FAVORITES AROUND THE COUNTRY

Favorites Around the Country

Author(s):
Roni Penn –
Inspired by Kimberly Blunt’s “A World of Favorites” from the Berrien County Intermediate School District, http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/bstpract/bpIII/108/108.PDF

Grade Level:
5th grade

Timeframe:
Social Studies
50 minutes a day, over a two week period
(If there is trouble getting responses from other schools, more time will be given or the project may be delayed until we get sufficient responses)

Lesson Description or Explanation
First, as a class, students will create a questionnaire to gather information about students’ favorites across the country. Second, in small groups divided by country regions, students will gather background information and create maps about their region, using the internet, and research elementary schools in that region. Third, each group will attempt to contact three schools in their region to send the questionnaire to. Forth, students will put together a research paper with the region information and data results from the schools that replied to their questionnaire. The papers will be presented by each group while we celebrate and discuss our findings.


Indiana Curricular Standards
Social Studies
5.3.2. - Identify regions of the United States and explain the advantages and disadvantages of using maps, globes and photographs to locate and describe these regions.
5.3.3 - Name and locate states, regions, major cities and capitals, major rivers and mountain ranges in the United States.
Mathematics
5.1.4 - Interpret percents as a part of a hundred. Find decimal and percent equivalents for common fractions and explain why they represent the same value.
5.6.2 - Find the mean, median, mode, and range of a set of data and describe what each does, and does not tell, about the data set.
Language Arts
5.4.6 - Create simple documents using a computer and employing organizational features, such as passwords, entry and pull-down menus, word searches, the thesaurus, and spell checks.
5.7.10 - Deliver informative presentations about an important idea, issue, or event by the following means:
frame questions to direct the investigation.
establish a controlling idea or topic.
develop the topic with simple facts, details, examples, and explanations.

ISTE Standards
2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a) Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
b) Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
c) Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
d) Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
a) Plan strategies to guide inquiry.
b) Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
c) Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
d) Process data and report results.

Assessments
Formative/Summative
Lesson Plan: “ A Country of Favorites ” (by: Roni Penn –
Inspired by Kimberly Blunt’s “A World of Favorites” from the Berrien County Intermediate School District, http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/bstpract/bpIII/108/108.PDF)

Formative assessment: At the end of each work period, each group should email that day’s work to the teacher provided email. This is so the teacher can analyze the amount of progress that each group is making each day and the teacher should insert feedback and comments into the work for the children to read and follow the next day. The amount of progress being made by each group should determine if more time will be needed for this project or if a delay will need to be made to the project. The teacher will then email the work with feedback back to the students and the students will view it on the following day and use the feedback while they work.

Summative assessment: A rubric will be used to grade the final presentation for content, quality of research and information gathered, group collaboration, professionalism (especially with the other schools contacted), usage of technology, and other areas that may be determined during the assignment.

Rubric

Group
To be filled out by students

Unsatisfactory
(0-1)

Well Done
(2-3)

Exemplary
(4-5)

Did all members participate?
Comments:

Two or less members participated
More than 2 members did not complete assignments

Almost all members participated
One group member did not complete assignments

Every group member participated
All group members completed their assignments

Did the group work well together?
Comments:

There were many conflicts/ disagreements
Problems could not be solved on without teacher help

There was only one conflict / disagreement
Would could solve our problems without teacher help

There were no conflict or disagreements
We never needed the teacher for problem-solving

Did the group have peer teaching moments?
Comments:

We never peer taught
Every man for himself
Students who required peer help had to ask the teacher

We had one peer teaching moment

There were many peer teaching moments
We helped each other through each task

Did the group use the rubric to guide them?
Comments:

What rubric?

We looked at when we were finished to see if met the requirements

We used the rubric as a guide the whole way and checked off each category as we met it

Presentation
For teacher assessment

Unsatisfactory
(0-3)

Well Done
(4-7)

Exemplary
(8-10)

Region Map

There is no region map included
Region map included is inaccurate and contains irrelevant information to the region assigned

Region map included is accurate but contains only basic information of region
No interesting information or extra information is given

Region map included is highly accurate and contains many features about the climate and terrain
Map also includes interesting information about the area and extra important information is included

List of School(s) Contacted

What list?

N/A

List is included

Summary Email of school(s) contacted

Summary is uninformative or not included
Summary does not give cultural make-up of schools

Summary is brief but informative
Summary gives cultural make-up

Summary is informative and shows in-depth analysis of cultural make-up
Extra information about make-up is given

Original Email to School(s)

Is not included and is not professionally written or was not proofed by teacher before sending

N/A

Is included and is professionally written as was proofed by teacher before sending

Questionnaire Data (in Excel)

Data is not included or is not in Excel format

Data is included
Is not in Excel format or not organized efficiently, legibly, or neatly in Excel

Data is in Excel format
Is organized efficiently, legibly, and neatly in Excel
Headings are given special attention (i.e. Bolded, color-coded…)

Noticings/Summary of Data
(may choose to make noticings or write a summary)

There is no recognizable summary of the data

Minimal noticings are made about the data
Summary is limited and no critical analysis is made of the data

Noticings are made and are interesting and informative
Summary is interesting and informative and student shows critical analysis of the data

Quality of Presentation

Scraps of note paper stapled to a poster board
No artistic effort

Artistic effort attempted
Neatly organized

Bright and colorful and appealing to look at
Very organized and easy to read
Artistically unique

Other

Group Grade:
(averaged from group rubric)
/ 20

TOTAL Grade:
/ 100

Prior Knowledge
Students will need to be familiar with navigating the Internet and should also be able to cite their resources. Students should have some basic computer skills, such as word processing, saving files, copying, cutting and pasting, especially in Microsoft Word and Excel. Students should also have emailing skills and knowledge. We will spend a short time refreshing memories on how to use these programs before beginning.

During our Writing Workshop, students are to type up one piece of writing from their writer’s notebook. THEY ARE TO NOT MAKE ANY CORRECTIONS WHILE OR WHEN THEY’VE FINISHED TYPING!!! They are to count the number of grammatical errors and the number of spelling errors first and enter them in to the class Excel document located on the class computer. They will need to add their name to the list and add their numbers under the appropriate column.

Once they have entered their numbers, they are to return to their documents and make corrections. Then they are to look up one interesting word from their writing on the internet and place the word and internet definition at the bottom of their writing. They need to cite the site they retrieved the definition from below it by listing the URL, making sure to make it a hyperlink.

Once they have completed this task they are to save the document to their desktop and then email it to the teacher with a provided email address. The teacher can then assess it for “A Country of Favorites” readiness. If they do not demonstrate “ready” skills, take note and make sure to group those students with students who are ready so they can peer teach during the project and be helpful students to their classmates.

NOTE: This assignment is purely for pre-assessment knowledge and should not be a graded assignment.


Technology
Internet Resources: (to be determined by students)

Hardware: Computers with internet access (a COW station), printer with paper

Software: Microsoft Word and Excel, Internet explorer with Google or other search engines, An emailing software (such as Microsoft Outlook) with individual email accounts using School Bits as a monitor if available or desired.

Materials: Paper and pencils for note-taking, map of regions of the United States, poster board, construction paper, markers, glue, scissors, junk magazines (and other pertinent supplies for the presentation)

Procedure
Lesson Plan: “ A Country of Favorites ” (by: Roni Penn –
Inspired by Kimberly Blunt’s “A World of Favorites” from the Berrien County Intermediate School District, http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/bstpract/bpIII/108/108.PDF)

Prior to beginning unit, students will have completed a pre-assessment activity during writing workshop (see above). Groups and regions will already be decided by the teacher based on the pre-assessment activity.

Day One:
Students will gather in a community circle and will be introduced to the project.
As a class we will work together to create a list of favorites we’d like to ask other children around the country. Students should try and come up with and agree with 5 – 10 favorites to ask.
We will work together to create class letter that we will use to email other schools around the country to invite them to participate in our poll of favorites.
Groups will be assigned, a U.S. region (West, Midwest, Southwest, Southeast, Northeast) will be given to each group, and, if time allows, groups may get together to look over tasks for Day 2 and plan ahead for the day.
Day Two:
Groups will gather and begin researching their regions on individual computers while working together to make decisions. They are to be looking at which states make up their region and narrowing down areas they want to look for schools to contact (major cities, capitals, cities with pro sport teams, etc…) They should only take about 15 minutes to do this and have 3 areas they are going to look for schools in.
Once their areas have been decided, they need to spend the rest of the time finding the 3 schools they are going to contact for the favorites poll. They need to go to the schools’ websites (if they have one) and look for any signs of cultural differences from their own. The school must have email addresses as well in order to do this project. If cultural differences or information cannot be obtained and if there is no email, they must not choose that school.
Once they have chosen their 3 schools, they are to email the links to those schools to the teacher provided email with a sentence or 2 explaining why they chose each school.
If groups finish early, they should notify the teacher and may possibly start on day 3 tasks. If groups are having trouble finding schools, more time will be given on Day 3.
Day Three:
Continuation of Day 2, if necessary. If the teacher did not approve certain school, those groups are to continue searching.
Those that are ready to move on are to seek aide from the teacher in emailing the class letter to the schools. This email is only inviting the schools to participate in the favorites questionnaire. The reason for 3 schools is to give more hope that at least one will reply. No email should be sent without teacher okay.
Once the emails have been sent, it’s time to move into the research part of the project. While waiting for responses from the schools, groups should begin researching features of their region. They should concentrate of terrain, climate, chief product(s), etc… They can also add fun facts (i.e. pro teams, interesting information, tourist spots, state or national parks, etc…) They need to use this research to help them create a map of their region as well. The teacher should encourage them to do as much as possible…they have a week and a half to do this.
At the end of the period, allow 5 minutes for groups to email their progress to the teacher for Formative Assessment. The teacher will use these progress emails for feedback and to determine how the project is going time-wise. Feedback should be emailed back to the students.
Days Four and Five:
Continuation of Day 3.
As, and if, emails from the other schools come in, students should notify the teacher of their responses, yes or no. If groups get schools that are willing to participate in the favorites questionnaire, an email with the class decided favorites should be made up by that group and approved by the teacher for email.
Groups should continue their research and maps while waiting for replies.
At the end of each period, allow 5 minutes for groups to email their progress to the teacher for Formative Assessment. The teacher will use these progress emails for feedback and to determine how the project is going time-wise. Feedback should be emailed back to the students.
Days Six and Seven:
Continuation of Days 4 and 5. Continue research and checking for schools responses. Any groups that have not received responses by the end of Day 7 should be looking for new schools.
Groups that have sent out the favorites questionnaire should be checking for favorites questionnaire answers. When they receive favorites questionnaire answers they should be entering the responses into an Excel document. Since most groups will be arriving at the point at different times, the teacher can act as a mentor to help the groups decided how to set-up the document.
After each response to the favorites questionnaire, groups should create a thank you letter to those schools and have the teacher approve it before sending.
Groups that have researched all that they can about their region should begin putting their research and map together (per teacher approval) in a presentation using the materials supplied and in their desired way. The can choose to type it up as well, but presentation of their presentation should be quality. Don’t forget to leave room on the presentation for the Excel document of data.
At the end of each period, allow 5 minutes for groups to email their progress to the teacher for Formative Assessment. The teacher will use these progress emails for feedback and to determine how the project is going time-wise. Feedback should be emailed back to the students.
Days Eight and Nine:
o Evaluation time. The teacher needs to decide if there are any groups that need to delay the questionnaire portion of the project. The research part of the project should be finished up in these two days. Presentations should be finalized as best as possible.
o If there are any groups that require delay due to lack of schools responses, their research and map should be presented without the questionnaire data. The teacher can address and handle the delay in her own way.
Day Ten:
o Celebration Day!!! Groups should have their presentations on display and students will walk around viewing each region. With them, they should carry a blank copy of the favorites questionnaire. As they review the available data, they should fill in the questionnaire.
o Also, as they walk around, groups should have a blank comment sheet next to their presentation and students should leave a comment on the sheet stating one fact they learned from the presentation they didn’t know about the region before. Allow about 30 minutes for this walk around.
o At the end of the period, have a class discussion about the data from the questionnaire. What did they find interesting about the data? How did the regions differ in data? Complete some math statistics using the data. Find mean, median, mode and/or use to show percentages of favorites across the country.
o And last, go around from group to group and have each group read their comment sheets aloud. They’ll love to hear how their presentation taught their classmates something new!

Differentiated Instruction

ESL
A classroom should be a helpful community. Groups with ESL students are asked to help their ESL classmates. Give them tasks within their groups that are easily understood and can be done without frustration. ESL students should be using the Google Translation tool when searching the web, if needed. If further help is needed, they are to ask their group members or seek teacher help.


Challenge/Extend
Students who need a challenge will be asked to assist other groups that are having difficulties with the project. Groups are also encouraged to find as much information as possible about their region, so those students could be given the task by their group members to research more in-depth information. For further challenge, students could be encouraged to call schools that are not responding to the emails to politely ask to join the questionnaire (a great challenge, but would need to be highly monitored and possibly have a script to read).

Special Needs
A classroom should be a helpful community. The project is done in groups. The biggest accommodation to children with special needs will be group members giving aide to those children when needed. Group members should read website content out loud to the child who is blind and should communicate through writing any important information to any child that is deaf. Software should be available to read internet text to a child that needs it. Groups with children with handicaps or other disabilities should assign tasks appropriately. They should only assign tasks that the child can do and the teacher or aide should monitor what the child is being asked to do. Groups with children with learning disabilities should work together to help that child understand the content. Any group with a child with any disability should be allowed extra time if needed and if time allows.