Unit PlanMorgan White

Unit plan• 2nd grade• History• Economics• Community• Society• Social norms/roles• People• Places

Stages• Stage 1- Desired Results

• Established goals: • 1. Students will work in cooperative learning groups to strengthen communication, oral speaking

and participation skills.• 2. Students will be able to understand the purposes and responsibilities of the jobs of the guest

speakers that come into the classroom. • 3. Students will be able to back up their beliefs and opinions with supportive details. • 4. Students will be able to locate the appropriate spot on a community map of where their jobs

would be located. • 5. Students will improve on their writing skills and practice using correct capitalization and

periods. • Standards:• Subject Area: social skills/history/economics • • 8.2.1.A: Identify groups of people who contribute to a community.• 1.4.2.B: Write informational pieces using illustrations when relevant (e.g., descriptions, letters, single-

topic reports, instructions).• • 1.6.2.A: Listen actively and respond to others in small and large group situations.• Respond with grade level appropriate questions, ideas, information, or opinions.• 1.6.2.B: Use appropriate volume, clarity and gestures in individual or groups situations. • Deliver an oral report on an assigned topic.

Cont.• Big Ideas• 1. Responsibility• 2. Jobs• 3. Community • Themes• 1. People• 2. Places• 3. Individual development and identity• 4. Society• 5. Civic ideas and practices• Essential Questions:• 1. Why is it important to have different jobs in the community?• 2. What job would you like to have when you grow up and how would your job help others?• 3. How are jobs and responsibility related? • Enduring Understanding:• 1. Different jobs are needed in the community to carry out different tasks so that the

community runs smoothly. • 2. Every job comes with different responsibilities and serves a different purpose. • 3. You need to be responsible to successfully carry out a job.

Cont. • Stage 2- Assessment Evidence

• Evidence:• Class participation: Students will be evaluated on whether they

participate during classroom activities, such as answering questions and giving input during discussions.

• Daily Activities: Students will have hands-on activities to complete daily. I will collect all written assignments and activities to be considered as class participation.

• Performance Assessment: The students will write a paper on the final day on what they want to be when they grow up. They must write a one to two paragraph paper with three to five sentences in each paragraph. They must explain their choice with supportive details and reasons of why their job is important and how it helps people in the community.

Cont. • Stage 3: Learning Activities• • Discussion• • Two minute write• • Exit slip • • KWL• • Guest speaker• • Skits• • Visual aids (videos and posters)• • Mind mapping worksheet • • Debate• • Community map• • Writing prompts

Lesson #1• The purpose of this lesson is for the students to gain an

understand of what mail men do and why they are important.

For this lesson I would:Have a two minute writing prompt to get the students focused on the content. “How would we communicate without technology?”. I would use this as the set before I introduce the guest speaker.The students will have visual aids of real letters and get to practice addressing an envelope as well.The final assessment of this lesson will be to write a letter to someone and correctly address it.

Lesson #2• The purpose of this lesson is for the students to learn about

the important role of being a police officer. They will gain an understanding of they do in the community.

• For this lesson I would:• Use a KWL chart for the set.• I would have the guest speaker come in after the students

have filled out the K and W parts of the chart.• I would have the children complete the L portion after the

guest speaker.• The final form of assessment would be to have the children act

out skits of acts and non-acts of a police officer.

Lesson #3• The purpose of this lesson is for the students to learn about

what a fireman’s job entails and why their job is so important.

• For this lesson I would:• Have the students watch a video during their anticipatory set. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fltEmbUm_8• The students would have a guest speaker • We would go over fire safety and hang up the safety tips in the

classroom.• The final form of assessment would be an exit slip where they

have to pick one word to describe a fireman and explain why they chose that word.

Lesson #4• The purpose of this lesson is for the students to understand that

every job serves a purpose and every job is important for different reasons.

• For this lesson I would:• Use a two minute write for the anticipatory set to get them

focused. “Are all of these jobs equally important, why or why not?”

• The students would split into three different teams to represent the three different jobs. They have to create an argument as to why their job is the most important.

• The students must use supportive details to explain their reasoning.

• The moral of the lesson is for the students to understand that all of the jobs are important and they all serve a different purpose.

Lesson #5• The purpose of this lesson is for the students to understand that

there are all kinds of different jobs that serve different purposes. • They will understand that all jobs are important in different ways

and they all have different responsibilities. • They will get to think about a career they would like to have

when they are an adult. • They will learn about different jobs in the community.• This lesson is based around the performance assessment.• The students would write a paper on what they want to be when

they grow up.• They must use supportive details of why they chose that job and

how it would help others. • This lesson wraps up the whole entire unit.

MAPS• The first map making activity I did was the virtual tour of Greenville with the students. It

was an effective part of the lesson because it’s an accurate and realistic representation of the town they live in. This is a great tool to use for visual and spatial learners. Once children get to experience this virtual tour, they will have the knowledge of how to operate a virtual tour on the computer and they could locate other places on their own. They will also be more aware of their community surroundings and where things are located.

• The second map making activity I did was actually a little different. It was called mind mapping. I thought a little bit outside of the box due to the content of my unit plan. I figured mind mapping is still a skill of navigating and organizing things on paper. I think the mind mapping is very effective because it allows students to navigate through their thinking. This activity helps them to organize their thoughts and prepare themselves for the next direction they would like to take

• The third and final map making activity I did with the students was a community map on which they had to locate a specific place or area in which their career choice would take place. This is an effective activity because it lets me know that they have an awareness of the different places in their community. It is actually a form of assessment.

Over all:• Throughout this unit plan I learned that everything has to flow. Every lesson has to connect to the

other and there has to be a sensible sequence of events. A lot of content within the areas of history, society and economics can be taught to all ages but in a different manner and context. My unit is a common and beneficial unit plan that can be taught for many reasons which I portrayed in my lessons. Students get to explore the content areas of history, social studies and economics with this unit plan. They get a lot of hands-on and fun experiences. It is a real-world and beneficial unit plan.

• I learned that map making is hard to incorporate into some areas of content that I was teaching. This was definitely the most challenging part of creating my unit plan. It made me think outside of the box and forced me to incorporate map making into the lesson in new and innovative ways. I learned that social studies isn’t strictly learning facts and reciting them. Social studies can be fun and hands-on. This unit plan is nothing like a unit plan that I would have learned in elementary school. Times are changing and there are many content areas that branch off of social studies. Some of these include history, society, geography, maps, and social norms.

• I had a lot of success making up activities for my lessons. I feel that is one of my strengths. I am a huge believer in hands-on experiences, so most of my lessons revolved around them. I tried to incorporate the different learning styles too like visual, spatial and linguistic. I had a lot of fun creating this unit plan and it is something that I could actually use at some point in my teaching career. Before this, I wasn’t very eager about teaching this subject. But now, I feel that social studies can be fun and interesting depending on how you teach it. I also feel as that there is more room for creativity in the younger grades which is another reason I enjoyed doing this unit plan. I definitely prefer 1st and 2nd grade. Overall, I enjoyed making this unit plan and I am proud of my final product.