Social Studies Lesson Plan
Lesson Topic: Florida from 1900-1945: An Overview
Grade Level: 4th Grade
Goals and Standards: The student will learn about Florida in the 1920’s through the end of WWII, specifically about the land boom and bust, the Great Depression, and the state’s role in World War II.
SS.4.A.7.1: Describe the causes and effects of the 1920’s Florida land boom and bust.
SS.4.A.7.2: Summarize challenges Floridians faced during the Great Depression.
SS.4.A.7.3: Identify Florida’s role in World War II.
LA.4.5.2.2: The student will plan, organize, and show an understanding of key points.
Objectives:
§ While viewing the picture slideshow, TSWBAT actively discuss what they see in the pictures and relate this to their prior knowledge.
§ TSWBAT work with a partner and summarize an assigned lesson from the textbook, stating at least two facts they learned.
§ TSTWBAT loudly share at least one fact with their classmates.
§ TSWBAT create a page for a class book, which must be in correct chronological order, by using and illustrating the summary.
Focus Activity: Picture Preview: The students will watch and discuss a PowerPoint presentation that uses old pictures to preview the important facts that the students will learn. This slideshow presentation also goes over some key vocabulary. It also allows the teacher to gauge the students’ prior knowledge and to give the students a preview of what they will be learning. (12 minutes).
Learning Activities:
1. After the Focus Activity, separate the students into five groups. Assign each group a textbook lesson to read together. Choose from: Chapter 8, Lessons 1-3 and Chapter 9, Lessons 1 and 2. (3 minutes).
2. Instruct students to read the lesson together with their partner and to begin to look for facts they may want to write about. (12 minutes).
3. Pass out blank paper and have each student write at least two facts that they learned from their lesson. The partners cannot each write the same thing. (8 minutes).
4. If time allows, the students may illustrate the page with his/her summary. (3 minutes).
5. The students will each share one of his/her facts with the class. (10 minutes).
6. The students will align themselves in chronological order of their summaries. (1 minute).
7. The teacher will then bind the pages together to create a class book. (4 minutes).
Estimated Time: 52 minutes
Vocabulary:
Urbanization: changing from a rural town to a city way of life.
Manufacturing: the process of making goods
Aviation: the business of building and flying airplanes
Assessment:
§ Participation in discussion activities.
§ Individual summaries of the lessons.
§ Sharing summaries with the class.
Closure:
Content Closure: Sharing of partner work and answering any questions. At this time, I would create the class book.
Procedural Closure: Collect summaries and re-arrange desks if moved during group work. Prepare students for next subject.
Materials & Resources:
§ Houghton Mifflin: Social Studies: Florida Studies textbook.
§ Construction or copy paper
§ Staples or other binding materials
§ Whiteboard or Smartboard
§ Computer
§ Flash drive with PowerPoint presentation.
§ Pencils/pens
Technology: Use this site as a lesson extender: http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/ Challenges: (1) Some pictures on this site may be inappropriate for the grade level. Ethical, Safe Assurance: The site is educational and based on reality. The photos are primary sources and there are no advertisements.
Accommodations/Modifications of Activities:
§ Provide examples of vocabulary words and refer to them throughout the lesson.
§ Have students only record one fact to write about in his/her summary
§ Provide students with fill-in-the-blank “book pages.”
§ Corrective Reading Strategy: Provide more examples of the vocabulary words. Ask comprehension questions while discussing the pictures, for example after seeing the picture of migrant workers during the Great Depression, I would ask how they feel about it.
Anticipated Classroom Management Issues and Solutions:
§ Review expected behavior prior to beginning lesson. Students must raise their hands to share/contribute and wait to be called on. Students will use inside voices while in small groups. I will walk around and have groups put their heads down at the end of the small group activity.
§ Students who do not follow directions will work individually for the final lesson activity or be sent out of the classroom.
Resources:
Viola, H. J., Jennings, C., Schug, M., Bednarz, S. W., & Cortez, C. E. (2005). Social studies. Boaton: Houghton Mifflin.
http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/photo_exhibits/migrant/
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-ridiculous-bubbles-ever-2010?op=1
http://dclramage.wordpress.com/2004/02/
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/photos/photos.htm
http://www.jupiter.fl.us/HistoryWeb/Early-Aviation-in-Jupiter.cfm
http://www.kislakfoundation.org/millennium-exhibit/bucuvalas1.htm
http://www.miamibeach411.com/History/photo_1926_hurricane_1.html
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/destinations/orl-travel-valiant-air-command-warbird-museum,0,6156062.photogallery
http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/displayphoto.cfm?IMGTITLE=RC09089
http://floridanabob.hypermart.net/floridians.htm
Reflection:
- This lesson went better than I had expected. I was a bit nervous because there was so much material to cover, but the kids were really enthusiastic and interested about the topic. The students really loved the PowerPoint presentation and had a lot of questions about the pictures. Surprisingly, they worked really well in their groups and understood the content well enough. Only one student had trouble trying to come up with something to write and draw for her page of the class book. The only aspect of this lesson that did not go so well was the length. It took the students longer to organize themselves than I had originally planned and so we ended up working on it a bit each day for three days. The first day was the photograph presentation and the group reading. The second day, the students had about fifteen minutes to try to finish their class book pages. The third day was the last chance for the students to finish their individual pages and was also when they were able to present their information to the class. They were a bit shy, but they all presented well.
- One challenge I faced while planning this lesson was that the teacher had given me the standards that she wanted me to cover and the corresponding information spanned five different lessons in the textbook. The information in this lesson covers a forty-five year span and it took me a while to come up with a way to cover so much information. The teacher ended up loving the lesson and the students were very excited about it, as well. A challenge that I experienced while teaching was that one or two students were being lazy and wanted me to tell them what sentence to write for their book. Another challenge was that many of the students copied important sentences from the textbook directly into their class book page. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would be more explicit with the fact that the students are supposed to write using their own words.
Silvia López
SSE 4113 Spring 2011 1