Virginias Geography Unit Lesson Plan 3

Essential Questions Standards of Learning (be sure to include integrated standards here too)
Why do people locate in certain regions? How did water features influence the development of Virginia? VS.2 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography of Virginia by C) locating and identifying water features important to the early history of Virginia (Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, James River, York River, Potomac River, Rappahannock River, and Lake Drummond and the Dismal Swamp) NCSS 3. Students learn where people and places are located and why they are there. 4.1 The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety of settings. g) demonstrate the ability to collaborate with diverse teams.

Objectives

The student will be able to locate Virginias bodies of water: Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, James River, York River, Potomac River, Rappahannock River, Lake Drummond, and Dismal Swamp. The student will be able to use effective oral communication skills and demonstrate the ability to collaborate with diverse teams.

Materials

Virginias Region PowerPoint Arriving In Virginia virtual field trip: http://prezi.com/ipkrnlfpnhs3/arriving-in-virginia/

Our Virginia Past and Present

http://www.fivepondspressbooks.com/studentbooks/G4_silent/Chap1/index.html
Preview/Review student sheet Stoplight Poster Board Post-it notes SMART board

Collaboration with Diverse Team Members teacher sheet

Procedures (introduction, instructional

Introduction: (7 minutes) The teacher will pass out the Preview/Review student sheet. Here the students will

strategies, summary/close)

answer the preview question: If they were going to travel to another continent, what method of transportation would they use and why? They will perform a think, pair, square (Students will be given a couple minutes to answer their preview question, pair up with a partner then pair up with another set of partners to complete the square, sharing their answers to the preview question). Instructional Strategies: (30 minutes) Once the students have completed their think, pair, square the teacher will call the class to the carpet. Here the teacher will explain that today we will be discussing how the early Virginian settlers traveled by taking a virtual field trip of Virginia. The teacher will play Arriving In Virginia, a virtual field trip through Virginias waterways. (3 minutes) After the virtual field trip the teacher will pull up slide 2 on the Virginia Regions PowerPoint, asking the students to compare and contrast John Smiths map of Virginia to our present day map of Virginia. Here the teacher will point out to the class that John Smiths map of Virginia has the waterways as the prominent feature while our present day map of Virginia has roadways as the prominent feature. The students will then discuss what they think it would have been like to travel by water? Would it be faster/slower to get places? What about resources like food and water? Today we can just stop at rest stops. What do you think some positives and negatives of traveling by water are? (7 minutes) The teacher will pull up the textbook, Our Virginia Past and Present to page 16. Here the teacher will review the key term peninsula and discuss Virginias many peninsulas. The teacher will then point out to the students that there are two water features displayed that they did not visit on their virtual field trip. These features are the Great Dismal Swamp, and Lake Drummond. The teacher will ask the students who researched these bodies of water when becoming an expert for their region (the Coastal Plains). The teacher will have two volunteers read about the Dismal Swamp and Lake Drummond. (7 minutes) The students will then go back to their desks. The teacher will then display page 20 in Our Virginia Past and Present. Here the teacher will ask the students what do they think happened with the early settlers of Virginia came to the Fall Line. The students will just share their ideas with the whole class.

The teacher will point out to the class that the picture being display was at the Potomac River! Here the teacher will discuss that early Virginian cities developed along the Fall Line and that the waterfalls prevented further travel up the rivers. The teacher will encourage the students to look at the features of the Fall Line and discuss what they see in the picture. Some students can share about the features if they have visited Great Falls. (5 minutes) The teacher will then go slide 3 on the Virginias Regions PowerPoint and finis h the PowerPoint presentation through slide 8. There are notes provided at the bottom of each slide for the teacher to read. The slides further teach the students about early exploration and the Fall Line. (7 minutes) Summary: (10 minutes) The students will come to the carpet after discussing the Fall Line. Here the teacher will ask the students after taking their virtual field trip and seeing the location of major cities on their field trip, how do they think water features influenced the development of Virginia. After the class discussion the teacher will have the students complete the review part of their Preview/Review student sheet and place it in their Social Studies folder. The teacher will have the Stoplight Poster displayed on whiteboard. The students will be given post-it notes where they may write something the learned, something that stopped them from learning, or a question they have. Once the students have completed their post-it they will place what they learned on the green light, the questions on the yellow light, and what stopped them from learning on the red light. Students may get more than one post-it note if they would like.

Formative Assessment

At the beginning of the lesson I will assess the students based on the answers they share with the class and their partners while comparing and contrasting the two maps. During this time I will be looking for students to notice that in one map the water features are prominent and the other the roadways are prominent. During the lesson I will be assessing the students on how well they are communicating with their teammates, sharing and listening to each others ideas. Here the teacher will have a Collaboration with Diverse Team Members teacher sheet to record any behaviors particular student need improvement on or any positive behaviors the teacher noticed the students exhibiting. After the lesson I will assess the students on their discussion about how water features

influenced the development of Virginia. I will also assess the student on their post-it notes on the Stoplight Poster board and review any misunderstandings before the next lesson.

Differentiation

The virtual field trip and the Virginias Regions PowerPoint will benefit auditory, visual, and EL learners. The independent thinking and sharing of ideas with the class will help intrapersonal learners who have a clear picture of their ideas. I would encourage students to use the resource: http://www.virginiaplaces.org/regions/fallshape.html for any students who show a particular interest in learning more about the Fall Line and the development of early Virginia cities. I would allow students to explore this cite during Language Arts as part of their read to self time. This lesson integrates technology by taking the class on a virtual field trip of Virginia by the waterways. The virtual field trip helps show the students how early settlers traveled Virginia and how important water features were to them. The virtual field trip also stops at major cities along the rivers, showing the class how water features influenced the development of Virginia. The lesson integrates technology also with using the students on-line textbook with the SMART board.

Technology Integration (if applicable)