Status message

Dear LOR user,

Thank you for being a big part of this community. To better support the initiatives around open educational resources in the state of Michigan, all resources on the Michigan Virtual Learning Object Repository (LOR) are being moved to #GoOpen Michigan on September 30th, 2018. During the transition, our LOR will be moved to an archived state, not allowing new user registration or new content to be added. An email with more details was sent to registered users of the LOR in September. To make use of the great resources on the platform, we encourage you to create an account and add your own new resources to the #GoOpen Michigan platform.

Fourth Grade State Report Unit

Description: 

Students choose and research a state using online search sites, and then using an online template, log their research.  Research includes the geography, economy, and history of the state, in addition to other facts such as interesting places to visit and a comparison of their chosen state to their home state of Michigan.  Students write a draft of their report, a final typed version of their report,  and then create a google slide presentation using Slide Deck about their state.   Students will also draw a detailed map of their state showing a variety of geographical features (to be inserted in their presentation).

Learning Targets: 
Students will know how to: research a topic and take notes on it using an online encyclopedia, put research notes into sentences and paragraphs using their own words, organize a research paper by topic, revise and edit a research paper
Students will know how to: draw a detailed map of a state, and create a Slide Deck presentation about their research topic.
Students will understand: key social studies vocabulary and concepts such as geography, climate, landform, border, waterways, population, demographics, capital, economy, industry, crop, natural resource, history, statehood, and tourist sites.
Students will be able to: research a topic and take notes on it using an online encyclopedia, put research notes into sentences and paragraphs using their own words, organize a research paper by topic,
Students will be able to: revise and edit a research paper, draw a detailed map of a state, and create a Slide Deck presentation about their research topic.
Link: 
Fourth Grade State Report Unit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P8W6UN7KwqpzeMD2DjEjYmt79E-_QpQtYJE36FTeUbA/edit
Author: 
a2michele
Content Area: 
Social Studies
Geography
Language: 
English
Resource Type: 
Unit
Licensing: 
Creative Commons Licence
Grade: 
4
Common Core Language Arts
Tags: 
State report
Research Paper

What concepts or procedures are being explained or demonstrated in this lesson object?

Students will know how to:

  • research a topic and take notes on it using an online encyclopedia,

  • put research notes into sentences and paragraphs using their own words,

  • organize a research paper by topic,

  • revise and edit a research paper

  • draw a detailed map of a state, and

  • create a Slide Deck presentation about their research topic.

Students will understand:

  • key social studies vocabulary and concepts such as geography, climate, landform, border, waterways, population, demographics, capital, economy, industry, crop, natural resource, history, statehood, and tourist sites.

  • Students will be able to:

  • research a topic and take notes on it using an online encyclopedia,

  • put research notes into sentences and paragraphs using their own words,

  • organize a research paper by topic,

  • revise and edit a research paper,

  • draw a detailed map of a state, and

What was your experience, both successes and challenges, using this lesson object with your students?

I have taught this unit not using all the technology as indicated in the unit plan, and found that many students really struggle with the note-taking portion.  In this revised plan, students are able to copy text directly from the online research into their note pages. In addition, I am able to track 50 students progress online as they post their daily work to SeeSaw so no student gets behind and lost in the shuffle.  Finally, I believe that students will be more engaged when they are able to present their research on Google Slide Deck.