Unit Plan: Map Concepts and Analysis

Lesson Plan for Thursday

Grade: 5
th

Social Studies Strand: Geography
Submitted By: Zachary Haro

EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science
Nevada State College Spring 2014
Instructor: Karen Powell
Lesson Plan for Thursday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 2
B. Summary of the Lesson Plan:
Students will review basic features of a map like the map title, compass rose, map legend,
map scale, and inset map. Students will also use the map to answer questions specific to
political and physical maps.
C. Basic Information:
Grade Level: 5
th
Grade
Time to Complete this Lesson: 50 min
Groupings: Whole group, partner, individual
D. Materials:
Houghton Mifflin 5
th
Grade Social Studies Textbook Pages 12,13
Social Studies Journals
Blank Vocabulary Cards (index cards)
Blank Political Maps

E. Objectives:
o NV State Social Studies Standards
G5.5.1 Identify and locate major geographic features in Nevada and
the United States using maps and map elements.
G5.5.3 Describe purposes for different types of maps and globes, i.e.,
topographical, political, physical.
G5.5.5 Identify the purpose and content of various U.S. maps.
G5.5.6 Derive geographic information from photographs, maps, graphs,
books, and technological resources.
o Student-Friendly Standards
I will be able to show were major landforms and bodies of water are in
Nevada and the United States on the map.
I will be able to describe the purpose for different kinds of maps.
Lesson Plan for Thursday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 3
I will be able to describe different US maps by what their purpose is and
what they have on them.
I will be able to get geographic information from maps.
F. Vocabulary
Physical Map a map that shows the location of physical features like landforms,
bodies of water, or resources.
Political Map a map that shows cities, states, and countries.
G. Procedure:
1. Warm-up: Show students two blank maps next to each other, a political map and a
physical map. Ask students to observe the two and think of what the differences are
and in what situations would each map be useful. Have them write their responses in
their journals and to share it with their face partner.
2. Reveal to the students the names of the maps, and show them examples of those
maps with labels. Ask students if they recall anything about physical maps from
Tuesdays social studies lesson and call on students to share.
3. Have students take out their social studies textbooks and their blank vocabulary cards.
4. Before reading, have the students write the two vocabulary words down on their cards.
Instruct them to pay attention as we read and to fill in the definition of the words as we
come across them.
5. Select a student to read the first sentence of the introduction paragraph on page 12.
Tell him/her to choose another peer to read after completing in a popcorn reading
fashion.
6. As students read sentences with the vocabulary words, stop, review the definition
within the text, and give time to the class to copy the definition on their vocab cards.
7. Discuss with the class the elements of the political map on page 12 and have them
compare them to elements on the physical map on page 7. Focus on making sure the
class names all of the elements that are on both maps. (title, compass rose, legend,
inset map, map scale.)
8. Now pose the question What is shown on the political map that may not be shown on
other types of maps? Cities, states, and countries should be the answers.
9. Before moving on, ask students if they have any questions about reading maps, and
review the vocabulary words from the passage one more time.
10. Do the Learn the Skill activities on page 13 with the class.
11. Have students look at the Practice the Skill questions on page 13 and call on students
to answer the questions, and another student to verify whether they agree with the
initial students answer or not. If not, explain why. Guide students to the right answers
so they can write the questions/answers in their journals.
12. Have students answer the questions in the Apply the Skill section on their own in their
journals.
Lesson Plan for Thursday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 4
13. Pass out the blank political map and have students label the 5 states that border
Nevada, and their capitals. Students should turn in their journals and their completed
political maps for assessment.
14. For closure, call on students to describe different purposes for political/physical maps.
Also point to states or landforms on empty political/physical maps and have students
use the maps in their books to identify what you are pointing at.
H. Assessment:
What will you use to measure student understanding?
I will measure student understanding by the completeness of their political maps, and
the content of their answers to the Apply the Skill questions in their journals. A short
verbal assessment can measure understanding as well for students called upon to
answer questions during closure.
Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson.
I will know students understand the concepts from this lesson if they can accurately
explain why we have different types of maps and what uses they could have.
Students can also display understanding if their maps have 10/10 states/capitals
correct on their political map sheet.
I. Closure:
For closure, call on students to describe different purposes for political/physical maps.
Also point to states or landforms on empty political/physical maps and have students
use the maps in their books to identify what you are pointing at.
J. Reflection:
1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach?
The easiest part to teach is going to be the scripted beginning part of the lesson on
page 12.
2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach?
The most challenging part for me to teach will be the scaling again in my opinion
because it involves a little math as well.
3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson?
I will follow up this lesson with a final review on concepts covered throughout the
week including the concepts covered in this days lesson; political maps and a
review on physical maps.
4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts?
For students who dont grasp the concepts, I can have labeled political/physical
maps next to each other and help them come up with a list of differences. After
identifying these differences I can help them come up with reasons why these
Lesson Plan for Thursday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 5
differences are there and the purpose behind having certain things on the map
when using the map for certain reasons.
5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change?
I might need to change the learn and practice the skill sections to have more
questions that I can work with the class on to help solidify understanding before
letting students work on their own.
6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part?
The most difficult part of writing the lesson was following the script of the teachers
edition of the textbook and incorporating my own strategies to make sure that the
time of the lesson was longer and that the incorporated strategies aligned with the
original lesson and taught the standards.