Mindy and Autumn

Taught Social Studies lesson plan

Winter 2005 Week 2

Article Used:  Singer, J., & Singer, A. (2004).  Creating a museum of family artifacts.  Social Studies and the Young Learner, 17(1), 5-10.

Title:  “Classroom Museum”

Grade:  6^th

Subject:  Social Studies

Type of Lesson:  Discrepant Event 

Content Area:  Social History

Unit Goal:  How ordinary people, like us, impact, and are apart of, history.

Lesson Objective:

After I dump my purse out on the table and discuss the contents, students will have an emerging understanding of how physical objects influence history and be able to brainstorm a list of personal items that represent society.

Setup and Materials:

• Make sure there is a place for a circle of students.
• You will need paper, pencil, a purse filled with interesting and logical things.

Unit EALR:

Geography:

3.3.2c

Identify how people develop their understandings of culture through the exchange of ideas, art, music, natural resources, and goods and services (Five Themes)

Lesson EALR:

Communication

3.1

Use language to interact effectively and responsibly with others

Accommodations:

·        Students who have difficulty hearing will be seated close to the teacher giving instructions and if necessary will have an interpreter.  Teacher will also make sure all directions are up on the overhead. For example: what they are think, pair, sharing.

• Students with poor motor skills can verbalize their comments to another student who will write down their comments for them. If possible, they will use a laptop or an aid.  Magazines with picture will also be available to those students so they could just cut out the picture instead of writing it.
• If there are students whose mobility or behavior will make it difficult to move to the circle, the teacher will make sure to personally walk with or assist that student in getting to the circle.

Intro.: 

1. (1 min.) Teacher instructs students to come and make a circle at the front of the room on the floor. 
2. (10 seconds) Teacher then asks students if they have ever found something buried at the beach or in their backyard.
3. (5 min.) Whole class discusses this.

Procedures:

4. (15 seconds) The teacher then dumps her purse on the floor and asks the students what they see.
5. (3 min.) Students share.
6. (3 min.) Teacher asks the students how they know what the items are.
7. (15 seconds) Teacher then asks the students what would they think, or be able to conclude about society based on these items if they found these things in their backyard 100 years from now and if there was no present information on what society was like 100 years ago.
8. (5 min.) The teacher now has the students think, pair, share.
9. (10 min.) The teacher asks several questions:  1) Do you think these items accurately represent me?  The students now think, pair, share.  2) Do you think these items represent our society today as a whole?  The students now think, pair, share.
10. (15 seconds) The teacher gives the following information:  “For the next few weeks we are going to learn about how societies, that existed years ago, have been represented by objects found years later.  Just like these objects here could someday represent our society.”  Teacher gestures toward objects on the floor from her purse.
11. (2 min.) The teacher gives the following directions:  “After I pass out this piece of paper I want each of you to write your first name vertically (demonstrate on the board) on it.  Then you will come up with a list of personal items that represent society and history as a whole.  The trick is that your object needs to include a letter from your name.  For example, Dusti, say you get a weekly allowance, and it is important to you.  Now say that you also believe that money represents our society then you could write the word dollar next to the ‘D’ in your name” (doesn’t necessarily have to start with the letter, just include it).  “Also make sure that the object that you come up with is an actual object and not just a thought or feeling.  It has to be something that can be dug up.
12. (2 min.) Have students (3) repeat the instructions.
13. (1 min.) Students are now instructed to turn to a person close by and together come up with at least two more examples of letters and objects that might work.
14. (2 min.) Students share.  When they share they are to say what the object is as well as what it would represent.
15. (2 min.-5 min.) Now the teacher instructs the students to spend 2 minutes and 17 seconds to fill in their Name List Brainstorm.

Closure:

16. (5 min.) After about 5 minutes, or when students are no longer writing, tell students to put down their pencil and prepare to share some of their ideas.
17. (2 min.) Ask for 3 volunteers to share one of their ideas.
18. (3 min.) Call on students to summarize what we did and why they think we did it. The teacher will restate how it relates to the rest of the unit (refer to step 10).
19. Tell students what they will be doing next.

Formative Assessments:

The teacher will check the “Name List Brainstorm” as students’ work. The teacher will be checking to make sure that students are coming with acronyms for their names and that the items on this list logically relate to society. If they need extra guidance the teacher will help them during independent work time.

Homework:  Tomorrow students are to bring in a list of 6 or 7 items (either new ones or ones off of the original list).

Future things to build up to:

• Making a classroom time capsule
• Discussing the problem with assuming that a group of items can represent a whole society.
• Have students create a bag of “stuff” and have the other students guess what kind of person would own such things (i.e. a doctor, student, etc.)
• Introducing the words artifact, excavation, geologist, etc.