Unit Plan Template Unit Author First and Last Name Author's E-mail Address School District School Name School Address Lisa Brown librown@esc5.net PNGISD Groves Elementary 3901 Cleveland School City, State, Zip Groves, TX, 77619 School Phone 409-962-1531 If your Unit Portfolio is chosen to be uploaded to the Intel Teach to the Future database, do you want your name displayed as the author? Yes No Unit Overview Unit Plan Title The Lone Star Curriculum-Framing Questions Essential Question Where in the world am I? Unit Questions Unit Summary What do I like about our state? What do I like about our city? Where is our state located on a United States map? When we think of Texas, what are some of the symbols that remind us of our state? What are some places you might like to visit in Texas? This is a social studies unit on Texas created for use with students within a Life Skills/Special Education setting. Its purpose is to help these students develop pride and awareness of their city and state. The students will demonstrate understanding of the concepts presented through participation in a group multimedia project, by assisting in the creation of a brochure, and assisting in the development of an interactive website. The procedures and activities within the unit may be adapted to meet the needs of each student as indicated by the IEP. Subject Area(s) (Click boxes of all subjects that apply) Business Education Engineering Home Economics Drama Foreign Language Industrial Technology Functional Living Skills with support from Microsoft 2000 Intel Corporation. All Rights Reserved 1
Language Arts Music School to Career Social Studies Math Physical Education Science Technology Grade Level (Click boxes of all grade levels that apply) K-2 6-8 ESL Gifted and Talented 3-5 9-12 Resource Life Skills (any grade level) Student Objectives/Learning Outcomes The students will work as a group to assist the teacher in developing a PowerPoint presentation that will demonstrate their knowledge of Texas symbols. The students will work as a group to assist the teacher in creating a brochure that highlights points of interest and/or special events in their city. The students will assist the teacher in the development of a web page that showcases special cities in Texas. Targeted State Frameworks/Content Standards/Benchmarks with support from Microsoft 2000 Intel Corporation. All Rights Reserved 2
113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (a) Introduction (4) Throughout social studies in Kindergarten-Grade 12, students build a foundation in history; geography; economics; government; citizenship; culture; science, technology, and society; and social studies skills. The content, as appropriate for the grade level or course, enables students to understand the importance of patriotism, function in a free enterprise society, and appreciate the basic democratic values of our state and nation as referenced in the Texas Education Code, 28.002(h). (4.17) Citizenship. The student understands important customs, symbols, and celebrations of Texas. (A) explain the meaning of selected patriotic symbols and landmarks of Texas (4.23) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. (C) express ideas orally based on research and experiences (D) create written and visual material such as journal entries, reports, graphic organizers, outlines, and bibliographies 126.3. Technology Applications, Grades 3-5. Foundations. The student uses data input skills appropriate to the task. (A) use a variety of input devices such as mouse, keyboard, disk drive, modem, voice/sound recorder, scanner, digital video, CD-ROM, or touch screen (C) demonstrate touch keyboarding techniques for operating the alphabetic, numeric, punctuation, and symbol keys as grade-level appropriate Information acquisition. The student acquires electronic information in a variety of formats, with appropriate supervision. (A) acquire information including text, audio, video, and graphics 110.6. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 4 (4.1) Listening/speaking/purposes. The student listens actively and purposefully in a variety of settings. (A) determine the purposes for listening such as to gain information, to solve problems, or to enjoy and appreciate (4-8) (4.2) Listening/speaking/critical listening. The student listens critically to analyze and evaluate a speaker's message(s). (A) interpret speakers' messages (both verbal and nonverbal), purposes, and perspectives (4-8) Procedures Week 1 with support from Microsoft 2000 Intel Corporation. All Rights Reserved 3
During the first two weeks of the unit, the students will become aware that Texas is a state that is part of the United States and will be presented with information on Texas symbols. Map study activities will enable the students to recognize the state of Texas and locate Texas on a U.S. map. Provide practice with various printed maps, atlases, maps on an encyclopedia CD-ROM, and maps on-line. Introduce symbols of Texas using hot list of sites to search for information and with the activities listed. (text mentioned is Texas by Brenda Burdine Thornton) 1. State flag Choose from activities on pp. 62-68. Students will also construct/color their own Texas flag. 2. State tree- pecan Choose from activities on pp.78-82. Walk school neighborhood to point out pecan trees. Have students shell and taste pecans. Class will bake a pecan pie using a recipe with picture symbols. 3. State flower- bluebonnet- Choose from activities pp. 84-90. Provide photos of bluebonnets. Read Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie de Paola. Plan a trip in the spring to area gardens with bluebonnets in bloom. 4. State bird mockingbird Choose from activities pp. 107-114. Provide pictures of mockingbirds. Have students look for mockingbirds when outdoors. 5. Nickname The Lone Star State Choose from activities on pp. 115-120. Teacher made worksheets/ activities may be included to meet the specific educational needs of the students. Week 2 Begin the week by reviewing information previously presented on Texas symbols. Use book marked internet sites, books from library, Texas Travel Guides, and the Virtual Reality CD- ROM guide to Texas to provide additional practice for students in identifying symbols. At the end of the week, the students will assist in the development of a PowerPoint presentation by choosing the correct image to insert in a teacher made slide created for each symbol. Images will be accessed from a special folder on the desktop. Teacher will assist as needed. Week 3 Students will be presented with information concerning their city and school communities. Students will also locate their hometown on a state map. Present facts and information on city using brochures and booklets available from the Chamber of Commerce and through community based instruction trips. Places to visit include: City Hall, Police Department, Fire Department, Post Office, Library, City Parks, and the site of the Texas Pecan Festival. Digital photos and information from discussions on these trips will be needed for the publishing project. Another activity involves gathering information on the school. This can be achieved through an interview with the school principal. Provide interview form for students. At the end of the week students will work with the teacher to create a brochure that highlights points of interest in the city. Teacher will provide a brochure template for students. Students contribute by responding to questions, providing input, and choosing the correct graphic from the image folder on the desktop. Week 4 Review material previously presented. Have students locate Texas on a U.S. map and with support from Microsoft 2000 Intel Corporation. All Rights Reserved 4
Groves on a Texas map. Explain to students that Groves is just one of many cities in Texas. Display map with Texas cities and use Texas Travel Guide, Virtual Reality CD-ROM Guide to Texas, and TravelTex.com to explore the many cities in Texas. Point out Austin as capital, Houston as Texas largest city, and San Antonio with its many attractions as interesting places to visit. Conduct teacher-led research to explore these cities using all resources available. Students will use the information collected to assist the teacher in the development of a web page showcasing interesting cities in Texas. Web page will include an introductory page, one page per city, and a survey page. Students will choose graphics and will observe the teacher using correct permissions procedure for copyrighted material (images and links). Weeks 5-6 Continue teacher-led web page project. Make plans to keep track of data collected from web page survey. The following should be used as culminating activities or throughout the year for reinforcement and maintenance: Students will create a license plate using symbols of Texas. Teacher will provide template using Publisher and folder with images of symbols. Group project creating a brochure advertising Texas as a great place to visit. Teacher will provide template and folder on desktop with images. Students will create a welcome sign for Groves using teacher made template made with Publisher. Students will participate in a class video telling what each like best about Texas. Display student work. Invite parents to see the student multimedia project and web page. Have students serve refreshments. (Pecan pie would be nice!) Approximate Time Needed (Example: 45 minutes, 4 hours, 1 year, etc.) 4-6 weeks Prerequisite Skills Visual discrimination skills, listening skills, mouse skills, beginning geography/map skills Materials and Resources Required For Unit Technology Hardware (Click boxes of all equipment needed.) Camera Computer(s) Digital Camera DVD Player Internet Connection Laser Disk Printer Projection System Scanner Television VCR Video Camera Video Conferencing Equip. Technology Software (Click boxes of all software needed.) Database/Spreadsheet Desktop Publishing E-mail Software Encyclopedia on CD-ROM Image Processing Internet Web Browser Multimedia Web Page Development Word Processing with support from Microsoft 2000 Intel Corporation. All Rights Reserved 5
Printed Materials and Teaching Aids Supplies Various printed maps of Texas and the United States Texas curriculum at appropriate level such as Texas, A PCI Early Childhood Curriculum by Brenda Burdine Thornton, PCI Educational Publishing Teacher made worksheets as needed for reinforcement Texas State Travel Guide from the Texas Department of Transportation, Travel Division A Virtual Reality CD-ROM Guide to Texas from the Texas Department of Economic Development, Tourism Division City brochures Books from school or public library about Texas The Legend of the Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas Tomie de Paola Images folder on computer desktop Basic art supplies- crayons, construction paper, scissors, glue Pecans, ingredients for recipe, access to oven or kitchen Internet Resources http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us http://traveltex.com http://www.state.tx.us http://www.jsc.nasa.gov Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction Resource Student This unit is designed for students with special educational needs and may be adapted as needed depending on the abilities of the student and as indicated by the IEP. Gifted Student This unit may be adapted for gifted students at the primary levels. Such adaptations may include the adding of text as well as graphics to the multimedia presentation and conducting research using a CD-ROM encyclopedia. Students with advanced technology skills can be encouraged to work independently or in small groups. Page 6 of 7
Student Assessment Key Word Search Students will be graded using a PowerPoint assessment tool specifically designed to evaluate knowledge of content. The students will also be evaluated on cooperation and contribution to the project. Students will be graded using a Publication assessment tool designed to evaluate knowledge of content and participation in the project. Students will be evaluated using a Web Page assessment tool that gives points for content knowledge and participation in this teacher-led project. Texas, Groves, bluebonnet, mockingbird, pecan tree, Houston, Austin, San Antonio Page 7 of 7