Step One: Identify the Title and Core Concept
Name of Project: / Freedom Fighters / Duration: 3-4 weeks
Subject/Course: Social Studies/ELA / Teacher(s): Foley, Meloling, Reichel, Park-Cunningham / Grade Level: 4th Grade
Other subject areas to be included, if any:
Technology, Math (miles covered and time period/length/duration)
An historical digital map of New Yorker’s fight for freedom : A Study in the search of freedom and a call for change.
(Unit Topic) (core concept)
Step Two: Identifying Standards to Be Addressed
Significant Content
(CCSS and/or others) / Social Studies:
4.5 IN SEARCH OF FREEDOM AND A CALL FOR CHANGE: Different groups of people did not have equal
rights and freedoms. People worked to bring about change. The struggle for rights and freedoms was one factor
in the division of the United States that resulted in the Civil War.
4.5a There were slaves in New York State. People worked to fight against slavery and for change.
Students will examine life as a slave in New York State.
Students will investigate people who took action to abolish slavery, including Samuel Cornish, Fredrick
Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Tubman.
4.RI
2. Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
3. Explain events, ideas, or concepts in a historical text,including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
7. Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
9. Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
4.W:
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
a. Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
c. Link ideas within categories of information using words and phrases (e.g., another, for example, also, because).
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
6. With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.
7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
SL:
- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.
5. Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
21st Century
Competencies
(to be taught and assessed) / Collaboration: Throughout all pieces (Teach/Assess)
RUBRIC Collaboration
RUBRIC: Collaboration SELF-ASSESSMENT / x / Creativity & Innovation:
Communication (Oral Presentations): Throughout all pieces (Teach/Assess)
RUBRIC Presentation-Communication
RUBRIC: Presentation SELF-ASSESSMENT / x / Critical Thinking:
Project Summary
(include student role, issue, problem, or challenge, action taken, and purpose/beneficiary) /
- Students will examine the life of a slave in New York State.
- Students will investigate people who took action to abolish slavery, including Samuel Cornish, Fredrick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Tubman.
- Students will research historical New York State sites that support the search for freedom and the call for change. (Presentations/presentation boards)
- Virtual or actual fieldtrips to local sites (Jerry Rescue, Tubman House, Syr. Church)
- Local historians will be invited in to speak/present to the student’s information relative to the call for freedom.
- Students will develop a personal and community awareness of New Yorkers who were individual agents for change in equality and freedom.
- Students will create a digital map of the historical sites in New York State with a menu of information. This information will include a brief history, photo of the site, and a link to the site that also shows opportunities to donate or show support for each site.
How can students make an impact on the future of continued freedoms….moving forward?
Driving Question
- Philosophical or Debatable
- Product-Oriented
- Role-Oriented
Guiding Questions: / What makes someone a leader of change?
Who are the NYS leaders of change?
How do leaders impact others?
How can one person make a difference?
Key Academic Vocabulary: / abolish, slavery, suffrage, rights, activist, voice, leader, influence, platform, vote, community, state, nation, local, point-of-view, position, logical, defend, compelling, argument, persuasive, biography, chronological order, influence
Entry Event
(The Foyer) / Show video-examples of when freedom had been denied to others. Then show people who took action to advocate for equal rights to bring about change. Share the book or video-Henry’s Freedom Box. How would you feel if you lived during a time when….
Product(s) and/or Performance(s)
(The Kitchen) / Individual:
Contribution to the digital map research:
- Monuments-Historical Sites
- People-Freedom Fighters
- Rallies, Speeches, events
- Freedom Trail
SS: 4.5.a
RI: 2, 3, 7, 9
W: 2,4,5,6,7,8
SL: 1, 4
- Collaboration Self-Assessment: RUBRIC: Collaboration SELF-ASSESSMENT
- Presenting Self-Assessment: RUBRIC: Presentation SELF-ASSESSMENT
Team:
NYS Interactive Historical Google Map
& Present / Specific content and competencies to be assessed:
SS: 4.5.a
W: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
SL: 1, 4, 5
21st Century Skills: Communication/Presenting & Collaboration
- Communication: RUBRIC Presentation-Communication
- Collaboration: RUBRIC Collaboration
Step Three: Develop Your Learning Window
Knowledge Goals
(Facts, sequences, and vocabulary terms-list terms under “Key Academic Vocabulary) / Behavioral Goals/Habits of Mind
(Habits of mind/attitudes that will foster success in the unit)
Behavioral Goals:
- Students will examine life as a slave in New York State.
- Students will investigate people who took action to abolish slavery.
1. Persisting
2. Managing Impulsivity
3. Listening with Understanding and Empathy
4. Thinking Flexibly
5. Thinking about Thinking (Metacognition)
6. Striving for Accuracy
7. Questioning and Posing Problems
8. Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
9. Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision
10.Gathering Data through All Senses
11.Creating, Imagining, Innovating
13.Taking Responsible Risks
16.Remaining Open to Continuous Learning:
Understanding Goals
(Big ideas, generalizations, principles) / Skill-Acquisition Goals
(Targeted skills and/or Hidden Skills of Academic Literacy)
Reading & Study Skills:
Reasoning & Analysis Skills:
Production & Communication Skills:
Reflection & Relating Skills:
Project Overview / Thoughtful Classroom
Public Audience
(Experts, audiences, or product users students will engage with during/at end of project)
(The Kitchen) / Video conference with other classrooms 4th grade classrooms
Local community organizations and historians
On-line audiences around the world
Present at ESM Expo or ESMTV
Resources Needed / On-site people, facilities:
Equipment:
Materials:
Community Resources:
Websites/WEB 2.0 Tools:
Reflective Methods
(Individual, Team, and/or Whole Class)
(The Porch) / Journal/Learning Log / x / Focus Group
Whole-Class Discussion / x / Fishbowl Discussion
Survey / Other: / X
Notes:
Project Design: student Learning Guide
Final Product(s)
Presentations, Performances, Products and/or Services
(The Kitchen) / Learning Outcomes/Targets
content & 21st century competencies
needed by students to successfully
complete products
(CCSS: I Can Statements) / Checkpoints/Formative Assessments
to check for learning and ensure
students are on track
(The Workshop & Porch) / Instructional Strategies for All Learners
provided by teacher, other staff, experts; includes
scaffolds, materials, lessons aligned to learning outcomes and formative assessments
(The Library & Workshop)
INDIVIDUAL:
Contribution to the digital map research
SS: 4.5.a
RI: 2, 3, 7, 9
W: 2,4,5,6,7,8
SL: 1, 4
Collaboration Self-Assessment:
Presenting Self-Assessment / SS:
- I can investigate people who took action to bring about change.
- I can understand that women in the 1800s did not have the same rights as men.
- I can understand what life was like for slaves in NYS.
- I can investigate people who took action to abolish slavery.
RI4
- I can figure out the main idea in nonfiction by thinking about the details in the text. RI.4.2
- I can explain why and how events, procedures, ideas or concepts in historical texts happened by using the information presented. RI.4.3
- I can interpret and use information from charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations or other internet presentations to understand nonfiction. RI.4.7
- I can combine information from two texts on the same topic to write or speak about the subject. RI 4.9
W4:
- I can clearly write to inform and to explain my ideas. W.4.2
- I can produce clear, developed and organized writing. W.4.4
- I can write for different purposes, audiences and topics. W.4.4
- I can plan, revise and edit my writing with the help of peers and adults. W.4.5
- I can use technology to create pieces of writing and to interact and share ideas with others. W.4.6
- I can conduct short research projects to help me learn about topics. W.4.7
- I can research and use what I have experienced to gather information. W.4.8
- I can take notes to help me organize the research in my writing. W.4.8
- I can provide a list of sources that I used for gathering information. W.4.8
SL:
- I can effectively participate in different types of discussions and with different people. SL.4.1
- I can build on others’ ideas and express my own ideas clearly. SL.4.1
- I can come to discussions prepared to participate because I have studied appropriate materials. SL.4.1
- I can use my preparation to explore new ideas about a topic during a discussion. SL.4.1
- I can follow agreed-upon rules for discussion and carry out my assigned role. SL.4.1
- I can ask and answer questions to help me understand discussions, stay on topic, and that contribute to others’ ideas and remarks. SL.4.1
- I can think about what is discussed and explain any new thinking that I have. SL.4.1
- I can paraphrase text read aloud or information presented to me. SL.4.2
- I can report on a topic or tell a story with correct and appropriate facts and details to support my main idea. SL.4.4
- I can speak clearly and at an understandable pace. SL.4.4
- I can create engaging audio recordings or visual displays to help me show main ideas or themes when necessary. SL.4.5
Collaboration:
- I can self-reflect on how I work collaboratively with my group.
- I can cooperate with my teammates .
- I am kind and do the work I need to do for my team.
- Weekly Self-Reflection Rubric
Communication:
- I can communicate my research with my group.
Project Design: student Learning Guide
Final Product(s)
Presentations, Performances, Products and/or Services
(The Kitchen) / Learning Outcomes/Targets
content & 21st century competencies
needed by students to successfully
complete products
(CCSS: I Can Statements) / Checkpoints/Formative Assessments
to check for learning and ensure
students are on track
(The Workshop & Porch) / Instructional Strategies for All Learners
provided by teacher, other staff, experts; includes
scaffolds, materials, lessons aligned to learning outcomes and formative assessments
(The Library & Workshop)
TEAM:
SS: 4.5.a
W: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
SL: 1, 4, 5
21st Century Skills:
Communication / Presenting
Collaboration / SS:
- I can investigate people who took action to bring about change.
- I can understand that women in the 1800s did not have the same rights as men.
- I can understand what life was like for slaves in NYS.
- I can investigate people who took action to abolish slavery.
W4:
- I can clearly write to inform and to explain my ideas. W.4.2
- I can produce clear, developed and organized writing. W.4.4
- I can write for different purposes, audiences and topics. W.4.4
- I can plan, revise and edit my writing with the help of peers and adults. W.4.5
- I can use technology to create pieces of writing and to interact and share ideas with others. W.4.6
- I can conduct short research projects to help me learn about topics. W.4.7
- I can research and use what I have experienced to gather information. W.4.8
- I can take notes to help me organize the research in my writing. W.4.8
- I can provide a list of sources that I used for gathering information. W.4.8
SL:
Communication & Presenting (See Rubric)
- I can effectively participate in different types of discussions and with different people. SL.4.1
- I can build on others’ ideas and express my own ideas clearly. SL.4.1
- I can come to discussions prepared to participate because I have studied appropriate materials. SL.4.1
- I can use my preparation to explore new ideas about a topic during a discussion. SL.4.1
- I can follow agreed-upon rules for discussion and carry out my assigned role. SL.4.1
- I can ask and answer questions to help me understand discussions, stay on topic, and that contribute to others’ ideas and remarks. SL.4.1
- I can think about what is discussed and explain any new thinking that I have. SL.4.1
- I can paraphrase text read aloud or information presented to me. SL.4.2
- I can report on a topic or tell a story with correct and appropriate facts and details to support my main idea. SL.4.4
- I can speak clearly and at an understandable pace. SL.4.4
- I can create engaging audio recordings or visual displays to help me show main ideas or themes when necessary. SL.4.5
Collaboration: (See Rubric)
- We can collaborate and cooperate as a team to get the job done.
- We respect each other’s ideas and have empathy for our team mates.
- We can work together to make sure everyone in the team has equal amounts of work and contributions to the project.
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© 2014 BIE/Thoughtful Classroom Adaptation
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© 2013 Buck Institute for Education