Virginias Geography Unit Lesson Plan 2

Essential Questions Standards of Learning (be sure to include integrated standards here too)
What physical and other characteristics lead to the creation of regions?

VS.2 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography of Virginia by A) locating Virginia and its bordering states on maps of the United States. B) locating and describing Virginias Coastal Plain (Tidewater), Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. NCSS 3 Students will 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 describe Virginias regions and bordering states . The student will be able to locate and describe Virginias Coastal Plain (Tidewater), Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. The student will be able to use effective oral communication skills and demonstrate the ability to collaborate with diverse teams.

Materials

Stoplight Poster Our Virginia Past and Present textbook http://www.fivepondspressbooks.com/studentbooks/G4_silent/Chap1/index.html Virginias Region student sheet Geographic Regions of Virginia student sheet Social Studies folder Students Regions Poster Boards SMART board Show What You Know student sheet Collaboration with Diverse Team Members teacher sheet

Procedures (introduction, instructional strategies,

Introduction: (5 minutes) The teacher will have the students come to the carpet to review the Stoplight Poster from the previous class, asking the questions that students wrote. The class might not have enough information at this time to answer all the questions, if this is the case

summary/close)

the question will be placed back on the Stoplight Poster. At this time the teacher will also review anything that stopped the students from learning and discuss how to correct any issues. Instructional Strategies: (44 minutes) The teacher will have page 14 from the Our Virginia Past and Present textbook displayed on the SMART board for the students to reference. The teacher will pass out the students Regions Poster Boards from the previous day. The students will continue to work in their table groups completing their poster about the region they were assigned to the previous day. The students will be reminded that their posters must identify important facts about their region. The students must state where their region is located compared the other regions, along with 4 facts about their region. The students may either draw or write their facts. (10 minutes) Once the groups have completed their posters they will do a Jigsaw to share their information. The students in their table groups will be numbered 1 to 5, so that all the ones have one person from each of the 5 regions and so on. The teacher will pass out the Virginias Regions student sheet and the Geographic Regions of Virginia student sheet to every student. Once the students are in their numbered groups, so that every group has one person representing each of the five regions the students will share with their group mates about their regions. Each student will record the facts they learn about each region on their Virginias Regions student sheet. They may either draw or write their facts on the student sheet. (25 minutes) Each student will also color in the regions on their Geographic Regions of Virginia student sheet. On the Geographic Regions of Virginia student sheet the students are provided with a key to color in their different regions.(5 minutes) Once the students have completed their student sheets, Geographic Regions of Virginia and Virginias Region, they will place them in their Social Studies folder. The teacher will display page 10 from the textbook Our Virginia Past and Present on the SMART board. Here the students will do a Think Pair Share with describing the relative location of the states that border Virginia. (4 minutes) Summary: (7 minutes) Once the students have completed their Think Pair Share they will come to the carpet.

Here the students will share something the learned or found interesting about Virginias geography. At this time the teacher will review any questions that were placed back on the Stoplight Poster that the class was unable to answer at the beginning of class. After researching and teaching each other about the different regions the class should be able to answer any remaining questions on the Stoplight Poster. The teacher will ask the students about the key terms peninsula and plateau, to make sure they were covered in everyones groups. Before the students go back to their desk the teacher will pass out a Show What You Know student sheet. The students will complete this independently and turn it into the teacher.

Formative Assessment

At the begging on the lesson I will assess the students on what they learned the previous day by how they answer the questions their classmates posted on the Stoplight Poster. During the lesson I will circulate the classroom asking the students questions about their regions and the facts they have recorded on their posters. Once the students are jig sawed into their groups I will assess the students on their understanding of the different regions by circulating the classroom and asking students questions about the different regions. During this time I will be filling out the Collaboration with Diverse Team Members teacher sheet, taking notes on how the students are working and communicating with their team members. When the students are completing their Think Pair Share I will assess them on how they are describe the location of the bordering states. I will correct any misconceptions or misunderstandings at this time. At the end of the lesson I will assess the students on how well they were able to complete their Show What You Know student sheet. I will also assess the students on what the facts they shared during the summary of the lesson on the carpet.

Differentiation

The Geographic Regions of Virginia student sheet is helpful for visual as well as ELL, being able to color code their regions as well as having a visual representation. This lesson is also differentiated for interpersonal learners, allowing them to work in groups and teach each other. Along with teaching each other verbal and visual learners will benefit from having the information about each region being displayed on a poster and having their peers share what they have learned. This lesson integrates technology with the use of the SMART board and the students on-line text books. Students are also encouraged to use their classrooms computers to research the regions that they are becoming experts on. Auditory learners are also encouraged to listen to their textbooks on-line.

Technology Integration (if applicable)