Lesson Plan

Reducing the Impact of a Flood

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Grade(s)

2, 3

Overview

Students will interpret various primary sources for reconstructing the past, including documents and photographs about dam designs. Students will gain the skills necessary for researching by locating credible and original sources, and determining if the sources are primary or secondary. Students will use technology to create a presentation, highlighting primary and secondary sources.

This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 3

SS10.3.11

Interpret various primary sources for reconstructing the past, including documents, letters, diaries, maps, and photographs.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.3.11

Vocabulary

  • interpret
  • legends
  • stories
  • songs
  • contributed
  • development
  • cultural history
  • tall tales
  • folk heroes

Knowledge

Students know:

  • The purpose and essential elements of legends, stories, and songs.
  • Examples of legends, stories, and songs that contributed to United States' cultural history including American Indian Legends, African American Stories, Tall Tales and stories of Folk Heroes.
  • Vocabulary: legends, stories, songs, cultural history.

Skills

Students are able to:

  • Interpret legends, stories, and songs.
  • Identify the purpose and essential elements of legends, stories, and songs.
  • Identify the contribution that specific legends, stories, and songs had on the development of cultural history of the United States.

Understanding

Students understand that:

  • There are legends, stories, and songs that have contributed to the development of the cultural history of the United States.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 3

ELA21.3.R1

Utilize active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings, following agreed-upon rules for participation.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.3.R1

Vocabulary

  • Active listening
  • Discussion
  • Conversation
  • Rules
  • Participation

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Active listening skills.
  • How to engage in discussions and conversations in a variety of settings.
  • Agreed-upon rules for participation.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Demonstrate active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings.
  • Converse in pairs, small groups, and large groups.
  • Practice the agreed-upon rules for participation.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Conversations and discussions follow agreed-upon rules which help us actively listen and gain understanding.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 3

ELA21.3.R4

Use digital and electronic tools appropriately, safely, and ethically for research and writing, both individually and collaboratively.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.3.R4

Vocabulary

  • Digital tools
  • Electronic tools
  • Appropriately
  • Safely
  • Ethically
  • Research
  • Individually
  • Collaboratively

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Digital and electronic tools must be used appropriately, safely, and ethically.
  • Digital and electronic tools can be used for research or for writing tasks.
  • Digital and electronic tools can be independently or with others.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Engage in safe and ethical behavior when using digital and electronic tools individually and collaboratively.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Safe behaviors, interactions that keep you out of harm's way, are necessary when using digital and electronic tools.
  • Ethical behavior, interactions that align to one's moral code, are necessary when using digital and electronic tools.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 3

ELA21.3.1

Contribute meaningful ideas to discussions with groups and peers utilizing agreed upon rules.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.3.1

Vocabulary

  • Contribute
  • Meaningful ideas
  • Discussions
  • Peers
  • Agreed upon rules

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Strategies to actively engage in meaningful discussions utilizing agreed upon rules.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Contribute meaningful ideas to a discussion with groups and peers.
  • Appropriately participate in discussions with groups and peers utilizing agreed upon rules.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Good conversations occur when participants actively listen, build on others' ideas, and ask clarifying questions.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 3

ELA21.3.3

Apply oral literacy skills by participating in a variety of oral language activities.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.3.3

Vocabulary

  • Oral language activities
  • Oral literacy skills

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Oral literacy skills include speaking, listening, and comprehending.
  • Oral language activities are those activities in which speakin, listening, and understanding are required.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Apply oral literacy skills when participating in various oral language activities, such as plays, dramas, choral readings, oral reports.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • They can learn, practice, and apply oral literacy skills by participating in a variety of oral language activities.

Primary Learning Objectives

I Can:

  • distinguish between primary and secondary sources.
  • acquire and apply investigative skills to locate and interpret primary sources.
  • utilize active listening skills in a variety of contexts, following agreed-upon rules. 
  • use digital tools appropriately and safely for research and writing collaboratively.
  • apply oral literacy skills by participating in the creation of a group video-based project. 

 

Procedures/Activities

Before:  Introduce the terms primary & secondary source, using the Quizlet link. The teacher will also reinforce the term dam (which is included in the Quizlet study set). Tell the students that primary sources are original sources created by a person who witnessed or participated in an event. Secondary sources are taken from an original source. Provide the students with two examples of primary sources (original photographs and videos) and two examples of secondary sources (journal articles and books) about dams. Tell the students that in this lesson they will be using primary sources. Explain to the students that they will create a secondary source at the end of the lesson. Motivate the students by showing a video on the Hoover Dam. Ask the students to think about what they are seeing as they view the video.

During:  Divide students into teams of two. The teacher can use equity sticks to select partner groups, or the Random Name Picker app  (http://bit.ly/2kOyy7D) to assign the students to partner groups. Assign two photographs (see links above) to each student and ask her/him to discuss with their partner what they see. Now share the four-square graphic organizer with the students. Give the students an opportunity to preview the questions on the organizer. The teacher should review the questions with the students explaining the question with clarity to the students. Ask the students to share their photographs with each other and discuss the answers to the following questions: 

  1. What are you looking at? 
  2. In what time period were these photos taken? 
  3. What words or ideas come to mind when looking at the photos? 
  4. What story do you think is in the picture?

Allow the students an opportunity to record their answers to the questions using the four-square graphic organizer. Allow students an opportunity to share with the class the pictures they were assigned and the information they have written on their graphic organizers. Explain to the students that they have just used primary sources for reconstructing information about dams.

After:  Before explaining the group project activity, share the Animoto Rubric with the students. Explain the points and the categories for each section. The students will continue to work in their team groups to create an Animoto presentation. (Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows.) Tell the students that their Animoto presentation is a secondary source for sharing information, using the information they gathered from their primary source. The students will use the information from their graphic organizer to create their presentation. The students will need to include two images (pictures of dams) in their presentations. The teacher will need to show the students how to upload pictures into their Animoto presentations. After the students have completed their Animoto presentations allow an opportunity for the students to share their presentations. The students may email their presentations to the teacher to display on the interactive whiteboard or projector. 

Assessment Strategies

Formative: Students can distinguish between primary and secondary sources by correctly providing an example of each. (Graphic Organizer & Animoto Presentation)

Summative: The teacher will assess the students' Animoto projects using the five-point rubric. The students should know the Animoto presentation they are creating is considered a secondary source.

Acceleration

Have students create a collage of images and words that would illustrate dams in Alabama. The students should use the pictures provided to create their collages.

Have students play the Quizlet games using the newly learned vocabulary terms.

Intervention

The teacher will provide assistance with helping those students needing remediation by

  • circulating throughout the classroom as the students work together to complete their graphic organizer.
  • providing the students with feedback as they complete their Animoto presentations.

Approximate Duration

Total Duration

61 to 90 Minutes

Background and Preparation

Background/Preparation

The students will need to be familiar with the term graphic sources. A graphic source shows or explains information in the text. Pictures, maps, charts, timelines, and diagrams are all examples of graphic sources. The students should be familiar with using a computer or laptop prior to teaching the lesson.

The teacher will need to have some background knowledge about primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects that were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts, or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience. The teacher will need to create an Animoto account for the class, as students will use the Animoto website to create a secondary source of information. (Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows.) The teacher will need to follow the following steps for creating an Animoto presentation:

  1. Step 1 - Sign up. To get started on Animoto, you'll need to register a free Animoto account. ...
  2. Step 2 - Choose a style. Click "Create" in the upper right corner to begin, then choose a style. ...
  3. Step 3 - Add images & music.
  4. Step 4 - Preview, produce & share!

The teacher will need to be familiar with Quizlet. Quizlet is a free website providing learning tools for students, including flashcards, study, and game modes. The students will make connections to primary and secondary sources by using information from graphic sources to answer several questions. The students will use the information from the questions to create an electronic secondary source to share with their classmates and teachers.

Materials and Resources

Materials and Resources

Technology Resources Needed

Technology Links:

  1. https://quizlet.com/_39dle2  - The teacher will use the Quizlet link to introduce the lesson's key terms.
  2. http://bit.ly/2mOCl5N- The teacher will access the following video during the beginning phase of the lesson.
  3.  http://bit.ly/2n84kA8- The teacher may print pictures of dams using this web link.
  4. http://bit.ly/2mOkWKr- The teacher may print pictures of dams using this web link.
  5. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pN16J8OOKgGBMAyA622b0M9soIqqPzKWsp0r1TQ-WD0/edit?usp=sharing -The teacher will need to print the four-square graphic organizer prior to beginning the lesson. This can also be downloaded as a Word document in the attachments section.

Approved Date

2017-05-09
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