EDU 383 Methods of Teaching Social Science

Lesson Title/ Subject:

Introductory Lesson / Westward Expansion
Grade Level: 4
Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.7 Conduct short research projects that build
knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
SS GLE- Summarize the events in westward expansion, including peoples
motivation, their hardships, and Missouri as a jumping off point to the West.
SS GLE- Identify and use library and media resources
Understand Students will begin to understand how westward expansion
contributed to the development of the united states.
Know Students will know when the
westward expansion was and what
land was traveled.

Be able to do Students will be able

to provide a short presentation about
why people moved west.

Materials:
Mentor Text- Dandelions
Computers
Ipads
Westward Expansion era books
Poster Paper
Markers
Procedures:
Schema activation:
Activate schema by reading aloud mentor text, Dandelions by Eve
Bunting. This will allow students to wake up anything they know about
the westward expansion era.
Have a class discussion after reading the text. Ask students:
o What is westward expansion?
o Why do you think people moved west?
o How would you feel if your parents told you that you are moving
across the country today?
Next Steps:
Students will research why Americans moved west in groups of 3.
Groups will be chosen by having students draw numbers from a cup.
Matching numbers will be grouped together.
Students will use the library, computers, ipads, books, etc. to research
the topic.
They will be able to choose how they want to present their findings to
the class.

o They must include at least 3 reason why people moved west.

o They must provide a visual aid with their presentation.
o They also must include what years encompassed the era and the
United States land it included.
As groups are researching I will be circulating the room observing. I will
take anecdotal notes on participation and how well the students are
working together.
I will drop in conference with groups during this time also.

Closure:
We will all come back to the carpet for each group to give their short
presentation on what they found.
o Students will adhere to the presentation guidelines for any
presentation in our class. (Eye contact, speak clearly, be a receptive
audience, etc.)
I will take more anecdotal notes at this time about their presentations. I
will assess if they included at least 3 reason people moved west and if
they included a visual aid.
We will completely wrap up the lesson with a class discussion about our
research.
o Were you surprised with your findings? Why or why not?
o Was there anything interesting you found in your research that you
did not share during your presentation?
o How do you feel about moving west?
Evaluation:
I will be able to assess all of the objectives with the students short
presentation. The students presentation will show me if they understand
when the era took place, what land it included, and why people moved west.
I will be able to assess the depth of their knowledge with our class
discussion. This will show me if we need to spend a little more time
understanding this component of the unit or we can move on to the next.
Self-Evaluation:
I feel like this lesson would work well for 4th grade. They are able to perform
research within a group and work collaboratively. I see time being an issue
with this lesson. Students might need more than one class period to compile
their research into a simple presentation. I might need to provide a whole
class period for research and have presentations be the following day.