Artifact 5- Geography Unit Plan

Standard(s) Addressed: 1. Knowledge of Subject Matter 2. Adapting Instruction for Individual Needs 3. Adapting Instruction for Individual Needs  4. Multiple Instructional Strategies  5. Classroom Motivation & Managment Skills 6. Communication Skills 7. Instructional Planning Skills 8. Assessment of Student Learning  9. Professional Commitment & Responsibility 10. Partnerships

 

 

This week was the culmination of my unit plan on geography. While the unit plan assignment in the field guide is supposed to only last one week, I made the decision after consulting formative assessments and with my mentor teacher that the unit needed to be one week longer. Per first grade reporting topics, students are supposed to be able to:

• explain what maps and globes represent and how they are used (1.SS.2.1.1)
• use directions on a map (1.SS.2.1.2)
• identify legends and keys on maps (1.SS.2.1.3)
• identify continents and large bodies of water on a globe or map (1.SS.2.1.4)
• name and locate continent, country, state, and community in which the class lives (1.SS.2.1.5)

I began my unit with using Google Earth to show the class the earth, and then I progressively zoomed into our continent, country, state, community, and school. Students being able to see their exact location in the world also helped them understand what globes are. After using Google Earth we began creating a Me On the Map flip book that showed the same information but incorporated student writing and illustrations. I created a formative assessment to determine student's understanding of their location in the world and ability to name and locate those places (we also incorporated identifying the cardinal directions which we had worked on in class). From this information I determined that half of the class was able to 100% correctly answer the questions. About a quarter of the class had difficulty with labeling the cardinal directions and the other quarter struggled with confusing their continent with their country, or their state with their city. Using this information I planned to review the content before giving a final assessment. I incorporated a sort of mini review with each day's geography topic, and finally gave the same assessment a second time to determine if student's scores improved.

Within this unit I also incorporated the use of other media using a reading program called MyOn. I downloaded books on each continent onto my ipad so that students could see, hear, and follow along with the book. After the reading we would have group discussions about the book. In this way student's were receiving communication and instruction from multiple sources.

Students were also up and out of their seats during the lesson, which I have found is very beneficial to this age group. Forcing them to sit for more than 30 minutes can create off-task behavior. By giving them opportunities to move over to the red carpet to listen to a story, then back to their seats to work, or by having them work on cardinal directions by labeling the classroom and playing a game of 'Simon Says' to get them used to orienting themselves in a specific direction, it was all beneficial to my classroom management and their learning.

This lesson featured two formative and summative assessments, incorporated the language arts and also social studies.