Subject and Level: Social Studies, 4th grade 

Learner Description - WHO are the students?

4th grade class made up of "average,"gifted, foreign language and learning disabled students.

Overview - Brief description of the unit - an abstract.

What will be taught? How will it be taught? What will students do and learn?

Include the problem, issue, or question that will frame the unit. Probably easiest to write after the unit has been created.

Students will extend their knowledge of the Northeast region and 1 state in the region, through use of textbooks, internet and nonfiction sources. Students will then use knowledge gained about the region and assigned state to create a newspaper. The newspaper will be shared with classmates to extend information and research results.

Rationale - Purpose for the unit as a whole. The WHY questions.

Why would you teach this unit?

Students will learn about the Northeast region in an engaging, hands on manner and have a way in which to share and teach one another about knowledge gained.

Why would this this qualify as an Engaged Learning unit?

The children will be responsible for their learning, they will collaborate with one another, create the performance based assessments that will be on going as well as end product related, explore new ideas and technologies, and the teachers roll will be that of facilitator.

Why is technology an important component of this unit?

Children will use technology to seek information and create their end product.

Why is this project authentic/meaningful , and challenging for students?

It is student designed from start to finish. Students will apply new knowledge and new skills in technology and writing to create their very own state newspaper.

Goals - Content, Cognitive and Social - The WHAT questions

What new attributes (knowledge, skills, attitudes) do you expect students to gain?

Students will learn about the climate, land forms, product/industries, bodies of water, culture and natural resources of the region and chosen state within the Northeast region. They will apply that knowledge to use expository writing in an authentic way to accurately report information.

What school, district, state and national standards/benchmarks are addressed?

Illinois State goals in reading 1B and 1C.

Illinois State goals in writing 3A, 3B, 5A, and 5B.

Illinois State goals in social studies 15B, 16E, 17F, 18B, and 18D 

Learning Activities - The activities required to achieve the goals.

Hook:

You have just been hired as a publisher of a newspaper to represent a state within the Northeast region. Think about what you will need to include that specifically represents your state using factual information. 

Introduction:

Review newspapers to determine parts thereof and type of writing. List observations on the board. Include the 5 w's: who, what, when, where, and why.

Instructional sequence:

-brainstorm types of articles the newspaper should include (guide to include business, weather, sports, ad, photo with caption) parts should include title of article, reporter name, date, name of paper, and price.

-assign partners (mixed ability partners)

-students design project rubric and post on butcher paper

-students create daily self assessments, make copies for all

-discuss expectations

-have kids write a list of facts they already know about the region and state

-begin research, remind them they need FACTS

-review published newspapers again

-discuss type of information, writers voice, first person...

-recruit a local newspaper reporter or editor to discuss with children various aspects of newspaper/article writing and answer children's questions

-students begin to write articles

-review articles to be sure they include the 5 w's and how to edit

-kids input information onto the computer generated template

-import appropriate photo

-include a caption for the photo

-kids share papers with one another

-kids self assess the final project and teacher assesses final project 

Student Assessment- Enables student and teacher to measure student's attainment of goals.

What will indicate that students are novices, practitioners, or experts? (Rubric)

Daily Rubric:

Students wanted to record what they and their partner did well, what each did not do so well and what they plan to do the next time they work on the project.

Project Rubric/Newspaper:

Students wanted to be sure that each newspaper included -

-newspaper has a name that is in large, bold print. Should be the largest print on the page

-newspaper includes the date and price of the paper

-there is a weather article with information about the sates weather for 1 day with the forecast for the next few days

-a sports article is included with information about a sports team from the state or about sports and activities people can participate in in that state

-an ad is included for something found or produced in the state; it includes information about the product or service as well as pricing info.

-a business article relating to a business or industry found in the state

-at least 1 photo that is in color with a caption related to the photo.

-each article has a title in a bold large font

-each article answers the 5 w's

-all articles are free from grammar errors: punctuation, capitalization...

-all spelling is correct

-complete sentences are used and articles make sense

-all articles have facts that are up to date 

How will I measure and communicate student progress on the goals?

Use of student daily self assessment with daily teacher response, group - teacher conferences as well as use of the final product rubric. 

How can students be involved in establishing goals and criteria for the assessment?

Students as a class determine all rubrics and criteria for the project after review of various local/city newspapers.

How will students demonstrate their knowledge and skills? (Observations, portfolios, projects, performances, oral reports, paper-&-pencil activities, journals, checklists, student self-assessment, student peer assessment, etc.)

Students will demonstrate their knowledge and skills with self daily assessments on not only themselves but their partners as well, teacher observations and conferences, creation of the newspaper, final project assessment and the sharing of their newspapers with one another. 

Resources - What resources will you need to do this unit?

Butcher paper, reference books, nonfiction books on states of the northeast, computers, internet access, printers, newspaper reporter/editor and a person with computer "know how."

Management

How will you manage student work individually and in groups?

Daily self assessments created by students with daily written response from teacher, teacher observations and group conferencing with teacher.

How will the room(s) be arranged.

Large tables and open floor spaces to enhance group collaboration.

Where will equipment and materials be located to promote maximum use?

Books, newspapers and reference materials will be in baskets located on a project shelf. Each group will save their work in a project folder that will also be housed on the project shelf. The classroom has 4 computers and access to 5 laptops on a cart.

Where will students need to work and how can they be accommodated?

Work will be in the classroom and in the computer lab. Desks are arranged in table groups with 4 large tables to enhance group collaboration and work.

How will students with special needs be helped?

Accommodations will be made per student need and/or as required by IEP.

Unit Evaluation

What will I need to do, be aware of, and/or gather while teaching the unit in order to answer these questions:

What was effective?

What wasn't effective?

What will I do differently next time?

A daily log of what was done as well as what worked and what did not work will be maintained and evaluated both daily and at the end of the unit.

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