Context:

I created and implemented a service learning project involving the students in my 5th grade classroom at Valle Crucis Elementary. The basic idea was for each student to write a letter to a soldier overseas. When students give me something of theirs to put on my refrigerator, I usually like them best when they have lot of colorful pictures on them. So, I asked the students to write whatever they thought they might like to hear if they were at war in a another country and then draw a few colorful pictures on the letter. I intended to serve these purposes: give the students a chance to be creative, do something nice for someone they had never met, do something for someone knowing that they will get nothing in return, and brighten the day of some of America's armed forces.

Impact:

There are a few different aspects of this activity that have subtle but valuable differences. Any time the students get to be creative and take ownership of their work it creates a great deal of pride which relates to a better product. Also, doing something nice for someone knowing they will get nothing in return dispels the idea that you should only help someone when you know they can and will help you at a later time. Additionally, the time most students help without expecting a return are when they are helping close family or friends, in this instance the students are helping someone that they have never met. Finally, the soldiers overseas receive these letters and benefit independently from the students. That is to say that even if the students gain nothing from this experience, the soldiers receiving these letters will still be helped.

Alignment:

This project aligns with Standard 14 Indicator 4 because while the students were working on their letters, feelings about the war naturally arose. I was sure to be very close nearby to such conversations so as to foster a respectful, open-minded environment for these different viewpoints. I made sure that students choosing to discuss the war allowed people to finish their thoughts without interrupting, respect the opinions of others regardless of any contradiction between the opinions of others and the opinions of oneself, and students always back up what they are saying with some sort of fact or common truth. This also aligns to Standard 16 Indicators 1 and 7 by involving students in something that extends far beyond the walls of our classroom. I helped students to think about the people in their community and the soldiers in foreign countries. Also, the students were very much in charge of what exactly got written down. I gave the students a few ideas but encouraged them to be creative and put themselves in the shoes of our soldiers. This also aligns to Standard 16, Indicator 1 because they were working on letters for soldiers overseas. This hepled them to think of a more global community as well as a local community because many of them knew of someone that was overseas at the time.

Context:

I created this Social Studies lesson plan in conjunction with my CI 400 interdisciplinary unit plan to be taught to my 5th grade class in my internship at Valle Crucis Elementary in the fall of my senior year. This lesson plan explores the geography and landforms of the countries of the Caribbean and requires students to be able to perform multiple tasks concerning the countries of this region. These tasks include: giving directions from one island to another, describing an island, and writing an “I Am” poem about a country in the Caribbean.

Impact:

This lesson is a hands-on multi-content approach to learning about the countries of the Caribbean. I have designed a lesson plan that will be useful to me in my own classroom with my own students. This is a lesson that students of many divers backgrounds and intelligences can enjoy and learn a great deal. The students will have the opportunity to excel in several content areas while learning from each other and the information presented. By working in groups and communally working toward the same goal, students will be able to take ownership of the information they gain and will better understand and retain this information. By writing a poem to express the ideas they have discussed the students will be able to culminate their knowledge and experience into written words which can be displayed for the whole school to view. This not only gives me and opportunity to assess the students’ learning during the lesson but it also provides a creative outlet that the students can be proud of.

Alignment:

This social studies lesson aligns with the Department of Public Instruction standard 4, indicator 6. This lesson plan requires me, as the teacher, to be familiar with the geographic concepts needed to teach my students about the map skills they will use. Because of my proficiency in this area, I will be able to clearly and effectively communicate these ideas to my students so that they will be able to accomplish the tasks I set for them which align to standard 7, indicator 4. While the students are working, I will be consistently checking for understanding throughout the assignment by looking at the students work as they are completing it. I will also be grading their “I Am” poems to assess their mastery of the content. By using these assessments, I will be aligning to standard 7, indicator 7. I will be aiding the students in writing their own poems to describe one of the islands of the Caribbean by giving them ample guidelines and examples to help them with forming their poems with correct grammar. This aspect aligns to standard 1, indicator 5, 6, and 8. In order to show the students how to measure distance on a map in addition to how to find the area of a two-dimensional object, I must have a satisfactory knowledge base in mathematics, specifically in geometry and measurement. This aligns to standard 2, indicator 2. This lesson also aligns to Standard 11, Indicator 3 because I talked about the techonological advances in geography. Through Global Positioning Systems, satellite imagery, and digital surveying equipment, cartography is markedly different today than it was 50 years ago. This also meets Standard 11, Indicator 2 because in the lesson I allowed for Carribbean music, food, and visual art to take place in the classroom. There are countless sources for Carribbean musical CD's available.