Transcript Instructional Strategies

Social Studies Unit Plan
1st Grade
American History: Cooperation,
Toleration, and Conflict in Early
America
American History: Cooperation,
Toleration, and Conflict in Early
America
 Native America
 European Exploration
 European/Native Encounters
 Thanksgiving Day and Columbus Day
 Mapping European Exploration and
Native America
Key Perspectives
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Activist: Children should come to see themselves
as truth tellers and change makers.
Multicultural, anti-racist, pro-justice: The
children should discover the truth behind the
roots of the country and the Native Americans
who were the original inhabitants of this country.
Grounded in the lives of our students: The
Children should look at how the European
Explorers their culture to the country and how the
culture is related to their lives today.
Background Information
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School 1
Very supportive of
Thanksgiving and discussed
what it meant.
1st graders said it was “to
give thanks and to be
thankful for what we have”.
Need to learn it was not
always peaceful here.
Need to learn what
ignorance can do without
going into great detail on
the horrific events of many
explorations.
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School 2
Thanksgiving as birth of
America
1st graders said it was
about turkey and Pilgrims
Need to learn truth behind
Columbus and other
explorations
Explorations were not
always peaceful-many
fights and
misunderstandings between
natives and the Europeans.
Background Information from
Academic Readings
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Columbus Day celebrates a huge
misconception in the United States.
In reality, the explorers treated the native
people as if they were not human.
They were extremely cruel to the people
who were living in the country when they
arrived.
Thanksgiving is meant to celebrate the
exchange of cultural ideas.
Rationale
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This unit is important to teach students
about the history in our country.
Students need not learn all the gory details
of the events of early settled America, but
they need to be told both sides of history.
This unit is important for the children to
be able to connect their lives to the lives
of people who have culturally changed our
country.
Instructional Strategies
Using role play, debate and simulation
 Using oral history
 Integrating drama
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Reasons for Instructional
Strategies
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Using role play, debate and simulation
 The students will understand
perspective by role playing.
Using oral history
 They will read the letters aloud to the
class.
Integrating drama
 The students will role play to gain
perspective about life in North America
in the sixteenth century.
Instructional Strategies in
Schools 1 & 2
Our teachers use oral history in the
classroom.
 They use artifacts from the time
period being studied.
 They show videos about historical
events.
 They play tribal music.
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Background Information
from academic readings
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The European explorers did not “discover” North America.
Encounters between Natives and Europeans were not
peaceful.
Europeans attempted to convert Natives to Christianity.
Many Natives were taken as slaves by the Europeans.
The Pilgrims came to America and encountered Native
Americans. They only survived because of the Native
Americans’ help.
There are many different Native American tribes
throughout the United States, with unique characteristics
and different cultures.
Literacy Links
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We will use poetry about Native Americans.
We will read biographies about the
explorers.
We will have the children give oral
presentations about different explorers
and different Native American tribes.
The students will role play and write
letters to family and friends about life in
North America.
Literacy Link Explanation
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We would like to expose the children to
the information in as many ways as
possible.
Children can be visual learners, auditory
learners, and kinesthetic learners.
Therefore, we will teach the students using
various methods in order to reach the
majority of the students.
Critical Perspective on
Teaching Methods for Literacy
It is known that all children have
different learning styles.
 It is the teacher’s job to try to
expose the children to various
teaching methods in order to reach
the most students.
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Unit Essential Questions
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Native America: What are the different tribal
nations, traditions, and ways of life?
European Exploration: What are the reasons for
exploration, who were some well-known explorers,
and what were some of the experiences that the
explorers had?
European/Native Encounters: What were the
encounters like (both positive and negative)?
Thanksgiving and Columbus Day: Why are these
days celebrated and what do they mean?
Mapping European Exploration and Native America:
Where did the Europeans first settle and what
were some exploration routes?
Unit Standards Alignment
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14.F.1 Describe political ideas and traditions important to the development of the
United States including democracy, individual rights and the concept of freedom.
16.A.1a Explain the difference between past, present and future time; place
themselves in time.
16.A.1b Ask historical questions and seek out answers from historical sources (e.g.,
myths, biographies, stories, old photographs, artwork, other visual or electronic
sources).
16.A.1c Describe how people in different times and places viewed the world in
different ways.
16.C.1b (W) Explain how trade among people brought an exchange of ideas, technology and language.
16.D.1 (W) Identify how customs and traditions from around the world influence
the local community.
17.A.1a Identify physical characteristics of places, both local and global (e.g.,
locations, roads, regions, bodies of water).
17.A.1b Identify the characteristics and purposes of geographic representations
including maps, globes, graphs, photographs, software, digital images and be able to
locate specific places using each.
18.C.1 Describe how individuals interacted within groups to make choices regarding
food, clothing and shelter.
Native America
Lesson Ideas: 1. Picnic with foods
that the Native Americans would have
eaten. 2. The students will create a
totem pole
 Instructional strategies:
 Construct learning centers
 field experiences.
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European Exploration
Lesson idea: The students will role
play as a European explorer and will
write letters to relatives that are in
Europe about North America.
 Instructional Strategies:
 Simulation/Role play
 Using documents and interviews
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European/Native encounters
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Lesson Ideas: 1. Discuss communication
problems between Natives and Europeans.
2. Make a compare/contrast chart about
the differences and similarities between
the Native Americans and the Europeans
Instruction strategies:
 Oral History
 Integrating writing activities
Thanksgiving and Columbus Day
Lesson Ideas: 1.Create a Thanksgiving
feast 2.Role play the Pilgrims and the
Native Americans 3.Role play
Columbus and the Native Americans
 Instructional Strategies:
 Simulation/role play
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Mapping European Exploration
and Native America
Lesson ideas: 1.Have the children
create a map of the location of all of
the Native American nations. 2.Map
the European exploration routes.
 Instructional strategies:
 Use primary source materials
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Children’s Literature
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Mesquakie : the Sauk and Fox Indians of Illinois /
Jacquie Salisbury
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The Cheyenne / by Andrew Santella
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The Arapaho / Raymond Bial
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The Algonquin / Richard M. Gaines
1492 : the year of the New World / Piero Ventura
The Age of exploration : Marco Polo, Christopher
Columbus, Herman Cortes
The first Thanksgiving / Susan Whitehurst
Teacher Literature
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http://www.enchantedlearning.com/e
xplorers/indexa.shtml
Unit Assessment Plan
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For formal assessment, we will have a
written oral test, mostly vocabulary and
simple sequencing and map identification.
For informal assessment, we will keep a
journal of observations on each student
throughout the unit and keep track of
progress and participation in the activities.
European Explorers:
Coronado
Topic: Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado
 Grade: 1st
 Purpose: To investigate and explore
the reasons for European exploration
of North America.
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Essential Driving Questions
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Who is Coronado?
Where is he from?
What did he discover or “explore”?
When did he explore North America?
Who did he encounter upon his arrival?
Which part of America did he explore?
What kind of things did he do here?
Enduring Understandings
 The
students will demonstrate
knowledge of Coronado’s life
and explorations through
writing, classroom discussion,
and dramatic performance.
Key Concepts
 Reasons
for exploration
 Communication with others
 Geography of North
America
Standards Alignment
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14.F.1 Describe political ideas and traditions important to the development of the
United States including democracy, individual rights and the concept of freedom.
16.A.1a Explain the difference between past, present and future time; place
themselves in time.
16.A.1b Ask historical questions and seek out answers from historical sources (e.g.,
myths, biographies, stories, old photographs, artwork, other visual or electronic
sources).
16.A.1c Describe how people in different times and places viewed the world in
different ways.
16.C.1b (W) Explain how trade among people brought an exchange of ideas, technology and language.
16.D.1 (W) Identify how customs and traditions from around the world influence
the local community.
17.A.1a Identify physical characteristics of places, both local and global (e.g.,
locations, roads, regions, bodies of water).
17.A.1b Identify the characteristics and purposes of geographic representations
including maps, globes, graphs, photographs, software, digital images and be able to
locate specific places using each.
18.C.1 Describe how individuals interacted within groups to make choices regarding
food, clothing and shelter.
Adaptations for
Group/Individual Differences
 We
will have a special education
teacher who will assist in the
classroom if we have any specific
needs that need to be met.
Materials: Teacher
Literature
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado: Explorer and Conquistador
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510-1554) was a Spanish ruler,
explorer and conquistador. He was the first European to explore
North America's Southwest.
Coronado was a governor of New Galicia, a western province of Mexico.
He searched fruitlessly for treasure that was rumored to exist in
northern Mexico: the fabled seven Golden Cities of Cibola. With a
group of hundreds of Spaniards and enslaved natives, he traveled
through what is now northern Mexico and the southwestern USA
(including Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas). His
expedition found only Zuñi, Hopi, and Pueblos, native Americans who
repelled Coronado when he demanded that they convert to
Christianity. Coronado killed many native Americans during this
expedition. Since he did not find gold, silver, or other treasures,
his expedition was branded a failure by Spanish leaders.
Materials: Children’s
Literature
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Coronado : Francisco Vázquez de Coronado explores the
Southwest by Robin S. Doak
The travels of Francisco de Coronado / by Deborah Crisfield ;
illustrated by Patrick O'Brien
Francisco de Coronado / by R. Conrad Stein
Coronado : dreamer in golden armor / by William Jay Jacobs
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado / Kristin Petrie
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado : famous journeys to the
American Southwest and colonial New Mexico / Lesli J. Favor
Francisco Coronado / Malcolm C. Jensen ; Illus. with prints,
maps, and photos
All Other Materials
Procedure
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First, the teacher will introduce Coronado by reading aloud Francisco
Coronado / Malcolm C. Jensen ; Illus. with prints, maps, and photos .
Then, the teacher will pass out the rest of the children’s books to the
students and allow them time to browse through the pictures and text.
The teacher will then read the teacher’s passage aloud, as it is displayed on
a transparency.
The students will view the map of Coronado’s exploration and then will be
asked to pretend that they are traveling with Coronado to America, which is
a brand-new world to them.
Ask the students to brainstorm ideas about new things that they will
encounter in America by constructing a K-W-L chart.
Then, ask the students to write a letter home to Spain telling family and
friends back home what they are encountering in the “New World”. They
will be role-playing a Spaniard traveling with Coronado.
Assessment
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Formal Assessment:
 The students will have a test on
Coronado and his “exploration of North
America”.
Informal Assessment:
 The student will be observed
communicating and interacting with
other students. The student will be
actively participating in class discussions
and will complete an accurate letter
about life in North America.
Reflections
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Process: We learned that it is important to have a
sequence of lessons and to build on each lesson as
we go along so that the children can relate each
lesson to the next.
Content: We had previous knowledge on the
subject, yet we found many new resources that
provide a strategy for relating a complex subject
to young children.
This experience will improve our future work with
children, expanding our teaching methods to
include a variety of strategies and assessments.