Lesson Plan- Unit Topic or Theme: Geography - Landmarks in the United States
- Lesson Topic or Theme: Identifying significant landmarks in the United States and where they are located.
- Lesson Objective: The
students will be able to communicate where the Golden Gate Bridge,
Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty
and Lincoln Memorial are located by completeing a website activity and
a handwritten quiz. They will be able to identify the landmarks
by either hearing their names or by seeing a picture of them; this will
be demonstrated in the quiz that will be administered. Students
will have met the objective goals when they have completed the website
activity and scored an 80% or higher on the quiz. The
students will also be able to write down two facts about each of the
landmarks on a worksheet that will be completed as they are working
with the website. This objective will also be met when students
complete a short paper that includes four facts about one of the
ladnmarks.
- Instructional Technique: Experiment, discussion and lecture will be utilized in this lesson.
- Instructional Materials: Scooby-Doo
Where are You Interactive Website, handout, quiz, and visuals from each
of the different landmarks which may include pictures or souvenirs from
the locations.
- Theoretical Perspective: This
information is important for students to learn because they may visit
or encounter these locations at some point in their lives. Even
for those students that do not, each of these landmarks is a
significant part of American history and it is important for students
to learn how we honor the past and why certain landmarks were created
By understanding these landmarks students will form a sense of
being a United States citizen and see what types of landmarks exist in
the world.
- Introductory Activity: As
a class, the teacher will go over the Scooby Doo Interactive website
and answer any questions. Students will experiment with the
activity for twenty minutes. While experimenting they will write
down two facts about each of the landmarks they visit. These
facts must be written in complete sentences. Partners will be
used if there are not enough computers.
- Step-By Step:
- A
class disscussion will follw for an addition ten minutes about what the
students discovered on the website. During this time students can
share some of the facts they found out and you can gauge how easy or
hard the students found the activity. Students can also talk
about information they already knew about these landmarks prior to
seeing them and if anyone has visited these landmarks.
- A
short lecture will follow, in which the teacher will discuss where each
of the landmarks is located and why each of them is significant.
Pictures and souvenirs should be utilized during this time to
allow students to visualize what each of the locations looks like.
- These
landmarks should be reviewed everyday of the week and students should
be encouraged to explore the Scooby Doo Interactive Website at home to
prepare for a quiz at the end of the week.
3. Closure Activity: A
short review of the landmarks will be given where the
teacher will name a landmark and the students will verbally answer
where the landmark is located. Immediately following will be a quiz.
4. Homework: For the weekend students will be asked to write a short paper
about their favorite landmark and what they imagine it would be like to
visit. The paper will only be one page long and students can use the
Mt. Rushmore story in the Scooby Doo
Interactive Website as an example. This paper should include at
least four facts that the students found about their landmark.
- Adaptions for Different Learners: Students
that cannot use a computer because of a disability will be assigned a
partner that can work with them to manipulate the website.
Students that have trouble writing will be given an aid if
avaliable that will scribe for them during the quiz and who will offer
help with the paper.
- Evaluation: Students
will be able to complete the Scooby Doo Interactive Website by the end
of the week without making any mistakes and they will score an 80% or
higher on the landmark quiz. This will tell me that the students
comprehend where each of these landmarks is located. I will also
know that the students have learned some facts about each of these
landmarks by the worksheet they complete and the paper they will write.
If the worksheets contain two true facts about each of the
landmarks and the paper contains four true facts about one of the
landmarks then I will know they have learned the material.
I
am concerned that students may become too preoccupied with the website
and will not pay attention when the short lecture is given. I am
also concerned that students will not obtain an 80% or higher on the
quiz and further
strategies will have to be utilized
to help the student understand the material.