"Where in the World? An Primary Source/Almanac Lesson

Overview

Subject/Sub-Subject: Social Studies/Other

Title: "Where in the World? An Primary Source/Almanac Lesson

Summary:

Students working in groups of four will identify and look for information about landmarks from around the world using photographs and subtitles as identifying triggers. They will then use an Almanac to find additional information about the structure. Each group will develop a PowerPoint presentation using the information gained from the two sources.

Understanding Goal

Information can be found in a variety of locations.

Investigative Question

How can an Almanac help us to understand our world?

Grade(s):

6, 1

Audience:

General

Learners:

6th grade general education students.

Required Vocabulary:

N/A

Prior Content Knowledge:

N/A

Standards

Standards 6.1, 6.6, 6.7. Students will use prior knowledge to identify structures and their location, and then using an Alamanc, find information relating to that structure.

Field Tests

Click on the title to expand the description of each field test

Sources

"Where in the World? An Primary Source/Almanac Lesson

Understanding Goal

Information can be found in a variety of locations.

Click on an image for more information.

View as a slideshow

[Eiffel Tower, looking toward Trocadro Palace, Paris Exposition, 1889]

Panoramic view of Tower of London & Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge, general view across river, Brooklyn, NY

Golden Gate Bridge, Spanning mouth of San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA 4. GENERAL VIEW, LOOKING NORTH, SHOWING THE 'SEA SIDE' OF THE STRUCTURE
HAER CAL,38-SANFRA,140-4

Required Materials

Directions

Introduction

Step 1	Introduce the lesson and describe what students will be doing during the activity. 2. Break up class into groups and assign each member a responsibility for the collaborative learning experience. 3. Hand out Almanacs to each student. 4. Give each group a packet with the structure to be identified. 5. Walk students through the process by showing an example of what they are suppose to do.
Step 4	Day 2: Have students begin to analyze the information they found and begin the planning stagies of creating the six slides required for their group presentation.
Step 5	Day 3: Have each group work on their presentations.
Step 6	Day 4: Start group presentations.

Best Practices

Analysis of Student Learning

Students were very familiar with the group dynamics of cooperative learning projects and were very energetic in researching and analyzing the information they found. They worked very well together and created some wonderful products.

Analysis of Best Instructional Practices (learn more)

Differentiated Instruction (learn more)

Process

Students working together discussing and processing information both visual and textual content.

Product

Each group created and presented the information using a slide presentation.

Grouping Learners

By splitting the class into groups, all students had to contribute to the presentation by giving role responsibility for each part of the activity.

Literacy Instruction (learn more)

Information/Media

Students had to use visual ques to analyze and identify the structures; their Alamanac skills to find information; and their technology skills to produce the visual presentation. And finally, one or two of the students, presented the information to the class.

Visual

Students had to use visual clues to identify the structure and visual creativity to create the visual presentation.

Teaching for Understanding (learn more)

Explicit Understanding Goal

As an overview and introduction to the lesson.

Technology Integration (learn more)

Content Presented

The activity was introduced and explained using pictures from LOC.

Whole Group Presentation

The group presentation was achieved by presenting the research information as a PowerPoint presentation.

Reflections and Recommendations

The lesson went very well. All students were very familiar with using PowerPoint. Using the Almanac was a little more difficult for some children because they were looking for alphabetical order in the organization of information and they didn't like having to use the index to find the information. I will say they gain a better understanding of the importance of using the index to find information quickly. They also gain an understanding of how important it is to look for information in more than one source.

Credits

Authors and Contributors

Sheila Massie: Kent Gardens Elementary School, Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia

Library of Congress Items

Library of Congress items used in this Lesson Plan.

Thumbnail	Library of Congress Item
	Unknown. 1889. [Eiffel Tower, looking toward Trocadro Palace, Paris Exposition, 1889]. Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs.
	Unknown. 1880-1900. Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Library of Congress: American Memory.
	Unknown. c1909. Panoramic view of Tower of London & Bridge. Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs, Panoramic Photographs .
	Unknown. 1867. Brooklyn Bridge, general view across river, Brooklyn, NY. Library of Congress: American Memory, American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920: a Study Collection from the Harvard Graduate.
	Manufacturer and builder. 1882. Statistics Relating to the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. [Manufacturer and builder / Volume 14, Issue 11, November 1882] (page 251). Library of Congress: American Memory, The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals.
	Lowe, J. 1984. Golden Gate Bridge, Spanning mouth of San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA 4. GENERAL VIEW, LOOKING NORTH, SHOWING THE 'SEA SIDE' OF THE STRUCTURE HAER CAL,38-SANFRA,140-4. Library of Congress: American Memory, RR-Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) Collections.