ORC Lesson Plan

My favorite subject to teach is social studies. My teacher licensure area will be K-3 with a 4/5 Generalist Endorsement. For this reason, I have chosen a lesson plan that can be used for 4th grade social studies. The lesson plan I have chosen from the ORC website will acquaint students with a key figure from the Underground Railroad movement-Harriet Tubman. This lesson plan integrates language arts, social studies and art.

The ORC website linked me to an excellent lesson plan provided by ArtsEdge through the Kennedy Center. In this lesson, the students will learn to gather information from a variety of resources on Harriet Tubman.  They will also analyze artwork, photographs and monuments depicting Harriet Tubman. This research material information the children gather throughout this activity will assist them in crafting a paragraph describing Harriet Tubman's role in the Underground Railroad movement. The lesson then culminates with an art activity in which the children construct a piece of impressionist artwork of Tubman. They will use the KWL method. The lesson will walk the children through what they Know, what they Want to know and wrap up with what they have Learned.

The focus of 4th grade social studies for the Common Core standards is the study of "Significant events in Ohio's History and how events and people of the past shape us today." One field trip the children participate in is a visit to the Kelton House in Columbus. This field trip provides the necessary background for the children regarding the purpose and nature of Ohio's connection to the Underground Railroad. Because Harriet Tubman is such a prominent figure in the Underground Railroad, this is an excellent lesson for an in-depth study of her.

The ArtsEdge website is also very helpful, because it identifies for you the standards covered for Common Core for according to the state. The state of Ohio standards met by this lesson are as follows:

Ohio Common Core Standards

4th grade Social Studies

7.4.: Grade Level Indicator: Obtaining Information: Describe how archaeologists and historians study and interpret the past.

7.1.: Grade Level Indicator: Obtaining Information: Obtain information about state issues from a variety of print and electronic sources, and determine the relevance of information to a research topic: Atlases; Encyclopedias; Dictionaries; Newspapers; Multimedia/Electronic sources.

Grades K-4 History Standard 5: Understands the causes and nature of movements of large groups of people into and within the United States, now and long ago

Grades K-4 History Standard 7: Understands selected attributes and historical developments of societies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe

Language Arts

SL.4.1(b): Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.

RL.4.10.: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

RF.4.4(a): Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.

My selected lesson would probably be best implemented as a coordinated teaching effort between the language arts, social studies and art teachers. The implementation of this lesson would be a cross curriculum study of Harriet and her role in the anti-slavery movement following the War of 1812. The biggest challenge will be the coordination with other teachers.

The challenge for students will be gathering the information from a variety of resources. These activities also require the use of technology to research the website resource list. Computer access for students individually or in small groups is necessary for project completion. In addition, some students may need scaffolding based on their knowledge of the subject matter. However, implementing this after the field trip and the discussion of the War of 1812 and the abolitionist movement will make it easier for the students.

The following is the link to the lesson plan on ArtsEdge website.

https://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Harriet_Tubman_An_Informative_and_Impressionistic_Look.aspx#Instruction

This picture captured from the website gives you the objective of the lesson, the time needed to complete the lesson and links to all the useful websites in one area.

The ArtsEdge website is excellent for helping a teacher implement the lesson. You will notice in the screen capture above it provides you with complete instructions on the overview, preparation, instruction and standards of the lesson. It also has links to additional web resources to supplement the lesson.

The website provides you the links to the artwork and photographs the students will be analyzing as well as discussions points for the teacher to introduce. In the above screen shot, this is one of the monuments the students will analyze for this lesson plan.