Fifth Grade Social Studies

Looking at Unit 5

Bigger, Better, Faster: The Changing NationMarlo Mong

January 6, 2009

Here’s the Curriculum

Map…

How do I know what concepts to teach?• Use your curriculum map!

– Remember, unit one lists all the concepts used throughout the year

– Every piece of content from the GPS is listed under a relevant concept

• These are suggestions – make them work for your class!

• Keep up with it all using a concept wall.– Students should be beginning to see

some patterns emerging from their study of history so far.

A Sample from the Framework:SS5H3a, SS5E1b, SS5E3a

• Explain that cattle sold for about $4 each in Texas, but nearly $40 each in the Northern and Eastern United States. Discuss the supply of cattle in each area and compare that to the price. Explain that low supply leads to higher prices, and as a result, the ranchers worked hard to get the cattle supply to the people who were willing to pay the most. Discuss modern examples of items that are brought into Georgia for consumers. Consider how prices are affected by the supply and the demand for the item. Fresh produce at the grocery store is a good example of this concept. The teacher may want to invite a produce manager from a local grocery store to discuss this with the class.

Integrate some math!• Here is another real world application of interdependence and voluntary exchange!• Have students look at the label in their shirt (or have a friend loo, if they’re not feeling flexible ) to see where the shirt

was made.• Write the name of the country above the appropriate continent on the graph. For example, if the shirt was made in

Germany, write “Germany” in the Europe column.

Another Sample…SS5H3d

• Using resources from the school Media Center or public library, collect a text set of historical fiction picture books featuring immigration at the turn of the century. A sample list is provided on http://www.grapids.lib.mi.us/wiki/index.php/Immigration_Fiction_for_Kids_and_Teens but many, many more picture books exist on this topic. Work with the school media specialist for help locating appropriate books.

• Provide a book to partners or small groups to read and discuss. Rotate the books between groups so that each group has the opportunity to read several picture books. As students read, they should fill out the “What can historical fiction teach me about people’s lives?” recording sheet (see attached).

• After students read several picture books, the teacher will read a nonfiction book about immigration or show a movie such as “Immigration to the United States: American Heritage Series” found on www.unitedstreaming.com. As students listen or watch, they should fill out a Venn diagram (attached below) listing similarities and differences between the fictional stories and the nonfiction information. Students will share their findings as a whole group or in small groups.

Students should understand the reasons people emigrated to the United States. •Students do not need to know specific names of countries that emigrated to the US. •Think about what was going on in Europe and else where in the world that was causing or even forcing families to move to the US.

•For example: people were emigrating to the US from countries that were suffering from poor economic conditions, places where jobs and farms were failing; countries that were at war; even places where you were persecuted for your faith, etc. •You could then use specific countries that are examples of this mass migration like Ireland or China or even the migration of Jewish families to the US so students can see examples of the conditions of life in those areas that made families choose to leave their country.

•This leads into how places like Little Italy or Chinatown would be created in the places (major cities) where emigrants would settle.

Don’t forget location, location, location!SS5G1a, b

• On a large map of the United States, ask students to locate important historical locations including the Chisholm Trail; Pittsburgh (Steel City), Pennsylvania; and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina as they are discussed in class. Keep the map on display throughout the year. Additional sites will be added to the map later in the year (including Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Montgomery, Alabama). Students should mark these locations in a personal map to be kept in their Social Studies notebooks. Next to each location students should note why these locations were historically important. A blank political map of the United States can be found at http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/us_nl.pdf

• Teachers may choose to give a quiz to determine if students are able to identify these locations on a map.

Reinvent an old vocabulary strategy!Use the Frayer Model to help students understand the importance of places included in the standards by turning this into a game.

For more information on the Salton Sea, visit this website: http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/about/about.htm

Economic Resourcefrom United States Economics History

Georgia Council on Economic Educationwww.gcee.org

This lesson refers to the file Fifth Grade Unit 5 GCEE Lesson 3 that was sent at the beginning of this Elluminate session.This lesson was included in the frameworks as a resource; to get the full sequence of lessons, you can register for this workshop from the Georgia Council on Economic Education.

Resources!• http://www.pancanal.com/eng/index.html

– Panama Canal Authority: Learn about what’s happening with the Panama Canal. At the bottom of the home page, look for a link called webcams and see real time video of ships passing through the canal’s locks. There are also links for researchers and students that tell the story of the Panama Canal and a kids link with pictures, puzzles, and an explanation of how the canal works.

• http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/troosevelt.html – From Time Magazine, read a fun and unique perspective about the work and attitude of Theodore Roosevelt. Within this article are

several paragraphs about the reasoning behind the US’s involvement with the Panama Canal as well.

• http://www.nps.gov/thro/– The National Parks Service website shares information about the areas Theodore Roosevelt lived and explored before his presidency.

Students can also learn about the need for conservation, a movement important to President Roosevelt.

• http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/mckinley.html – Information about the presidency of William McKinley. There is a brief explanation for the US’s involvement in the Spanish-American

War.

• http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wm25.html– Learn more about the life and presidency of William McKinley..

• http://www.thechisholmtrail.com/map1.htm– Maps of the Chisholm trail

• http://www.greatwesterncattletrail.com/index.html– The Seymour, Texas Chamber of Commerce has created this website that shares history, maps, and tales from the Great Western Trail.

• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/– Look up several of the inventions created by the inventors listed in several of the 5 th grade standards.

• http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/inventor.html– Compile by the Education Technology Center at Kennesaw State University, this has links to more resources about important inventors

and inventions. There is also a section that has lessons and activities.

Remember! These are only suggested resources. Make sure to preview these sites before sharing them with your students. You know your students better than I do!

More Resources!

Thomas EdisonAlexander Graham Bell

Photo-Illustrated BiographiesCoughlan Publishing

Theodore RooseveltThomas Edison

Time for Kids BiographiesHarperCollins Publishers

The Wright Brothers for Kids: How They Invented the Airplane

By: Mary Kay CarsonTopeka Bindery

A Man for All Seasons: The Life of George Washington Carver

By: Stephen KrenskyHarperCollins Publishers

The Groundbreaking, Chance-Taking Life of George Washington Carver and Science

and Invention in America By: Cheryl Harness

National GeographicChildrens books

My Brothers' Flying Machine : Wilbur, Orville and MeBy: Jane Yolen

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Dear Dr. Bell... Your Friend, Helen Keller

By: Judith St. GeorgeHarperCollins Publishers