Haley Lesar, Stephanie Champeau

Lesson Plan Format for Social Studies Lesson

Title: Thinking Sustainably

Subject/Grade Level/ Date(s): Social Studies/3rd/ 4-18-18

Time Requirements: 1 ½ hours

Materials List: Students will need Popsicle sticks, glue, tape and cardboard. Cardstock paper, tape
and clay. Mud, small sticks, glue and paper.

Type of Lesson: Whole group- cooperative- active

Connection to Standards:
S4C4PO4:Describe elements of culture of a community or nation (e.g., food, clothing,
housing, sports, customs, beliefs) in are as studied.

S4C5PO1: Identify ways (e.g., farming, building structures and dams, creating transportation
routes, overgrazing, mining, logging) in which humans depend upon, adapt to, and impact the
earth.

S4C5PO2:Describe ways of protecting natural resources.

S4C5PO3:Identify resources that are renewable, recyclable, and non-renewable.

Instructional Objective:
Students will be able to construct and evaluate a structure that would be comparable
to shelter of that of different countries. They will evaluate how the materials that
countries have determine the strengths and safety of shelter in different countries by
observing what happens to the shelter they build during “natural disasters”.
Active Instructional Plan: How will you teach your lesson step by step? What will you expect
the students to be doing? What will you/the teacher be doing? Consider including each of the following
within your instructional plan:
· Anticipatory Set: We will reference back to Rain School talking about how the students that
attend that school there in Chad have to build and rebuild their school each year. We’ll ask the kids if
they have to build or rebuild their school each year. Then we will ask why the students in Chad have to
rebuild, but the schools here stay in place.
· Questions: Do you think that your shelter will be stronger if it’s really tall or shorter?
Think about the natural disasters that your shelters will encounter, do you think it will hold up?
Is you shelter build for safety or for luxury?
Do you think it’s easier to build safe shelter with stronger materials or weaker materials?
How would school be different here in America if we had to build our schools each year, would we have
as much time for learning?
· Modeling: I wonder if mud can hold up to a hurricane, what happens to mud when it gets
wetter. I wonder if I would rather have a cool luxurious house or a house that’s stronger but smaller.
· Guided Practice: Teachers can guide students by asking them questions as they build, such
as if you make a roof out of sticks do you think it will hold up in wind? What happens if you lose your
roof, is your building strong enough to keep your people safe? Do you think mixing the sticks with mud
will make it stronger? Should you use tape or glue on mud? Etc.
· Independent Practice: Teacher will observe and make comments about smart decisions
pertaining to the shelter that they built. Teachers can give students time to observe each others
shelters before the disaster happen and allow students to leave positive comments on a notecard for
that group. Closure: How did the materials that you (or countries) are presented with contribute to
how strong and safe shelters can be.

Assessment/Evaluation: We will assess overall class knowledge about materials, safety,

availability, fairness etc by holding a conversation and allowing children to discuss things that they
observed, noticed, didn’t like, didn’t think was fair, natural disaster problems and most importantly
thoughts about solving the problem, in their own way of thinking.

Modifications/Differentiation: The instruction doesn’t need to be modified for academic IEP’s

etc because students will be grouped into groups where students of higher academic knowledge in
reading and writing will be in a group with lower academic students so they can help and contribute to
one another. Students with language barriers can be grouped with students who are bilingual, and
teacher to the best of their ability can help students think critically in another language if able.