: Students will have time to finish up their research and work on their visual aid for their final presentation Day 2 Math Lesson (Day 2): Amount of gas needed for trip & amount of money needed for gas (Ashlee Lesson Plan) Day 5 Online Research (Day 1): learning reliable sites for research & finding reliable sites in groups (Sarah Lesson Plan) Day 8 Writing Research Papers (Day 1): Writing outlines for research papers & modeling how to make them (Rachel Lesson Plan) Day 11 Research paper work day: Students will bring in a rough draft of their final paper and will peer edit with their groups Day 3 Research in Textbooks Lesson (Day 1): Learning how to annotate and take notes for research (Ally Lesson Plan) Day 6 Online Research (Day 2): How to cite online resources & online research time for project (Sarah Lesson Plan) Day 9 Writing Research Papers (Day 2): Use strategies learned for making outlines and create own outline for final paper (Rachel Lesson Plan) Day 12 In class Presentations on final project

Day 10 Group work day: Students will have time to finish up their visual aid for their final presentation

Day 13 Final copy of research paper due

Learning Activities

Family Engagement Activities

Learning Center Activities