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 * The Fab-Five Regions of the United States! **


 * Third Grade: The Five Regions of the United States**

- Southeast: Jaymy Vargas - Northeast: Kelly Gillis - Midwest: Megan Deal - Southwest: Danica Wiley - West: Megan Boss

**Rubric:**

Design for Instruction SSE 3312 Unit Plan Theme: __The Five Regions of the United States__
 * Grade: 3**

__Group Members:__ Jaymy Vargas Kelly Gillis Megan Deal Danica Wiley Megan Boss

Word Processed by Megan Boss

Outline below, **what** will take place on each day and **who** is responsible for the lesson plan!

Day 1:


 * Southeastern Region – Jaymy Vargas **


 * Introduction ** (5 mins): Read a short story from: __With a Whoop and a Holler: A Bushel of Lore from Way down South__ by Nancy Van Laan


 * Pre-assessment ** (5 mins): Students will do an entrance card on what they know about the regions and what they would like to learn. Questions that will be asked to entice students will be:


 * What is a region?
 * What are the regions of the United States?
 * Can you write one state from each region?
 * Name a state that you have traveled to? What region do you think it belongs to?


 * Lesson ** (15 mins): Show the PowerPoint of the Southeast Region on the IWB. The PowerPoint will show the climate, physical features, natural resources, landmarks, and vegetation. The main focus will be on Florida (Kennedy Space Center, The Everglades), Virginia (Jamestown), West Virginia (Appalachian Mountain, mining), Tennessee (Cotton plantation), Louisiana (types of music Bluegrass Music, Dixieland Jazz, Delta Blues, Cajon Music) include clips of the types of music, and North Carolina (The Wright Brothers First Flight). Students will be given a web diagram where they will write all the information that they learn about each state.


 * Activity ** (15 mins): Students will create their own license plate on the state that they pick. The license plate could include a landmark, a natural resource from that state, or the climate. Students will create their own numbers and letters to write on their license plate. While students are creating their license plate, in groups of four they will go up to the map and post their initials, place born, and a fact about that state.


 * Post-assessment ** (5 mins): Students will go back to their entrance card and answer the questions for what they wanted to learn and what they learned. They will then do an exit card stating what they learned and an AHA moment that they had.


 * In Class/Take Home Activity ** : Students will create a post card to send to a family member or whom ever they would like to send it to from the Southeast state that they would like to visit (students will pretend that they are visiting that state already).

Day 2:


 * Northeastern Region – Kelly Gillis **


 * Review ** (5 mins): Ask students to take out their Postcards from the day before. Have students share with an elbow partner the state they chose and some key facts about it. If time allows, students will group together with others that selected the same state and compare pictures and facts that they selected to put on the card.


 * Pre-Assessment ** (5 mins): IWB Questions. This will be a short, eight question assessment that students will complete using clickers. The questions will pertain to the northeastern region to see what the students already know or need to work on.


 * Lesson ** (15 mins): The lesson will be taught using different maps of the Northeast region, such as labeled states, the climate, and geographical features. A chart will be drawn on the board to display information about the Northeast based on the standards we selected. There will be pictures to go along with the information. In addition, important landmarks (i.e. Statue of Liberty) will be taught by placing pictures on the map in the appropriate state.


 * Activity ** (15 mins): The activity will be poetry. A portion of //My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States// by Lee Bennet Hopkins will be read. Students will then write their own poem. They will choose a state in the Northeast Region of the U.S. and include landmarks and geographical features in their writing.


 * Post-card ** (5 mins): Students will have five minutes to create a postcard of a state in the Northeastern region and take it home to finish it. The postcard should include a picture, a manmade lankmark, and some general information about that state.


 * Post-Assessment ** (5 mins): IWB Questions. This will be a short, eight question assessment that students will complete using clickers. This time, questions will be based on the information taught and will test students' understanding.

Day 3:

**Review ** (5 mins): Ask students to take out their Postcards from the day before. Have students share with an elbow partner the state they chose and some key facts about it. If time allows, students will group together with others that selected the same state and compare pictures and facts that they selected to put on the card.

**Pre-assessment ** (5 mins): Think-Puzzle-Explore. This is an activity similar to the KWL chart. Here's what you do: Draw a large square on a sheet of paper. Inside the square write what you know about the Midwest region. Then draw another square inside of the big square. Write any questions or puzzles you have about the Midwest. Finally, draw a third square inside of the second square. Write what the topic makes you want to explore.

**Lesson ** (10 mins): Anticipatory Set. Show a slice of bread. Explain that the Midwest is the "Breadbasket of America.” Then show a map representing the five regions to help students develop an understanding of the location of the Midwest. Next, distribute tangible maps of the United States showing the physical features. Have students discuss the physical features in the Midwest region with a partner; then discuss with the class. While discussing the physical features, fill out a teacher-made chart (on the board or IWB) with the main physical features of the region. The chart will have columns for physical features, climate, and natural resources. Next, show a map of the climate of the United States, drawing attention to the Midwest region. Again, have students discuss it with a partner; then fill out the "climate" portion of the chart. Repeat these steps with a map showing the natural resources.

**Activity ** (20 mins): 1. Scavenger Hunt ("Go, Go America"): In pairs, students will flip through copies of the book (the copies contain only the states in the Midwest region) to answer questions about the Midwest. The first pair who finishes first with all correct answers gets to call out the answers to the rest of the class after everyone is finished. Students may also be encouraged to share interesting facts they found. 2. Take a virtual tour of Mt. Rushmore! Tour the Mountain Sculpture and if you have time, explore the Visitor's Area, Presidential Trail, and Mount Rushmore Sight Plan! 3. (Extra only) Only incorporate this activity if there is time available. Introduce a song about the Midwest (through Youtube), which goes along to “Single Ladies” by Beyonce.

**Post-card **(5 mins): Every child will have the opportunity of writing a post-card from South Dakota. Each student will draw Mt. Rushmore on the front and write a note on the back, including one interesting thing about either Mt. Rushmore or South Dakota (they may go back to the sheets used in the scavenger hunt or use the Internet to do this).

**Post-Assessment ( **5 mins**)**: Every student will complete a 20-Fact challenge in which they write down as many facts as they learned from the lesson.

Day 4:

====**<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Review **<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> (5 min.): Ask students to take out their Postcards from the day before. Have students share with an elbow partner the state they chose and some key facts about it. If time allows, students will group together with others that selected the same state and compare pictures and facts that they selected to put on the card. ====

====**<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Lesson **<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> (10 min.): Students will review a Prezi with some general information about the Southwest region. At the conclusion of the Prezi, there will be directions for the activity. The class (ideally about twenty students) will be divided into four groups of five. Each group will travel in their own pretend car to a state station, one station for each of the four states in the southwest region. ====

====**<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Activity **<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> (20 min.): At each state station they will spend 5 min. reading about and interacting with artifacts/artifakes to learn about landmarks, physical features, vegetation, climate, and natural resources. To direct their learning students will have a flip book to note key facts. ====

====**<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Postcard **<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> (5 min): The class will return to their seats and pick one of the states they just learned about to create a post card similar to the others they have been making through the week. They should decide what they will draw and at least three facts to write about to a family member or friend. If they do not finish, they will take the postcard home to complete as homework. ====

====**<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Post assessment **<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> (5min.): Students will complete a worksheet that has a map of the southwest on it. Similar to the format of their final post assessment for the unit, students will label each state and a few specific key features. ====

Day 5:
 * Western Region – Megan Boss **


 * Review ** (5 mins): Ask students to take out their Postcards from the day before. Have students share with an elbow partner the state they chose and some key facts about it. If time allows, students will group together with others that selected the same state and compare pictures and facts that they selected to put on the card.


 * Pre-Assessment ** (5 mins): The teacher will show a set of eight questions on the IWB. These will be in regards to the West, general questions that will get the students thinking and will show the teacher how much they already know.


 * Lesson ** (10 mins): The teacher will show a PowerPoint about the West on the IWB. This presentation will reveal different aspects of the West, focusing heavily on climate, vegetation, physical features, manmade landmarks, and natural resources. It will review each state as well: Alaska, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Utah, Oregon, Wyoming, and Washington. They will then watch a short video about the West. While they are viewing the PowerPoint and watching the video, they will have a “Tree” graphic organizer on which to take notes.


 * Activity ** (15 mins): The students will create a flipbook. They will use four sheets of white paper to create an eight page flipbook. The teacher will model folding the sheets (though students will be familiar with flipbooks) at the front of the room so no one is lost. The students will write “The West” and their name on the first flap. The second through sixth flaps will be labeled as climate, vegetation, physical features, manmade landmarks, and natural resources. The seventh and eighth flaps will be two other aspects that the students thought were important in the West from the lesson. When they lift up each flap, the students will write information about each aspect. For example, under climate, they would write the type of climate or main climates that are prevalent in the West. Then under each flap, the students will draw a picture or two representing the aspect. Anything not finished in time will be completed for homework.


 * Post-Card ** (5 mins): The students will create a postcard from one state in the Western region. They may choose the state. They draw a picture of a manmade landmark from that state and write to someone they know. They will act as if they visited that state and write about what they saw and learned, incorporating physical features, natural resources, and vegetation.


 * Post-Assessment ** (10 mins): The students will each be given a di-cut of the regions of the United States. The regions will be in different colors. The students will put the regions together, gluing them to a sheet of paper. Then, they will label the regions (they don’t have to label the individual states). In each region, they will refer to a key (which will show symbols) to draw certain aspects where they are correctly located. These aspects include mountains, rivers, deserts, vegetation, and climate. The students will then label one manmade landmark and two natural resources in each region. In the background, the teacher may play the state song introduced on day three.

Note technology use on back:


 * Interactive White Boards
 * PowerPoint
 * Prezi
 * Virtual Tour
 * Teachertube Videos