LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

5th Grade Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies Quarter 2 Launch Lesson

THEME: Culture, Dignity, and Identity CONCEPT: Africa, Us, and the World African Explorers in the Americas Africans as constant travelers, to Africans in the Americas, to Africans and African Americans in the development of the Atlantic world CONTENT TOPIC: Examining African peoples roles in the exploration and development of early North and South Americas through fiction and nonfiction texts UNIT TITLE: Development of the Americas (North, South, and Central)
LESSON PLAN Day: 1

Quarter: 2 Standards

Unit: 1

Week: 1 of 5

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.2 Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or information texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Objective(s):
After being given the pre-assessment, students will be able to identify important details that support the central idea by analyzing a nonfiction text and taking annotations with a partner.

Sample Student Outcome Statements

Students will be able to with African and African American Studies Connections
Students will be able to reference details and examples to support or disprove the belief that Africans discovered America.

Students will be able to --- from Literacy and Social Science Planning Guides
Students will analyze nonfiction texts to explain ideas and facts gathered through the reading of short and extended texts. Students will explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

Materials:
A round tube or pencil for each student Points of sail chart (included) Evidence Graphic organizer Text packet of sailing and ocean currents and winds Computer

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

5th Grade Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies Quarter 2 Launch Lesson

Projector Handouts for Written Response. Include the prompt: Written Response to Text: Use details and inferences from the texts, to write an opinion about the possibility of Africans ability to travel to the Americas before the time of Columbus. Teacher created assessment rubric and student friendly rubric to assess standard W.5.2

Lesson
Introduce the lesson and activate students' background knowledge. Pass out the graphic organizers to students: We are going to begin a unit about how we can try to solve a mystery. Some historians claim Africans were traveling to America long before Columbus. Others say that it isnt true. Our job will be to look at evidence like a detective to see if we can find some answers. We will be looking at three kingdoms from Africa to find out as much as we can about them. Our goal is to see if we can find any real evidence that Africans discovered America. Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean is dangerous and scary. During the early days of sailing, sailboats could only go in the direction the wind was blowing and sometimes it was difficult to get back home because the wind was blowing the wrong way. We will begin by looking at the geography of Africa and the ocean currents and wind patterns to see if it is even possible for early boats to cross the Atlantic Ocean either by accident, or by design. Using your graphic organizer, write down as many facts as you can about how likely it might have been for ships from Africa to cross the Atlantic. Then, write down any questions you have. As we read through different texts and study different pieces of evidence, you may begin to realize that things can become very complicated and not easy to answer. When that happens we have to look at the evidence and make a reasonable argument based on the majority of the evidence. This organizer allows you to move your thoughts into different columns as you learn. You will also be responsible for writing down answers to the questions you had. The graphic organizer will be collected at the end of the unit.

Fig. 1

Introduce the text and activate students' background knowledge. Today we will be examining the effects of wind and ocean currents on boatsespecially sailboats (boats with no motors). Ask if any students have ever been on a sailboat. If they have, ask them to talk about the experience and what it was like. Ask how wind affects sailing. To illustrate, place a tube, round pencil or other even cylindrical object on a flat surface. Explain to students that the tube is similar to a sail. Then blow on the tube at a 90-degree angle as shown in Fig. 1, to demonstrate how wind pushes a sailboat across the water. Begin rotating the tube as in Fig. 2 to show that by moving the boat a little they can go in a different direction. Ask students the one direction the boat cant go (answer- it cant go in a direction opposite to that of the wind). Let them experiment until they find the answer Encourage the students to discuss their findings with one another. Tell the students that winds arent the only thing that affects the movement of boats. Ocean currents also help determine their movement. Play Ocean Currents explained by Tim and Moby at Brain Pop.

Fig. 2

http://glencoe.mcgrawhill.com/sites/dl/free/0078778026/164155/00050756.html

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LITERACY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

5th Grade Interdisciplinary African and African American Studies Quarter 2 Launch Lesson

Model using details to identify the central idea To understand the central idea, I have to read the text paragraph by paragraph and identify the details, and ask myself, When I put all of these details together, what big (or central) idea is being communicated. As I read, I keep track of these facts on a sticky note or piece of paper. After I finish reading the section, I look back at the details I wrote down and I think about how these details are connected. Partner work, finding details to support the central idea Now its your turn to practice. You will look at the packet of texts (Google earth pictures with the African Kingdoms overlays.), and other texts with your partner. As you read and discuss, track details that develop the central idea of the text. I will walk around to support you as you read examine the texts Ask the students to discuss whether or not the winds and currents are favorable for Africans to have traveled to America before Columbus.

Fig. 3

Independent Response, using details to craft a response Now that you have gathered key details that support the central idea of this text, you will use this information to write a response to following prompt (hand out response sheets and a student friendly rubric). Say to students, Using details and inferences from each text, explain and defend your opinion as to whether you think it is possible that Africans might have sailed to the Americas even if by accident. And, if by accident, how would you explain it? Use the information that you and your partner have gathered to help support your response. Closure of Lesson Today we have identified that winds and currents play a big role in sailing on the oceans. Take a look at what youve written and identify important details that might be important in determining if Africans actually traveled to America before Columbus. Then, talk with your partner to summarize the important information that should be used in your report. Let's share what we've discussed with our partner.

Assessment/ Independent Work

Examine Student Work Use a teacher created rubric to assess the student response that is aligned to writing standard 9 and includes the desired details students should gather to write their response.

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