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Lesson Plan #1

Grade: 3 Social Studies Strand: Civics


Submitted By: Tracy Sides

EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science Nevada State College Spring 2014 Instructor: Karen Powell

Lesson Plan #1 - citizenship


B. Summary of the Lesson Plan:

submitted by: Tracy Sides

This third grade lesson focuses on how citizens improve communities by working for the common good. This lesson uses the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook, Communities pages 202-203. C. Basic Information: Grade Level: 3rd grade Time to Complete this Lesson: 50 min Groupings: whole group reading & discussions, independent for activity & assessment

D. Materials:

Vocabulary & Study Guide (Unit Resources p. 57) for each student (sample at the bottom of TE 202) Houghton Mifflin 3rd Grade Social Studies Book: Communities (p. 202-203)- for each student

E. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards C15.3.2 Discuss why people form groups C13.3.3 Explain individual responsibilities in the classroom and the school.

Student-Friendly Standards I can tell you why people form groups. I can name individual responsibilities in the classroom and the school.

F. Vocabulary Common good (noun) something that is good for and helps everyone in the community Volunteer (noun) a person who works without being paid

G. Procedure: 1. Refer to TE pg. 202 Get Set to Read Explain the Study Guide on pg. 57 that students will complete as we read Call students attention to the photos on pages 202 and 203 Identify whether or not the people in the images are being good citizens. Identify and discuss citizens who have helped students
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 2

Lesson Plan #1 - citizenship


Introduce vocabulary (common good, volunteer)

submitted by: Tracy Sides

2. As a class, read p. 202-203, stopping to discuss questions as indicated in the margins of

the TE Talk About It 3. Students should complete the main idea and details chart on their Study Guide while we are reading. They can continue working on it when we finish reading. 4. Ask questions listed in the margins of the TE as an ongoing check for understanding. Focus on these questions about citizenship: o (beginning of second paragraph in the Working Together reading on page 203): What is the common good of a community? o (last paragraph in the Working Together reading on page 203): Why do volunteers work for the common good? o (after reading/as a review): In what ways can students practice good citizenship? H. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? Complete page 57 Skill and Strategy study sheet on Main Idea and Details using the reading strategy of summarizing. Students will use the knowledge that to summarize means to tell the most important ideas in your own words. Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. Students must discuss why people form groups and explain individual responsibilities in the classroom and the school record the main idea of the reading as well as how this main idea is supported through details. Writing the main idea of being a good citizen as well as supporting details of how to be a good citizen, students will identify supporting roles as a group as well as explain individual responsibilities within a group. I. Closure:

Discuss, as a class, a cause that the class could adopt and raise money to support. Students will design and draw an eye-catching flier advertising a fund-raiser for this cause.

J. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? The Closure portion of the lesson would be the easiest for me. By this time in the lesson, students should have a good idea of citizenship through supporting the community. Students will have also discussed ways they have helped others or how others have helped them. Drawing on their interests, I could ask them to apply these ideas to something we could do as a class. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? Having students complete the sheet focusing on the main idea during the lesson would be the most challenging for me. I believe I could stop and ask for predictions on the
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 3

Lesson Plan #1 - citizenship

submitted by: Tracy Sides

main idea, at various points within the reading and ask students to give a thumbs-up when they hear/read a supporting detail but the multi-tasking of completing this sheet while reading seems challenging to me. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? The Closure of this lesson could be a long-term project for the class. Over the following weeks or months we will take on a cause or possibly varying causes as time goes on. Each moment of support, whether counting money raised each day or charting time spent, concepts of responsibility and group wellbeing will be discussed. 4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? I would pair these students with others and ask them to make a list of jobs that citizens can volunteer to do in their community or at school. Pairs would then discuss why these are volunteer positions and how these jobs contribute to the common good as well as how this makes the volunteer a good citizen. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? I would break the reading up into small group readings. I would give each group a section of the reading and a question or two on their findings from their reading. I would then ask groups to share their findings with the class. This student-run lesson would give students ownership of their learning while also allowing them to interact more openly and personally with the information. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? When writing a lesson plan, I try to visualize and walk myself through each step. This was difficult when using a pure program plan. I can see myself using this plan as a framework and filling it out with my own ideas.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2014

Karen Powell- Instructor

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