Photo Courtesy of Douglas County Historical Society

Unit Plan: History and Community: Then & Now

Lesson Plan for Thursday Grade: 2 Social Studies Strand: History
Submitted By: Jennifer Hemsath

EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science Nevada State College Spring 2014 Instructor: Karen Powell

Lesson Plan for Thursday

B. Summary of the Lesson Plan:

Strand: History

submitted by: Jennifer Hemsath

This social studies lesson is designed for 2nd grade students to explore differences and similarities in photos from past and present. This lesson requires preparation of old photos from your area. C. Basic Information: Grade Level: 2 grade Time to Complete this Lesson: 50 minutes Groupings: whole class, partnered for activity & assessment

D. Materials: Integrating Language Arts and Social Studies: 25 Strategies for K-8 Inquiry-Based Learning, Strategy 6 p. 40, Personally Relevant History, K-2 grade level modifications p. 43 Digital camera for taking pictures of students and the school Students are encouraged to bring copies of photos from home Graphic organizer: Venn diagram for then and now, differences and similarities Teacher preparation: old window pane, copies of photos from the historical society or online that include your school, town, people in different activities. See the last pages of this lesson plan for old photos of my town. http://www.gardnerville-nv.gov/index.aspx?nid=111 http://www.pinterest.com/dangbergranch/history-of-carson-valley-nevada/ Internet and LCD screen use for below website: This website includes many photos of schools, activities, and downtown: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carsonvalleynevada/with/8589448367/

E. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards o H1.2.4. Recognize similarities and differences of earlier generations in areas such as work, dress, manners, stories, games, and festivals. H1.2.4. I will look for things that are the same and things that are different in pictures of my generation and older generations.

Student-Friendly Standards

F. Vocabulary Generation- the entire group of people who were born at roughly the same time. Past- having occurred or gone by at an earlier time. Present- the period of time existing between the past and future; present time.
EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 2

Nevada State College

Lesson Plan for Thursday

Strand: History

submitted by: Jennifer Hemsath

Similarities- having resemblance or likeness. Differences- to not be the same as; be unlike

G. Procedure: 1. Students will have been given a prior assignment: bring copies of old photos from home, including family members and places. Teacher will have taken photos at the school of students and surroundings as well as places around town. 2. Have prepared a window to the past: a collection of old photos from your area and school. 3. Whole class discussion: Explain to students that many things change in history, while many things remain the same. We are going to look for similarities and differences in our past and present photos. 4. Have an enlarged photo in front of the class. Make verbal observations of things that you see. Use a lot of detail in your description. Ask questions: What do you see? Are there trees, roads, cars, houses, churches, monuments, or buildings in the picture? Does the picture look familiar- like any place that you already know?

5. Go over vocabulary with students. 6. Introduce the Venn diagram: explain that we will use the Venn diagram to show similarities, differences, and things that we see that are the same. 7. Partners will arrange their photos from home together so that others can view them. 8. Partners will walk around the room viewing all of the photos, then and now, including the teachers collection. Together partners will use the Venn diagram to note differences and similarities that they see. Ask questions to help students to think about what is the same and what is different: Look very closely at the pictures and note what you see. How are the people dressed? What are they doing? What kind of objects do you see in the pictures? Do we have those now? How are they different?

9. Together, partners will write a few sentences that explain what they noted. 10. Students will look forward to a field trip to the historic Dangberg Home Ranch the week after this unit plan. H. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? I will use the Venn diagram and written work to evaluate student understanding.
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 3

Lesson Plan for Thursday

Strand: History

submitted by: Jennifer Hemsath

Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. I will know that student understand the concepts from the lesson as they note similarities and differences of earlier generations in areas such as work, dress, manners, stories, games, and festivals. This will be displayed on the Venn diagram, expressing observations made. I. Closure: Make observations on your way home today. Think about the pictures that we have looked at in class. What do you notice about our valley? What looks the same and what looks different than it did in the past? For example, on my way home yesterday, I noticed a man working in the field. It looked much like the pictures we have seen of the working man of the past. I did notice that the machinery was different though. It was newer. The rest of what I saw looked just like the picture. Some things have changed and some things have stayed close to the same. Tomorrow you will share something that you noticed.

J. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? I think the easiest part to teach will be the modeling of how to be observant and take note of similarities and differences. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? The most challenging part may be teaching students how to use the Venn diagram. I suppose that it would be easy enough to model, but I am not sure that 2nd graders will easily grasp the concept of its use. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? I would extend this lesson by having students interview a grandparent. I would provide questions for the students and also have them contribute with questions that they would like to ask. Students could then share their interviews with the rest of the class. 4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? I could assist partners who do not grasp the concepts. I could do a think-aloud about what I observe and ask questions of them as we look at photos together. I could also add to the Venn diagram to start it for them if that is what is confusing. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? I am not sure that busy parents will easily be able to provide copies of pictures from home. I may take the present photos myself and only ask students to bring photos if they want to. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? The most difficult part of writing this lesson was adapting the strategy from the language arts book to 2nd grade without losing the strategy itself. I added the Venn
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 4

Lesson Plan for Thursday

Strand: History

submitted by: Jennifer Hemsath

diagram for this age group because I thought that the graphic organizer would make it easier for younger students to state similarities and differences rather than to write out a detailed description. 7. Explain the strategy from Integrating Language Arts & Social Studies that you included in this lesson plan. The strategy incorporates art/photography appreciation with a past and present view of history. Students will make observations of people, places, and activities. Students will compare how things were in the past generations compared to their generation.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2014

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 5

Lesson Plan for Thursday

Strand: History

submitted by: Jennifer Hemsath

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2014

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 6

Lesson Plan for Thursday

Strand: History

submitted by: Jennifer Hemsath

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2014

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 7