BRAZIL

Emily Schultheis November 29, 2012

INTRODUCTION: Harris Hill Elementary Clarence Central School District Amy Stewart Third Grade About 25 students 3 push-in special education students Taught over four days in 40-minute sessions

OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to write an expository

paragraph about the country of Brazil containing sentence fluency and all parts of a paragraph with 80-100% accuracy.

Students will be able to complete a concept map (graphic organizer) to convey ideas and information about Brazil with 80-100% accuracy.

Students will be able to complete a Venn Diagram comparing Brazil and the United States with 90-100% accuracy.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: How does the Yanomami tribe survive in the

rainforest despite culture extinction? How do Brazilian companies and people

make money? What is the culture of Brazil like?

GUIDING QUESTIONS: What language do people in Brazil speak? What is the most popular sport in Brazil? What do companies in Brazil manufacture? How is the Yanomami tribe affected by

deforestation?

PURPOSE: This lesson is part of a Social Studies unit on

tropical rainforests. As per the Clarence Central School curriculum, the third grade students study a country where tropical rainforests are found. Brazil contains the largest tropical rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. The activities in this lesson follow the curriculum.

This lesson incorporates Social Studies and English Language Arts.

COMMON CORE ELA STANDARD: CCR Anchor: Text types and purposes (W.

CCR) Strand: Writing (W) Grade: 3 Standard: 2. Write informative/ explanatory

texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

SUPPORTING STANDARD: Geography Key Idea 1 Performance Indicator: study about how

people live, work, and utilize natural resources.

STUDENT TASKS: Before Instruction:

Complete a concept map with information the student already knows about Brazil.

Day 1: Complete a Venn Diagram comparing the United States and Brazil.

Day 2: Students will set up “stores” in the classroom and “go shopping” to represent the economy of Brazil.

STUDENT TASKS: Day 3: The teacher presents a PowerPoint on

the Yanomami tribe of Brazil. The students complete a worksheet on cultural extinction by writing paragraphs. A visitor from the Buffalo Science Museum visits

the class.

Day 4: The students play a “Family Feud” style game as a summative assessment.

STUDENT WORK: Concept Map

Scoring: Only the correct responses are marked as correct.

DEVELOPING

PROFICIENT

DISTINGUISHED

STUDENT WORK Paragraphs on Cultural Extinction

•Scored on a 4-1 rubric

RUBRIC 4 3 2 1

Brazil facts Provides 3 or more accurate facts about the Yanomami Tribe. All sentences are expository.

Provides three facts about the Yanomami tribe

Provides 1 fact about the Yanomami tribe

Student provides 0 facts OrFacts are not accurate

RUBRIC CONTINUED 4 3 2 1

Structure of a Paragraph

Includes topic sentence, at least 3 details, and a concluding sentence. Details relate to topic sentence.

Includes topic sentence, at least 3 details, and a concluding sentence. Details relate to topic sentence.

One part of the paragraph is not included.

Two parts are not included OrDetails do not relate to topic sentence.

RUBRIC CONTINUED 4 3 2 1

Spelling and grammar

No spelling or grammar mistakes (including capitals)

1-2 spelling or grammar mistakes

3-4 spelling or grammar mistakes

5 or more spelling or grammar mistakes

DEVELOPING

PROFICIENT

DISTINGUISHED

DIRECTIONS: Few people realize that the rainforest is

home to many indigenous people. They are faced with many threats, such as disease and deforestation. Do you think the Brazilian Congress should pass the bill to let gold miners mine on the Yanomami land? Explain your answer.

Pretend you are talking to a friend that does not know anything about the Yanomami tribe. Tell your friend where this tribe lives and how they survive.

STUDENT WORK Venn Diagram

DEVELOPING

PROFICIENT

DISTINGUISHED

CONCEPT MAP SCORES: PRE AND POST-TEST

Developing Proficient Distinguished 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

PretestPosttest

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s

Levels

MODIFICATIONS Modification Type

Specific Modification

Rationale Benefits

Environmental Preferential seating for special education students.

Students will sit close to the aide so she can spend equal time among the three students.

Students are able to have modifications and help in a timely manner.

Students stay on task.

MODIFICATIONS CONTINUED Modification Type

Specific Modifications

Rationale Benefits

Material Enlarging the paper

Students with visual impairments need the paper enlarged to read the words.

Students are better able to read the words on the paper, therefore better completing the task.

MODIFICATIONS CONTINUED Modification Type

Specific Modification

Rationale Benefits

Instruction Extra time to complete the assignments.

Students need extra time to complete assignments for multiple reasons, as indicated on their IEP.

Students have more proficient work when given extra time to think about and write answers.

REFLECTION Thank you to my peer review group!

As a result of this learning experience, I now understand the importance of giving a pre-test. It allows the teacher to measure what the students already know, and when the scores are graphed, students growth can easily be measured.

The scores on the post-test show significant growth when compared to the pre-test.

STUDENT QUOTES One student said, “Miss S., you are my favorite

teacher!”

Throughout the rainforest unit, students created PowerPoints to present to the class, and then taught the class how to use PowerPoint. The students that presented said, “We did this because Miss S. does PowerPoints. It’s so fun!”

As the rainforest bulletin board (which demonstrated layers of the rainforest) was being taken down, students in the class shouted, “Deforestation! Deforestation!,” which shows they really understood the concept.

Harris Hill third grade class with a visitor from the Buffalo Science Museum. We held an anaconda skin!