4/5 GATE Cluster Class

Fourth graders are engaged in independent study to explore these state standards:

• 4.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California.

• 4.2: Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of California.

A menu of choices: students choose a product based on their talents, interests and academic needs or

strengths

Lesson Plan—Social Studies

End of Unit 1 Project

Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the physical and geographic features that define places and regions in

California, using a representation based on Bloom’s Continuum that suits their interests or level of development.

Students will work individually or in groups to complete one of the suggested projects, or one of their own design, as a culminating

activity for Unit 1: “The Land and People of California.”

1. Complete a poster report on one of the tribes studied in the unit. Discuss important elements of the tribe’s way of life: food, homes, resources, activities, etc. (Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Synthesis)

  2. Create journal entries that reflect important elements of a tribe’s way of

life: food, homes, resources, activities, etc. (Application, Synthesis)

3. Create a chart that compares/contrasts the regions or tribes within this unit (Comprehension, Analysis). Include

Regions•Climate•Landforms•Population

Tribes•Food •Homes •Resources•Activities

4. Role-play Indian traders: Imagine that you belong to a tribe from the southern coastal region, and that a classmate belongs to a tribe from another region. Write a reader’s theater in which you describe to each other what resources you might need to trade and why. What’s going on in your daily life that makes these resources necessary? (Application, Analysis, Synthesis)

5. Draw and label a map showing the location of the four regions, the tribes within each, and the natural resources that each tribe uses in its region. Create a key identifying how these resources are used. (Knowledge, Comprehension, Analysis, Synthesis)

6. Create a mural showing how the _______tribe and the _______tribe had different ways of life, even though both tribes lived in the ______region. (Comprehension, Analysis, Synthesis)

7. Over a period of one week, chart the daily high temperatures and precipitation amounts in your community. Do the same for a city in a different region. What conclusions can you draw about the climate in the two places? How does the climate where you live affect your way of life? (Application, Analysis, Evaluation)

8. Create a travel poster showing the ways of life in one of California’s regions--enticing visitors to come! (Application, Synthesis, Evaluation)

9. Write a persuasive essay on how California’s varied geography makes it both valuable and attractive to the rest of the global community. (Synthesis, Evaluation)

10. Design a project of your own!

Each student creates his or her own product at an individual pace and conducts new

research or revisits old information according to specific learning needs

Each student creates his or her own product at an individual pace and conducts new

research or revisits old information according to specific learning needs.

Independent study allows for collaboration between peers…

Independent study allows forcollaboration between peers…

…or the freedom to work separately

…or the freedom to work separately

Some products allow students to utilize strengths in writing…

Some products allow students to utilize strengths in writing…

…while others demonstrate their understanding through artistic

talents.

…while others demonstrate theirunderstanding through artistic

talents.

This is an example of a “mural” that shows, through art, how two tribes from the same region had different ways of life.

Here are examples of “murals” that show, through art, how twotribes from the same region had different ways of life.

When a student has mastered grade-specific content, he or she may

explore unanswered questions in a self-designed inquiry…

When a student has mastered grade-specific content, he or she may

explore unanswered questions in aself-designed inquiry…

…allowing the student to explore other resources with new information that supplements the core curriculum.

…allowing the student to explore other resources with new information thatsupplements the core curriculum.

While perusing new texts, students are encouraged to explore topics from different angles: consider multiple

perspectives, determine trends, make connections between past, present and future situations, and draw

conclusions on pertinent ethical issues.

While perusing new texts, students are encouraged tostudy information from different angles: consider multiple

perspectives, determine trends, make connectionsbetween past, present and future situations, and draw

conclusions on pertinent ethical issues.