My thoughts:
As a teacher, I hope to incorporate real-life experiences and hands-on activities into my classroom instruction. With the use of Common Core standards, students need teachers who can teach integrated lessons and units. This page contains my ideas for incorporating important Alabama history with crucial standards.
This project has helped me to look at many different aspects of one idea. I had to think about each aspect from the viewpoint of a student and a teacher. This is how we should look at all of our material. I hope that my lessons will provide you with the needed spark to create a lesson worth learning.
The Riverboat exhibit is more than just a mode of transportation, it incorporates history, people, music and into a way of life. A short history of the City of Florence Riverboat is provided under the tab "History of the Riverboat" This paper and the resources with in it would be an excellent way to become familiar with riverboat life.
Below are a couple lesson plans that I have created to integrate a plethora of ideas with language arts, math, science and social studies to spark student interests on some important Southern history. Feel free to look at, incorporate, accommodate and modify the plans for your own classroom use! Have fun exploring and I hope you always learn something new!
This project has helped me to look at many different aspects of one idea. I had to think about each aspect from the viewpoint of a student and a teacher. This is how we should look at all of our material. I hope that my lessons will provide you with the needed spark to create a lesson worth learning.
The Riverboat exhibit is more than just a mode of transportation, it incorporates history, people, music and into a way of life. A short history of the City of Florence Riverboat is provided under the tab "History of the Riverboat" This paper and the resources with in it would be an excellent way to become familiar with riverboat life.
Below are a couple lesson plans that I have created to integrate a plethora of ideas with language arts, math, science and social studies to spark student interests on some important Southern history. Feel free to look at, incorporate, accommodate and modify the plans for your own classroom use! Have fun exploring and I hope you always learn something new!
Integrated Lesson Plan: 5th Grade
Integration of Transportation
Title: Why Do Boats Float?
Grade level: 5rd Grade
Objectives:
· Students will be able to define buoyancy, displacement and mass
· Students will be able to measure determine whether an item is buoyant
Curriculum Connections:
National Standards:
Select science content, adapt, and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students.
Alabama Course of Study:
Science 5.2.) Define mass, volume, and density.
• Identifying the atom as the basic building block of matter
• Relating temperature changes to particle motion
• Relating density to the sinking or floating of an object in a liquid
Language Arts 5.6.) Use text features, including indexes, tables, and appendixes, to guide interpretation of expository texts.
Materials list:
· Rubbermaid containers (big enough to float objects in)
· Material to make boats (wood, tin foil, plastic)
· Items to test buoyancy (rocks, wood, plastic bottle, etc.)
· Small weights
· PowerPoint defining concepts
· Informational texts about steamboats, tugboats, etc
· Access to Internet
· Float or Not Chart
Engage and Explore:
Show the beginning of Bill Nye, Buoyancy episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U1YVZMifMM. This episode helps the students to visually and orally understand why things float and this also creates a segway into defining buoyancy, in relation to mass, density, and volume.
Present the PowerPoint containing the definition for:
Buoyancy: The ability to keep afloat on top of a gas or liquid. Our experiment is to test the buoyancy of different objects. What are aspects of a buoyant object? Look for these as you test each item.
Displacement: The moving of something from its place or position. The objects that we are about to test will displace water. What do you think will happen?
Mass: A large body of matter. What are some ways that we measure mass?
Invention:
Guiding Question: What gives boats the ability to float on water?
Have the students work together in groups of four to determine which items are buoyant. Two people test, one person writes and the other person is a monitor. The students can change roles so that all students may participate in the experiment.
The students should work together as a group to complete the “Does It Float?” chart provided. This chart will help them
Expansion:
First, I would review these concepts with the students to ensure that they understood how buoyancy and displacement worked with objects. I would then transition to talking about how boats, ships and other objects stay afloat in the water. This material could be covered over about a week or two.
After talking at length about boats, we would transition to talk about historical voyages. To further explain this material and expand this lesson, I would introduce a unit on the Titanic. This unit would feature many science and social studies concepts.
This website contains many ideas, printable materials, and lesson plans to draw from:
http://www.theteachersguide.com/Titanic.html
Evaluation:
The students will be evaluated using the “Does It Float?” chart. Each student will be monitored and assessed on their participation within the group.
Reflection:
This lesson was interesting to create because I have not focused on a fully integrated lesson. This lesson integrates aspects of science, math and language. I find it beneficial to create integrated lessons because as a teacher I need to be able to teach my students efficiently.
Resources:
http://cosee-central-gom.org/seascholars/lesson_plans/ships%20and%20shipping/buoyancylesson1.html
does_it_float.docx | |
File Size: | 10 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Integrated Lesson Plan: 3rd Grade
Integration of Transportation
Title: "Life on the River" Diary Entries
Grade level: 3rd Grade
Objectives:
Students will write about facts from the point of view of a traveler on the City of Florence Riverboat
Students will be able to recognize and describe items of trade transported by the City of Florence Riverboat.
Curriculum Connections:
Alabama Course of Study
Language Arts 3.9.) Compose narrative texts using an introductory paragraph, specific time frames, clear sequencing of events, and a conclusion.
• Determining purpose and audience prior to writing
Social Studies 3.5.) Identify national and international trading patterns of the United States.
• Differentiating between producers and consumers and imports and exports
Materials list:
Lined paper
White paper
Pencils
Coffee/Tea bags: These will be used to “antique” the students finished writing
Internet resources
Research packets on riverboats, river trade, Tennessee River, etc.
Photographs of travelers, resources, etc.
Engage and Explore:
Present the students with an old letter/diary. Letters can be found in texts such as Anne Frank’s Diary, Civil War letters, or letters from those on the Titanic. These letters will be used to interest the students in working on the project.
After gaining the students interest, I will display a model of a diary entry. This entry will contain a heading, date and information having to do with the antebellum era. The students will then complete a pre-write, this will contain the ideas that they hope to convey with their entry. Following the pre-write, the students will be instructed to complete a draft of their entry. Finally, the students will peer edit and complete a final draft.
Invention:
After discussing the life of the typical passengers and crew on riverboats, I will lead the students in a lesson on what a typical diary entry would entail. The students would then be instructed to write an entry based on the experiences they believed would be typical of the passenger or crew aboard a riverboat. These entries should entail information about where their character is going, what they are doing on the boat (crew or passenger), and also information about what they have seen.
These diary entries will be written, peer-edited and published on “antiqued” paper. The students work will then be bound into a book entitled “Thoughts from the Past.” These entries can then be read and reread by their peers.
Expansion:
The students will be shown many diaries of the past. As an expansion of this project, the letters/books gathered containing entries would be on display in the classroom. The students will be able to read through and learn from these books.
Evaluation:
Students will be evaluated on their participation in all aspects of the writing process. Each piece will be turned in and graded based on the rubric presented.
Reflection:
I enjoyed writing this lesson because I believe it would be easy to shape an integrated unit around. Another reason that I enjoyed writing this lesson is that it would easily be able to be changed depending on the grade. All students need to know how to s write a letter successfully and this lesson teaches that skill while allowing the student to maintain creative control. To use this lesson with an integrated unit, I would make sure that I included different social studies elements. Diaries of the past are a very interesting and engaging way of getting students interested in important historical terms, events and facts.
Resources:
http://www.indiana.edu/~imaghist/online_content/vcsfrmpst/voices_cvlwr/index.html
http://genealogy.about.com/od/history_research/tp/Historical-Diaries-And-Journals-Online.htm
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/diary/
http://www.inboxjournal.com/articles/famous-historical-diaries.php
Title: "Life on the River" Diary Entries
Grade level: 3rd Grade
Objectives:
Students will write about facts from the point of view of a traveler on the City of Florence Riverboat
Students will be able to recognize and describe items of trade transported by the City of Florence Riverboat.
Curriculum Connections:
Alabama Course of Study
Language Arts 3.9.) Compose narrative texts using an introductory paragraph, specific time frames, clear sequencing of events, and a conclusion.
• Determining purpose and audience prior to writing
Social Studies 3.5.) Identify national and international trading patterns of the United States.
• Differentiating between producers and consumers and imports and exports
Materials list:
Lined paper
White paper
Pencils
Coffee/Tea bags: These will be used to “antique” the students finished writing
Internet resources
Research packets on riverboats, river trade, Tennessee River, etc.
Photographs of travelers, resources, etc.
Engage and Explore:
Present the students with an old letter/diary. Letters can be found in texts such as Anne Frank’s Diary, Civil War letters, or letters from those on the Titanic. These letters will be used to interest the students in working on the project.
After gaining the students interest, I will display a model of a diary entry. This entry will contain a heading, date and information having to do with the antebellum era. The students will then complete a pre-write, this will contain the ideas that they hope to convey with their entry. Following the pre-write, the students will be instructed to complete a draft of their entry. Finally, the students will peer edit and complete a final draft.
Invention:
After discussing the life of the typical passengers and crew on riverboats, I will lead the students in a lesson on what a typical diary entry would entail. The students would then be instructed to write an entry based on the experiences they believed would be typical of the passenger or crew aboard a riverboat. These entries should entail information about where their character is going, what they are doing on the boat (crew or passenger), and also information about what they have seen.
These diary entries will be written, peer-edited and published on “antiqued” paper. The students work will then be bound into a book entitled “Thoughts from the Past.” These entries can then be read and reread by their peers.
Expansion:
The students will be shown many diaries of the past. As an expansion of this project, the letters/books gathered containing entries would be on display in the classroom. The students will be able to read through and learn from these books.
Evaluation:
Students will be evaluated on their participation in all aspects of the writing process. Each piece will be turned in and graded based on the rubric presented.
Reflection:
I enjoyed writing this lesson because I believe it would be easy to shape an integrated unit around. Another reason that I enjoyed writing this lesson is that it would easily be able to be changed depending on the grade. All students need to know how to s write a letter successfully and this lesson teaches that skill while allowing the student to maintain creative control. To use this lesson with an integrated unit, I would make sure that I included different social studies elements. Diaries of the past are a very interesting and engaging way of getting students interested in important historical terms, events and facts.
Resources:
http://www.indiana.edu/~imaghist/online_content/vcsfrmpst/voices_cvlwr/index.html
http://genealogy.about.com/od/history_research/tp/Historical-Diaries-And-Journals-Online.htm
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/diary/
http://www.inboxjournal.com/articles/famous-historical-diaries.php