Virginia’s Major Products and Industries

Teacher: Rachel Heend and Kate Wessman Grade: 4 School: Matoaka Elementary and Rawls Byrd

Date of Lesson: n/a Time Needed (Approximate): 4 days (1 hr lessons)

Lesson Subject/Topic: Virginia’s Major Products and Industries

Discipline focus: Geography and Local Communities

Student Learning Goal(s): Students will apply their knowledge of the major products and industries of Virginia’s five geographic regions to Virginia’s social and economic transition from an agricultural to industrialized society in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will analyze how the transition affected Virginia products and industries, and Virginians, themselves.
Standards: History VS.9a The student will demonstrate knowledge of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Virginia by describing the economic and social transition from a rural, agricultural society to a more urban, industrialized society, including the reasons people came to Virginia from other states and countries; VS.10b The student will demonstrate knowledge of government, geography, and economics by describing the major products and industries of Virginia’s five geographic regions.
English 4.1 The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety of settings; 4.2 The student will make and listen to oral presentations and reports; 4.4 The student will expand vocabulary when reading; 4.7 The student will write cohesively for a variety of purposes; 4.8 The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraphing; 4.9 The student will demonstrate comprehension of information resources to research a topic.
Essential Questions: (Unit EQ) How does change affect people? (Sub-EQ) How did Virginia’s social and economic transition in the early twentieth century affect its major products and industries? What major products and industries make each of Virginia’s five regions unique?
Assessment(s): Summative assessment of final products/presentations; Formative assessments of engagement and participation in group discussions, group work, and research (i.e. observations, collection of notes); students’ self-assessments and group assessments at end of project (may be included into summative assessment)
Resources:
Virginia Council on Economic Education. (n.d.). Products and industries of Virginia. Retrieved from: http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/education/concepts_posters/pdf/2009_productsindustries_va.pdf
Matusevich, M. (n.d.) Products and industries of Virginia. Retrieved from
http://vastudies.pwnet.org/pdf/Economics3.pdf
Research Websites for students:
Social Studies Curriculum Resources: Virginia Studies Poster Sets. http://chumby.dlib.vt.edu/melissa/posters/vastudiesposter.html.
Virginia Places. http://www.virginiaplaces.org/.
Virginia Studies: Ready Resources for the Classroom. http://vastudies.pwnet.org/.
Virginia, Where Love Lives. Virginia Tourism Corporation. http://www.virginia.org/. / Materials: Whiteboard or doc cam, Online flipbook (simplebooklet.com), timer, Apple ID badges, artifacts representing each regions’ products and industries (see appendix), avatar of Apple’s CEO (voki.com), computers with internet access, symbaloo.com research websites, Evernote or Microsoft Word, materials for final products (i.e. computers, construction paper, markers/ crayons, video cameras, cameras, etc.), Kidblog accounts, Final Presentation/ Product Rubric, Group and Self Evaluation forms
*See lesson plan for alternative materials

Notes: The first day of this lesson will be dedicated to the Engage and Explain stages, and part of the Explore stage. Students should finish their research by the first half of the second day and begin their projects; on the third day, students will finish their presentations/ products, and presentations will begin. The fourth and final day will be for student presentations and the exit ticket. This lesson requires teacher preparation and coordination with other colleagues and school staff members, i.e. librarian, media center staff, tech staff. The teacher should try to acquire as many authentic materials for students to explore and use in their final presentations. This lesson is very open ended in regards to student creativity and final products. If the teacher believes that students require more scaffold learning, the teacher may provide more guidelines for research portion and/or final project for his or her class. Alternative plans for technology are provided in the lesson.

If possible, coordinate with the librarian, media specialist and/or technology teacher to supplement class activities and mini-lessons. For example, students will learn the relevant research skills during their media-center morning lessons before and throughout this unit. They may also conduct their research and/or create part of their presentations and models during these class periods.

*Pre-assessment: Before this lesson, pre-assess students’ knowledge of Virginia’s five major regions. At the beginning of the year, students looked at and identified pictures unique to each region. For this pre-assessment, show students un-labeled pictures for each region. Either in their social studies journals or on a provided worksheet, have students identify and record 3-4 facts about the region; they should do this for all five regions.

Adaptations for Differentiated Instruction: Extra support and scaffolding will be provided throughout the lesson, especially for ELLs and students with special needs. Groups will be heterogeneous; alternative roles will be administered for specific students, i.e. recorder, material collector, etc. Additionally, other technologies may be used to incorporate UDL, i.e. (voice recordings, voice-to-text apps, etc.)

Lesson Component / Teacher / Student
Engage & Hook
Day 1
15 – 20 minutes
Materials needed:
- Artifacts for each region
- Online flip book (simplebooklet.com) [alt. write guiding questions on white board]
- Timer / - Teacher will set up 5 stations around the room representing the five regions of Virginia. Each station will have various artifacts representing the products and industries of their respective regions. Teacher should set up stations so that students are free to explore the artifacts safely and appropriately. (See appendix for list of artifacts)
- Make the room/ stations look like the students are going on a road trip across Virginia. (Technology: make a flipbook via simplebooklet.com that has “road trip” images/ of Virginia’s regions) [alt. Print images and post them around the classroom]
- Tell students that they will be going on a “road trip” through the five regions of Virginia. Tell students that each station represents a region of Virginia, and that each station has a set of items for the students to explore. Students will have 2 minutes (10 minutes total) to explore each station.
- Before students begin their exploration. Tell students that they should be actively thinking about what these items represent, and why they are important. (Technology: Simplebooklet, flip to page with the guiding questions so students can refer to them as they are making their way through the stations.) [alt. write guiding questions on front board]
- Break students into five groups (Students will be working with these groups during the Explore stage)—groups should be heterogeneously mixed. / - Students will listen to teacher’s directions.
- Students will explore the artifacts at each station with their groups. When the timer goes off, they will move to the next station.
- At each station, students will discuss the guiding questions that will be posted on the projector (What do these items represent? Why are they important? What is the relationship between these items and the region that they are in?) with their teammates as they explore the artifacts.
Explain & Model
Day 1
7 minutes (whole group discussion)
20-30 minutes (project explanation/ PBL chart)
Materials needed:
- “Apple” company badges for each student
- Voki recording [alt. hand out script for students to read]
- PBL Chart via Popplet.com [alt. chart paper]
- Final Project Rubric
- Technology Demos (on teacher’s website) / - After all groups have explored every station, bring class together for whole group discussion.
- Ask the students the following guiding questions: What do all the items represent at the stations? Why are they important? What is a product? What is an industry? What are some examples of products and industries you explored earlier or that you know of?
- Explain that products are items produced by human or mechanical effort or by a natural process to be sold. Industry is the process of making products by using machinery and factories/ also a group of businesses that provide a particular product or service.
Inquiry Based Project Explanation:
- Hand out “Apple” company badges to each student, and tell them that the Apple product company has hired them short time to help them with a new project.
- Play Voki avatar recording for students: The Voki will be Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. He will explain that Apple wants to come out with some new products that no one has ever seen before, something better than an iPad or iPod! He wants the new products to be made especially for the needs and wants of Virginian consumers. He needs the students’ help to figure out what product Apple should make for each region and how he should advertise it based on each region. [alt. Read letter from Apple’s CEO aloud. Pass out copies of letter to students.]
- After Voki is played, ask students if they would be willing to help Apple with ideas for their new products.
- On the projector, have an outline for a PBL chart via Microsoft Word or Popplet.com (i.e. columns for What We Know, Learning Issues (need to know), and Action Plan) [alt. chart paper for PBL chart). Ask students to share what they know about the problem posed by Apple. Next, have students brainstorm ideas for what they need to know, and write their ideas down on the chart. Do the same for the Action Plan.
- Guiding Questions: What is the problem? How does our “Road Trip” through Virginia relate to this problem? What more do we need to know to help Apple? How can we find out about these things?
- Teacher will then explain that the students will be working together with the same groups they did the “Road Trip” exploration. Each group will be assigned a region that they will specialize in to help Apple.
- Groups will work together to create a final presentation and product for Apple’s CEO that outlines the major products and industries of their region, proposes a new product relevant to the needs and wants of the region (with model), and an outline of how they would advertise their product to the people of their region. (See appendix for Final Product rubric that will be handed out to groups.) Tell students that they will be presenting their final projects to the class at the end of the unit lesson. Students will self-evaluate their work/ products, and classmates will also evaluate other groups’ projects.
- Groups may choose how they wish to present their final presentations from a list provided by the teacher. If students want to present their information in a different way they must first get their idea approved by the teacher. [Provide students with options for different technology tools to use for the final product, i.e. Nearpod, SimpleBooklet, VoiceThread, etc. Teacher should also provide brief demos of how to use these technology tools if students are not familiar with them. Demos can be accessed from teacher’s website.)] [alt. Provide students with non-digital tools for final presentations/ products, i.e. construction paper, makers, etc.)
- Group members must work together to create their final product, but each student should be responsible for researching at least one major product and/or industry of their region.
- Teacher will also assign each member a specific role to facilitate cooperative group learning, and account for differentiation of instruction. (See appendix for role cards)
- Show students an example of what previous students have done or that you have done, but emphasize that they should be as creative as possible with their presentation.
- Open up the floor for any questions or concerns students may have. / - Students will participate in a whole group discussion about the different stations they explored. They will respond to the teacher’s guiding questions.
- Students will receive and wear their “Apple” company badges.
- Students listen to the avatar recording.
- Students express interest to help create a new product for Apple.
- Students will volunteer ideas for what they know, what they need to know, and possible action plans to help Apple.
- Students should realize that they need to learn more about Virginia’s regions, and the needs of the consumers in those regions. Their action plan should involve researching their regions to figure out what product would best fit the needs and wants of the consumers in that region.
- Students listen to teacher’s instructions, paying attention to which group they are in, and what region they will represent.
- Students will take their pre-assigned role cards, and make sure they understand what their responsibilities are.
- Students will look at examples of projects and ask any questions or concerns they have.
Explore & Apply
Day 2 – 3
1 – 1.5 hours (1 and a half class periods)
Materials needed:
- Computers with internet access
- Evernote or Microsoft Word software for note taking
- Database of web resources for research (symbalooedu.com)
- Technology Demos for final presentations; symbalooedu page for possible digital tools for final products / - Teacher will take students to computer lab or bring in computers to the classroom for their research. Teacher will provide students with approved online resources, and ways to organize research, i.e. Evernote or Microsoft Word [alt. pen/paper notes]. Students will have 30 minutes to complete their research. [alt. if computers are not available, print out relevant resources and bring in non-digital primary/secondary sources for the students to use]
- Teacher will provide pre-approved websites/ databases for students to conduct their research using symbalooedu.com
(Tell students that you will be collecting their research notes to make a study guide for the entire class to use.)
- After students have done some preliminary research (about 15 minutes or so), tell students that they have 5 minutes to decide how they want to present their final products, and run their ideas by the teacher for approval.
[alt. Provide students with construction paper, scissors, rulers, markers, poster board, note cards to create their final products/ presentations]
While students are waiting for approval or already received approval, group members may continue to research.
- Depending on how students decided to represent their final products, either allow students to start putting their final products together in the computer lab, or bring them back to the classroom to work on their presentations. Give students the rest of the period, and the next lesson to complete their presentations. / - Groups will work together to decide which members will research certain products/ industries.
- Students will use the internet (pre-approved databases/websites via symbaloo) to research their chosen products/ industries.
- Students will organize their notes using Evernote, Microsoft Word or pen/paper. (Students will submit their notes to the teacher when they are done with their research.)
- Students will conduct their research for the remainder of the period.
- Groups will decide how they will present their final product and present idea to teacher for approval.
- Students will work with their groups to complete their final presentations and product models. (Groups final products will vary, so they will be working with a variety of materials/ tools)
Evaluate & Close
Day 3-4
1 hour
Materials needed:
- Group and self-evaluation forms
Possible materials for group projects:
- Doc camera
- Computer with Internet access
- kidblog.com [alt. hand-write letters (pen/paper) and compile into binder] / - On the day of presentations, tell students that they will be evaluating their own final presentations and products and their peers’ presentations/ products to help Apple’s CEO make the final decisions for his next products. (If possible, bring in principal or colleague to act as a representative for Apple).
- Teacher will tell students that they should be ready to answer any questions the teacher and/or classmates may have once they have presented their product.
- Teacher invites groups up one by one to present their final products.
- Once all groups have presented, teacher will lead a debriefing on the students’ experiences with this project. The teacher will ask the following guiding questions: What did you guys like/dislike about this project? What was the most interesting thing you learned about your region? What was the most interesting thing you learned about another group’s region?
- Exit Ticket (Summative assessment): Have students write persuasive letters to Apple’s CEO about each region’s major products and industries, and a product you believe would benefit that region and why. The product can be one that another group presented on, or another original idea that the student thinks of. (Bring students to computer lab or have students use computers in the room to type their letters on their classroom blog webpage via kidblog.com) [Alt. have students hand-write letters and put them into a nice binder for students to look at] / - Each group will present their final products and presentations to the class and teacher.
- Students respond to any questions or comments from the audience.
- Students will complete self-assessments of their work and evaluate the work of the other groups.
- Students engage in an open discussion about their experiences with the project.
- Students answer the teacher’s guiding questions.
- Students independently write persuasive letters to Apple’s CEO on the computer (kidblog.com)
- Students write about each region’s major products and industries. They also must write about either each group’s product or a product that they believe would benefit that region and why.
- Group member’s product models and presentations will be on display for students to use as reference. Students may also refer to other group’s research notes.


Engage Stage – Region Products/ Industries Stations