From Claws to Jaws
Atlantic Regions of the United States

 Designed by: Katie Howard, Caughman Road Elementary

GRADE LEVEL: 4 & 5     SUBJECT(S): Social Studies & Language Arts

1) CORE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVE(S):

Locate, identify, and describe major cities, states, continents, and bodies of water in relation to South Carolina and the Southeastern region. (5SSG-3)

Locate and identify three regions of the United States.  (5SSG-2)

Interpret a map using symbols.  (5SSG-2)

Use cardinal and intermediate directions for locating places on a map or globe within the United States regions.  (5SSG-2)

Identify factors that help influence the growth and development of a city, manufacturing area, resort, or transportation system within the United States regions.  (5SSG-4)

Locate and describe characteristics, major landforms, and major bodies of water within the United States using a map or globe.  (5SSG-5)

Describe and compare features of climate, natural vegetation, and resources in various regions of the United States.  (5SSG-5)

Identify and analyze the story elements.  (4-AL-5)

Locate, interpret, use, and apply information contained in multi-media and technology based resources.  (4-AR-3)

Write a report.  (4-AR-4)

2) OVERVIEW:

This is a thematic unit

Based on social studies objectives. The students will, in a language rich environment, share ideas in small and large groups about the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and southeastern regions of the United States. Students will become more adept at map skills.

During the unit students will be required to research a state within one of the three regions, make a "regional quilt", write a book report, read two novels whose settings are within two of the three regions. Other activities will be fun, exciting and intrinsically rewarding as well.

The teacher will be the facilitator and the resource liaison between the students and the curriculum. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking will be incorporated into authentic learning activities. The evaluation will come from the process of learning that will take place during the activities.

3) FOCUS/ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S):

Using a map of the United States, how would you describe to someone where South Carolina is located?

Why is the United States divided into regions?

How does knowing locations in the United States help you interpret the story elements in novels?

4) TIME FRAME:

Approximate time frame required to effectively teach the unit:

• Three weeks
  1 week for the New England Region
  1 week for the Mid-Atlantic Region
  1 week for the Southeastern Region

5) RESOURCES/MATERIALS:

Printed Materials:

Classroom set of the novel A Taste of Blackberries by Doris B. Smith

Social Studies Text, Comparing Regions, published by Silver Burdette

U.S. Almanac

Classroom set of the novel It’s Like This Cat, written by Emily Neville

Various non-fiction books from the library on individual states of the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and southeastern regions of the United States.

Where and Why Practice by Nystrom 1980, 3333 Elston Ave. Chicago, Ill. 60618.

Media:

National Geographic filmstrips with cassettes ; Geography of the U.S. III The Upper South/The Lower South; V. New England/ Mid-Atlantic States

Manipulative:

Large floor puzzles of the United States

Flash cards of the regions of the United States

Globes

Maps of the world and the United States

Hot dogs, buns, condiments, paper products

Fresh blackberries, jam, jelly, toaster, butter, butter knife

Gallon sized plastic baggies and clear packing tape

Electronic:

Geo Safari

CD-ROM: "Cross Country USA", "The Graph Club", "Sim Town", "Highlights"

Internet Connections:

For weather information of all of the United States - www.CNN.com

For an interactive atlas of the United States -  www.mapquesr.com

This site will provide links to over 150 United States museums- www.cgrg.ohio-state.edu|Newark|artsres.html

Catlovers will tell you about their pets and show you their pictures -  http2.sils.umich.edu|~-dtorres|cats|cats.html
eractivehttp2.sils.umich.edu|~-dtorres|cats|cats.html

The Web’s largest interactive list of music links -  american.recordings.com/wwwofmusic|ubl.html

This is an educational resource guide, kids and parents can get to a tremendous number of links, and there is a question|answer section for use with homework -  k12.cnidr.org:90/resource,cntnts.html

Kids Com is said to be a communications playground for kids ages 8-12. Here they can find keypals (penpals), contribute to a collective story, and play a geography game - www.spectracom.com|kidscom

Less imposing, easier to navigate on than a lot of other sites is the site Kids Web. Here the students will find kids oriented subset of the Web, with links broken down by subject categories such as The Sciences, or Social Studies -  www.npac.syr.edu|textbook|kidsweb

The White House. Socks, the family cat of the Clintons, takes kids on a tour of the White House - www.whitehouse.gov|WH|kids|html|home.html

Yahooloigans! This is a well-known search engine for kids to use -   www.yahooligans.com

Community Resources:

Invite parents, friends, family relatives, or fellow educators to the Class to talk about various parts of the Eastern Coastal Regions of the United States that they may be from. There is nothing like asking someone who has "been there and done that!"

Invite a student or professor from the local university’s geography department to come share what they know about various land formations of the East Coast regions of the United States. Ask them to bring hands on models or examples of from the department to share.

Take a field trip to the coast. Murrells Inlet has a wonderful Salt Water Marsh boat trip that actually dredges the bottom of the marsh and allows the students to touch and find living things in the findings. The boat crew also allows the students to fish in the marsh.

CULMINATING ASSESSMENT:

a. Use the chapter test for content in the Comparing Regions social studies text. Grades will be based on # wrong compared with possible number of correct problems with 100% being an "A", and 70% or below failing.

b. Students keep two separate novel booklets made by them that will contain vocabulary, reading response journals, story elements, and any teacher made test on the novels used for this unit. Each booklet will be graded on a rubrics, with the contents inside graded individually as they are completed.

c. The teacher will observe and conference with the students and have the students assist in completing a self-evaluative worksheet. Questions will pertain to the students opinion of whether or not he/she did their personal best, enjoyed the unit, what was their favorite parts of the unit, and what did they learn that they did not already know about the three different regions of the United States. Students will determine the grade in combination with the teacher’s rubric as a guideline.

d. The class will complete one "Regional Quilt" for each of the three regions of the United States. The class as a whole will determine what significant information should be on the quilt, at the teachers’ guidance. The students will work in partners for each quilt square. The assessment will be based on timeliness upon completion, factual accuracy of the information and cooperation with partner and group. The quilt is made by taping baggies together and slipping the partner’s paper inside each baggy.

e. The students will take Accelerated Reading Test on the two novels read in class, A Taste of Blackberries, and It’s Like This Cat. Criteria for grading will be based on the AR programs suggested 85% for passing.

f. The students will write a biography on the life of someone famous to one of the East Coast regions of the United States such as Hemmingway, Rachel Carson, or Duke Ellington. The students will search the Internet and media centers for prospective biographies. In addition, the students will make a timeline folded accordion style, complete with illustrations for their biography report. Grade on a rubric.

g. A non-fiction book report will be written about any state in one of the three regions on the East Coast of the United States. The report will be at least five paragraphs long and the specific information to be researched is written on an assignment sheet (attached).

The students will have to do a presentation of the report using some play, song they have written, poem, or poster. Criteria for grading will be based on a rubric devised by the teacher.

INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Initiating Activity:

Purchase fresh blackberries, pre-wash enough for the class to sample 1 or 2 each. Distribute the classroom novels and have students read the title A Taste of Blackberries. Students write their predictions in their journals what they think the relationship is between the East Coast of the United States and this novel is, in addition the students may make predictions about the story plot and setting.

Begin an author talk about the author of A Taste of Blackberries. Discuss how the author of this novel is from Georgia and the story setting is also in Georgia. Locate on a map and relate to the Social Studies unit on the East Coast regions of the United States.

1. Have the students go into the Alta Vista search engine under hobbies and gardening, "Blackberries". They should find information on some of the best geographical locations to plant and grow blackberries. The students should then go into Yaahooligans, or any other search engine, and compare blackberry information. Students may then write a comparison contrast paragraph based on information gathered from both web sites on blackberries. A graphic organizer such as a venn diagram should have been used to record blackberry information off the Internet.

2. Provide students with scales and have them weigh a pint of blackberries. Have students then remove blackberries until they have removed half the total weight. Students could then do some calculations to figure out what one-third or one-fourth of a pint of blackberries would weigh. This is a great fraction and measurement lesson, primarily because the students can then eat their manipulatives.

3. In an attempt to teach the seven continents and four major bodies of water, allow the students to put them in a rap song or whatever style of music they choose. (i.e. Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Europe, North and South America. Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic) Syllabication helps the students know where to clap and helps to develop a rhythm. Students may record on audio or visual recordings, and play back for their class.

An extension to this lesson would be to have students perform the raps with props and additional lyrics that tell facts about each continent and major body of water.

www.spectra.com|kidscom may be used to allow students to practice geography while working on this Internet web site. Have a graphic organizer available to use as a recording instrument of where students have gone on this web site.

4. In an attempt to accommodate the bodily kinesthetic students, a daily movement exercise can be done. This will require one student to call out directions that are used in map reading. North would be stretching upwards, south would be toe touching and east/west stretch would be side to side wall pushes.

An extension for this activity would be for students to stretch out their arms diagonally, vertically, and horizontally. This would also be an appropriate time to teach latitude, longitude, equator, prime meridian, and polar positions.

5. Have a world map with stickpins and little flags on a bulletin board. Students may put one pin with the flag attached to the area where his/her family is from. Family members should be invited to share their heritage in as much depth as they would like during this unit.

Parents or grandparents could provide a written paragraph about where they come from, send photographs, or send email from their place of origin. If a lot of written information is collected from relatives, the teacher could laminate the written information and compile into a book format. A good title for this group book may be Share Your Heritage.

6. www.music-on-line.com   Log onto this web site using large group instruction and a focus box and TV so that the group may watch how to locate the Beach Boys music information. Students may listen to a song by the Beach Boys called "California Girls". This will introduce the students to the assignment of comparing the East Coast waters to that of the West Coast. Students may select up to two partners to research the assignment within class or in the library. The research groups should have specific information to research such as;

*Find the names of three aquatic animals in each coastal water

*Describe the land formations directly on each coast

*List three of the most important environmental hazards threatening the coastal waters

7. Ask the students if they would like to try out for a news show host, W-HOWARD (use the teacher’s last name for the name of the station). The students will research, write, and provide some visual on their chosen state. (See the attached criteria list). Allow students to pick a state that no one else has chosen so that all of the states in the specified region will be reported on during presentation time. This web site has lots of information on states that will help students to prepare for their news cast! www.npac.syr.edu,textbook|Kidsweb

8. Using the Comparing Regions book, have students determine goods produced in any of the previously noted regions. Once students have studied the products and manufactured goods of the regions they should bring to class or write a list of those items they own or would like to own. Set up a trade and sales day for all of the students to learn how our country sells and barters with other countries’ goods we produce. Some students can represent foreign countries and some will represent the regions being studied. K.12cnidr.org:90|resource|cntnts.html

9. Plan with the class one of the following locations to visit: Congaree Swamp, Murrell’s Inlet, or Isle of Palms. Students will be able to take boat trips and gain first hand knowledge about what types of vegetation and wildlife are within the East Coast region of South Carolina.

10. Play a game that can be developed based on information gathered from the regional study thus far. Call the game "I’m Thinking of a Region". In the game students will give one clue at a time until someone guesses the region that best fits the clues. For example, I’m thinking of a region where farmers produce a fruit we use to make orange juice…Southeast.

11. In this activity students will be able to sharpen up their math computation skills. They should be given a region and all of the students that are in a group will have to add the population of each state within their particular region. When done have all regional totals to compare and determine which region is the most populated, least populated and discuss the effects both positive and negative on the region. Emphasis should be placed on the Southeast region where the students live. Questions such as which other state has about the same population as South Carolina?

Literature Specific Activities:

Classroom novel set for A Taste of Blackberries should be used to read as a class while working on the Southeast region.

PRE-READING ACTIVITY:

Purchase fresh blackberries for the students to taste.

Activities:

1. Students listen and draw on a folder made from an 11/14 piece of construction paper; the drawing should go with the story plot read aloud as the students draw. Require that the students place the title, author’s name and their name on the front of the cover.

2. Students make a vocabulary "t" chart of new vocabulary in the book

Word     Meaning

This vocabulary sheet should be the first page of the unit folder.

3. Students should keep readers response log of each chapter as daily reading of the novel occurs.

4. Students will design a billboard, advertising for the movie "A Taste of Blackberries". Encourage students to write the ad as if their favorite actors and actresses were playing the leading roles.

5. Students are to write a personal narrative about a time in their life that they took a risk when the outcome was good. Have the students write a personal narrative about a risk they took when the outcome was negative.

6. Students will take a comprehension test on the novel, they should try to get 85% or better.

7. Have students write a sympathy card to Jamie’s mother, he is a main character in the book that dies.

Literature Specific Activity:

It’s Like This Cat is a classroom novel that has a setting in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Hopefully your school has a classroom novel set to use, if not this may be an item to request.

PRE-READING ACTIVITY:

Have a parent/cat owner bring a pet cat in to visit the class and have an open question answer time about the visiting cat. Viewing a United States map, the students should locate the setting for this novel, New York State. Discuss the direction one would need to go if leaving South Carolina to visit New York. Students may listen and draw as the teacher reads the first chapter of the novel.

Activities:

1.Students can make a graphic organizer for vocabulary words and their meanings as used in context of this book.

2.Students should make an 11x14 construction paper folder to keep all work on this novel in each day. Include in the folder a prediction sheet. Have the students predict why the title has a cat in it, and what role in the story they think the cat might play.

3.Invite someone from the community to visit the classroom that has Asthma, like the main character of the book has. Let any student that has Asthma in the classroom share about their Asthma symptoms, treatment, and problems with the illness.

4. Be sure the students keep a reader response log of the daily read-alouds.

5. The cat in the story is called Cat by his owner. Have the students have a cat-naming contest to see what they would have named the cat if he were their cat.

6. Ask for parent volunteers to bring in hotdogs, buns, and all of the condiments for a Coney Island Hot Dog. Eat and fix in class, just as the characters in the story love to do and eat.

7. While reading the novel have a math lesson daily called "Sub-way Math". Have word problems written by volunteer students on the overhead to do daily in teams. The problem should use characters and setting from the story.

8. www.whitehouse.gov is a web site that has information on President Clinton’s cat White Socks. Students may use a graphic organizer to record the information that they learn from the web site.

9. Students can use the AR test on this novel to be one assessment of this novel unit, expect 85% or better.

Enrichment Activities:

Allow students to open the Cross Country CD-ROM, they may travel as a truck to various East Coast regions.

Invite parents for an East Coast Region States Day. The students work while on this unit should be displayed and have the students answer any questions about their projects or that region.