Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

A Natural Attraction: The Natural Resources of Alabama During the Early Nineteenth Century

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Grade(s)

4

Overview

This lesson looks at the natural resources that drew settlers to Alabama. Students will explore the 1818 letter from Joseph Noble to his friend, Samuel B. Bidgood, describing the town at Tuscaloosa Falls.  Students will explain ideas within this historical text based on specific information presented in this primary source.

Follow-up lesson - Alabama: A Boundless Field of Speculation


This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

    Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 4

    SS10.4.4

    Relate the relationship of the five geographic regions of Alabama to the movement of Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:SS10.4.4

    Vocabulary

    • plateau
    • region
    • fall line
    • plain
    • river valley
    • flood plain
    • delta

    Knowledge

    Students know:
    • The distinguishing characteristics of the five geographic regions of Alabama.
    • Alabama's key natural resources including cotton, iron, timber, and rivers.

    Skills

    The students are able to :
    • Analyze the relationship between Alabama's natural resources and the settlement of the area during the early 19th Century.
    • Make the connection that a region of a state greatly affects the social and economic viability of that region.

    Understanding

    Students understand that:
    • Settlers chose to live in regions based on the natural resources available in that region.
    English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 4

    ELA21.4.9

    Accurately interpret general academic and domain-specific words and phrases.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:ELA21.4.9

    Vocabulary

    • Interpret
    • General academic vocabulary
    • Domain-specific vocabulary

    Knowledge

    Students know:
    • Academic vocabulary is language that is more formal than spoken language.
    • Domain-specific vocabulary refers to words that are used specifically in school subject areas, like math, science, and social studies.

    Skills

    Students are able to:
    • Correctly identify the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases.

    Understanding

    Students understand that:
    • There are multiple strategies they can use to interpret the meaning of academic and domain-specific vocabulary, including using context clues in the text, their background knowledge, the morphological structure of the word, and outside resources.
    English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 4

    ELA21.4.14

    Demonstrate comprehension of literary and informational text by utilizing its content when discussing or writing in response to the text.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:ELA21.4.14

    Vocabulary

    • Comprehension
    • Literary text
    • Informational text
    • Discussing
    • Writing
    • Response

    Knowledge

    Students know:
    • Comprehension of text can be demonstrated by referring to the text in discussions or written responses.
    • Informational text is nonfiction text, and literary text is fictional.

    Skills

    Students are able to:
    • Demonstrate understanding of literary and informational text by referring to the text in discussions.
    • Demonstrate understanding of literary and informational text by referring to the text in written responses.

    Understanding

    Students understand that:
    • They can show that they understood literary and informational text by discussing or writing about specific content from the text.
    English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 4

    ELA21.4.32

    Respond in writing to literature and informational text, including stories, dramas, poetry, and cross-curricular texts, both independently and with support, demonstrating grade-level proficiency.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:ELA21.4.32

    Vocabulary

    • Respond
    • Writing
    • Literature
    • Informational texts
    • Stories
    • Dramas
    • Poetry
    • Cross-curricular texts
    • Independently
    • With support
    • Grade-level proficiency

    Knowledge

    Students know:
    • Responding to text in a written format demonstrates comprehension of the text.

    Skills

    Students are able to:
    • Independently and with support, create grade-appropriate written responses after reading literature and informational text.

    Understanding

    Students understand that:
    • To respond in writing to literature and informational texts, they must read critically, have a deep understanding of the text's content, and use appropriate writing skills.

    Primary Learning Objectives

    Students will identify natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century and evaluate their importance to Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century.

     

    Additional Learning Objective(s)

    Students will explain ideas within a historical text based on specific information presented in the text.

    Procedures/Activities

    Exploration:  The teacher will engage the students by showing a map of the United States with the state of Alabama highlighted (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama#/media/File:Alabama_in_United_States.svg). The teacher will briefly review the concepts of colonization and settlement from previous lessons, referring to the map when appropriate. The teacher will project the day's objective on the screen and read it with the students. The teacher will then refer to the Essential Question, which is written on the anchor charts: Why did Joseph Noble move to Alabama and leave his home behind?  The teacher will pass out sticky notes to each group while telling the students to think about an answer to the Essential Question. Working in small groups, the students will discuss and develop an answer to the Essential Question. One member of the group will write the answer and one member will place it on the first anchor chart. The teacher will read the answers and tell the students they will revisit their answers after the lesson to see what they need to change or add. This assessment will inform the teacher (and students) what the students think they already know about the objective, identifying natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century and evaluating their importance to Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century

    Lesson Development: The teacher will pull up the 1818 letter from Joseph Noble to his friend, Samuel B. Bidgood, describing the town at Tuscaloosa Falls, on the computer and project it on the screen. The students will pull up the same letter on their computers, which was previously downloaded onto their computers (the teacher can give copies to the students if computers are not available). The teacher will distribute the Classroom Student Investigators handout. The teacher will explain how completing the handout will show an understanding of the day's objective, identifying natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century and evaluating their importance to Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century. The teacher will discuss how primary sources give future generations a look into the past and then begin discussing the letter; its condition and its language. The teacher will model and then scaffold how to pull information from the letter by breaking down the first paragraph with the students. The teacher will refer to the Essential Question and tell the students they will now serve as investigative teams in order to find evidence to answer the Essential Question. The teacher will remind students that primary sources have evidence of what life was like in the past and they need to look closely at the text in order to find some text evidence for answering the question.

    Because the syntax and vocabulary in this letter will be challenging for 4th graders, students should focus on processing just the second paragraph, not the entire document.  When the teacher models how to read and extract information from the first paragraph, he or she needs to identify and explain unusual words and phrases. As a whole-class exercise prior to the group work, students should read the second paragraph silently, then the teacher should ask students to identify specific words or phrases that are unfamiliar, and those should be defined. 

    Group work: The teacher will allow time for students to investigate while moving between the groups to assist and guide.  The students will share their answers and text evidence.  Closure: The teacher and students will revisit the Essential Question anchor chart and then have groups write a new answer to the Essential Question on a sticky note and place their final answer on the second chart.  The teacher will briefly review the natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century and evaluate their importance to Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century and the text evidence provided by the historical text.

    Expansion: The students, either using a computer or paper, will create a twenty-first-century email describing the natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century and telling their importance to Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century. The teacher will pass out the checklist and discuss what is expected from the students and how this assessment will show they can meet the day's objective, identifying natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century and evaluating their importance to Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century.  Students will share their emails with others, time permitting.

    Assessment Strategies

    All assessments listed below are directly tied to the primary learning objective: identifying natural resources of Alabama during the early nineteenth century and evaluating their importance to Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century, as specifically outlined in the procedures and checklists.

    Exploration: Anchor Chart sticky notes

    Lesson Development: Classroom Student Investigators handout, Anchor Chart sticky notes

    Expansion: Emails

    Acceleration

    Students can visit http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1396 to explore agriculture in Alabama and then create a poster of important resources found in Alabama.  Students can use a free online poster creator such as Canva, https://www.canva.com/create/posters/, or create their poster with a poster board.

    Intervention

    Students will be placed within small groups and assisted by the teacher throughout the lesson as needed. A written copy of the letter will be provided the day before the lesson to those students who may need it.  An adapted checklist for the email is provided.

    Approximate Duration

    Total Duration

    31 to 60 Minutes

    Background and Preparation

    Background/Preparation

    Students should have a basic knowledge of the time period (including settlements and colonization), be able to work collaboratively, and have basic literacy and computer skills.

    Prior to the lesson, the teacher should write the Essential Question: Why did Joseph Noble move to Alabama and leave his home behind?  on two anchor charts and have them displayed prominently in the room to refer to throughout the lesson. The teacher should download the attached letter to student computers or print out a copy of the letter for each group to have in the event computers are not available. The students should be placed in small groups.

    The teacher can review background information found at http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3155. The teacher can find additional sources of background information by reviewing the texts listed in the Bibliography.

    Materials and Resources

    Materials and Resources

    Sticky notes, pencils, two anchor charts, projector, computers, screen, white board

    1818 Letter from Joseph Noble (printed or shared digitally)

    Classroom Student Investigators handout (1 copy per student)

    19th Century Meets 21st Century Checklist (1 copy per student)

    Adapted 19th Century Meets 21st Century Checklist (for intervention strategy)

    Technology Resources Needed

    projector, computers, screen

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