Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

STAGE 1 DESIRED RESULTS (Universal for all Learners)

Unit Title: Geography and Map Skills
Established Goals (Archdiocese of Denver Content Standards):

3.1.1: Identify and use the compass rose, the map grid, and symbols to locate places on a map.

3.1.5: Use cardinal and intermediate directions to locate places on a map.

3.1.6: Create and interpret maps of places and regions that contain elements including a title, compass rose, legend
and/or grid system.
4.1.6: Locate places on a map and/or globe using longitude and latitude.

4.1.7: Recognize various kinds of maps (thematic, political, and physical) and identify parts of each (cardinal
directions, intermediate directions, physical features, scale, map key, lines of longitude and latitude, etc.)
4.1.8: Construct a map (including map key, scale, compass rose, etc.).

Understandings: Students will understand that

Their location can be described with specific terms

(latitude/longitude, cardinal/intermediate direction)

Maps contain different features and symbols to

serve different purposes such as to show landforms,
landmarks, and climate

Maps help us find our place in the world and locate

other specific places

Essential Questions:

How do maps help us?

What story do maps tell?

Why can understanding my location be helpful?

Students will know:

Maps contain a key to help interpret the information

on the map

Latitude and longitude are horizontal and vertical

lines extending across the globe which can be used
to find absolute locations

Maps are used to show locations; we use various

tools to make maps more precise
(cardinal/intermediate directions, latitude/longitude,
symbols)

Students will be able to:

Locate places on a map given latitude and longitude

coordinates

Use cardinal and intermediate directions to read and

write direction steps from a map

Interpret a map using the symbols in the map key

Create their own map including a map key

Performance Tasks:

STAGE 2 ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE (May be Differentiated)

Other Evidence:

Follow cardinal and intermediate directions

around the school on a treasure hunt as a
group
City map directions: from a given starting
point on a city map, use cardinal and
intermediate directions to write direction
clues to another location of their choosing
and provide an answer key.
Summative assessment: Map skills final
project. Choose from 3 options

Earths Grid System worksheet

Latitude/longitude pre-test
Latitude/longitude quiz

Key Criteria: (This is your assessment rubric, which may attached. Criteria should NOT be differentiated)

Map Skills Final Project rubric, included at the end

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

STAGE 3 LEARNING PLAN (Should be Differentiated)

Summary of Learning Activities: (Include role of each teacher and opportunities for differentiation)
General Education Teacher = GT
Special Education Teacher = ST
Lesson 1

Team Teaching: As a whole group look at pictures of different historical maps on the Smartboard and students predict
what each map depicts. Teachers lead the discussion together and take turns calling on students and asking
predictions.

Station Teaching: Map features station exploration activity. Students rotate through 5 different stations to explore
different maps (physical, political, climate, historical, resource) and write down notes about the map features they see
(key, symbols, scale, etc.) and the purpose that map has. Each teacher leads one of the stations to facilitate
discussion and help students notice obscure features. Other 3 stations are student-led.
Lesson 2

Parallel Teaching: Read textbook about latitude and longitude. Discuss vocabulary and questions.

Alternative Teaching: Color coding activity with latitude/longitude (color code different coordinates and find closest
coordinates for Denver, CO). GT leads whole group in color coding, ST pulls small group of students with difficulty
finding the correct coordinates.
Lesson 3

Team Teaching: Students take a latitude/longitude pre-test in the morning to assess understanding. Based on results,
create 3 different leveled groups. Emergent: watch a latitude/longitude reteach video; find cities on a map from given
coordinates (National Geographic Earth Grid Systems). Proficient: find states on a map from given coordinates, read
a story about a mystery hometown and decide which state it is in based on geography clues (Nat Geo A Summer
Day); Advanced: write their own Where in the World puzzle-write a short story about a mystery location in the US
using at least 4 distinguishing characteristics and provide 4 choices for coordinates. Give an answer key. GT works
with Emergent group and ST works with Advanced and Proficient.
Lesson 4

Parallel Teaching: Each group make a compass rose out of a piece of paper and practice reading directions. Use
different color for cardinal and intermediate directions. Take walk around the school and practice speaking the
directions. Then each group will receive a set of directions to find a mystery treasure. Each group will work together
to read the directions and go to that location.
Lesson 5

Alternative Teaching: Use "City Map Activity" paper and one counting chip per child. ST read directions out loud and
move chip through the correct movements. GT will pull small group of students in need of extra support to read
directions more slowly and with more scaffolding.

Using the same map, students create own direction scavenger hunt to end up at mystery location.

3rd grade need 4 different clues with a cardinal direction in each

4th grade 5 clues with cardinal direction and at 1 left/right direction

Students trade papers with a partner and follow their directions. Student creator grades the work and determines if
the student found the correct location.
Lesson 6

Assign Map Skills Final project to be completed at home. Review the rubric and answer any student questions.
During subsequent class days, students may check in with the GT and ST to review work completed, answer
questions, brainstorm ideas, etc.

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

Map Skills Final Project

Directions: Choose 1 of the following projects in order to demonstrate what youve learned about map
skills. You will be graded on creativity, accuracy, and neatness. Make sure to include lots of detail! Use
the rubric below as your guide. All maps should include a labeled compass rose and map key.
Option 1: Create a three-dimensional map of the playground or your bedroom. Keep everything to
scale, and provide the scale and an appropriate key for your map. You may use Play-doh, Legos,
cardboard, toys, etc.
Option 2: Draw a map of your neighborhood with a key that includes proper scale. Make sure to include
street names and landmarks. The map should include your block and at least 1 block each North, South,
East, and West of it.
Option 3: Create a scavenger hunt around the globe. Have your readers find at least 7 locations based
on latitude and longitude and answer trivia questions about each location they find. Create an answer
key by labeling a world map with your locations and listing the correct trivia answers.
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Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

taken to
include
quality
details.
Total points

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

sloppy or
hard to read
areas.

Designer: Nora Jennings

appropriate
effort.

/16

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

Co-teaching, Understanding by Design, and Differentiated Instruction

Co-teaching is a model wherein a General Education teacher and another specialist such as a
Special Education teacher share equal responsibility for the instruction and learning of students with
special needs and typically developing students in a general education classroom (Friend, 2014). Coteaching allows students with special needs to learn in the classroom alongside their peers, while
receiving services and support as per their IEP. All students benefit, however, because the Special
Education and General Education teacher are sharing their areas of expertise such as differentiation
and content skills and collaborating to make lessons more meaningful for all learners (Friend, 2014). In
a study looking at co-teaching models in a primary classroom in the subject of science, researchers
found students in a co-taught classroom had higher levels of interest and enjoyment in the subject
matter but also demonstrated greater understanding of the topics than children in a traditional
classroom (Murphy & Beggs, 2006).
In order to enhance the learning of students in a co-taught classroom, planning using the
Understanding by Design model can be used. In the UbD framework, the goal of learning is to truly
understand material and transfer that learning to new situations (Wiggins & McTighue, 2011). Towards
that end, units are designed backwards from the desired goals. A study conducted by Penuel and
Gallagher (2009) found that middle school science teachers who had been trained in UbD concepts
designed units and the activities and assignments within them to include more opportunities for
scientific communication and inquiry than teachers without such training. In addition, they found that
teachers designed more student-led and inquiry based learning experiences which allowed students to
build scientific models and use those to understand new concepts and ideas (Penuel & Gallagher,
2006). This design framework fits well in a co-teaching classroom because of its emphasis on being
student-focused and geared towards high academic achievement (Friend, 2014).
In order to meet the needs of all students in a classroom including those with special needs, it is
vital that co-teachers differentiate instruction. Differentiated instruction provides the opportunity for
multiple approaches to the content, process, and products of learning (Tomlinson, 2001). When
teachers assess the individual needs of students within a classroom, they may blend whole-group,
Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

small group, and individual instruction using a combination of Parallel, Team, and Station teaching
(Tomlinson, 2001). The Special Education teacher might work with the General Education teacher to
design activities to meet different learning styles, different levels of readiness, and different levels of
interest for various students (Tomlinson, 2001). This fits well in a co-taught classroom because it
includes the expertise of both teachers and allows opportunities for many different grouping
arrangements.
Class description

3rd/4th grade combined classroom, 26 students

Private, Catholic school PreK-8th grade
1 student with Dyslexia, 2 students with ADHD
o Unit accommodations for student with Dyslexia: have directions and questions read
o

aloud for tests and independent work, provide support for written work organization
Accommodations for students with ADHD: small group support if they have trouble

focusing, opportunity for movement during independent work

Classroom is broken into two main parts to separate desks for seated work and the carpet for
circle time and whole group lessons. The Smart Board is located in the carpet area. The seat
work area also has a kidney-bean shaped table for teacher-led small group work. Student desks
are arranged in groups to allow for collaboration. This set-up supports a co-teaching model
because it provides flexibility in seating and grouping for both Station Teaching and Parallel
Teaching.

Co-teaching rationale
I chose a combination of Station Teaching, Alternative Teaching, Parallel Teaching, and Team
Teaching for my Geography and Map Skills unit. The nature of map skills allows many opportunities for
hands-on exploration, so I found that each of these models provided each teachers the chance to work
with small groups and the larger class to provide support and enrichment as needed.
I chose Station Teaching for my lesson involving the map stations. I have five different maps
which students can explore and interpret, and the physical map and historical map can be the hardest
for students, so one teacher could lead each of those. I would make the groups heterogeneous to allow
students to support and provide assistance to one another even when they were not in the teacher-led
Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

group (Friend, 2014). Station Teaching works best for this lesson because the teacher can provide
different levels of support for each group who comes to the station based on their needs. Students
struggling with interpreting the historical map can receive more assistance and scaffolding, while those
comfortable reading that map can receive more critical thinking questions related to its original use and
function.
I chose Team Teaching for the introductory activity and latitude/longitude small group work.
Whereas Parallel Teaching allows for more student voices to be heard in a discussion, I wanted the
entire group to be together for the engagement activity to share their thoughts and ideas about maps
(Friend, 2014). The teachers could share an equal role in facilitating the discussion, sharing thoughts,
and answering student questions. In addition, for the latitude/longitude groups, the three groups
operated independently of the others but all engaged in different levels of complexity involving latitude
and longitude skills. I want both teachers to be available to support the students in all three groups
while still giving them the opportunity to try some of the skills independently. Friend (2014) notes that it
is important to vary who is leading instruction for a group of struggling learners, so I will have the GT
support the Emergent group while the ST supports the Proficient and Advanced groups. She can
provide both extra assistance if needed, and opportunities for further enrichment.
In that same vein, I chose Alternative Teaching for the activity in which students practice reading
directions on a map and moving a counting chip through the map. The ST will lead the whole group by
reading aloud the directions and walking around the monitor student understanding. Students who are
struggling with the activity or need the directions read slower would be pulled in a small group lead by
the GT. The small group could also contain students having a hard time focusing, who need the
directions in print, those with behavior needs, and one or two students to act as positive role models
(Friend, 2014).
Finally, I chose Parallel Teaching for the latitude/longitude textbook reading and the activity
walking around the school and reading different directions on a treasure hunt. I think Parallel Teaching
lends itself well to textbook reading because more students can have the opportunity to read aloud and
have any questions answered (Friend, 2014). In addition, for the treasure hunt it would be helpful to
Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

have two smaller groups so students have more chances for reading each direction and leading to that
location.

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006

Design Topic: Geography

Subject: Social Studies

Grade(s): 3rd and 4th

Designer: Nora Jennings

References
Latitude and Longitude. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10, 2015, from
http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/latitude-and-longitude/
A Latitude/Longitude Puzzle. (2014, June 13). Retrieved August 10, 2015, from
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/activity/latitudelongitude-puzzle/
Murphy, C., & Beggs, J. (2006). Co-Teaching as an Approach to Enhance Science Learning and Teaching in
Primary Schools. Science Education Review, 5(2), 63.1-63.10.
Penuel, W. R., & Gallagher, L. P. (2009). Preparing Teachers to Design Instruction for Deep Understanding in
Middle School Earth Science. Journal Of The Learning Sciences, 18(4), 461-508.
Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms (2 nd ed.). Alexandria, VA:
ASCD.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The Understanding by Design guide to creating high-quality units. Alexandria,
VA: ASCD.

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005 and Tomlinson/McTighe 2006