Lesson Plan #2

Grade: 2nd Social Studies Strand: History

Submitted By: Michele Arnold & Christi Schlack

EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science Nevada State College Spring 2014 Instructor: Karen Powell

Lesson Plan #1 - history

submitted by: Michele Arnold & Christi Schlack

B. Summary of the Lesson Plan: This Social Studies lesson is designed for 2nd grade students to learn about national and state holidays and how they are different. This lesson uses the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies Book, Neighborhoods pgs. 144-145. C. Basic Information: Grade Level: 2nd Time to Complete this Lesson: 50 minutes Groupings: -whole group during opening activity, reading, and discussion. D. Materials: Smart board Houghton Mifflin Social Studies Book, Neighborhoods (pg144-145) Paper/ pencil E. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards o H1.2.3 Tell why important events, people and/or customs are marked by holidays. I can describe different holidays and why they are celebrated. Individual work during writing activity -partners for closure

Student-Friendly Standards

F. Vocabulary National holiday: honors someone or something that is important to the country. State holiday: honors an event or person that is important to the state.

G. Procedure: 1. As a class, we will brainstorm holidays, making a list on the smart board, and identify ones that are close to approaching. (ex. Presidents day) 2. Class popcorn reads page 144 about national holidays. 3. Students identify the main characteristics of a national holiday, writing them on the smart board as they are mentioned. 4. Class popcorn reads page 145 about state holidays. 5. Students identify the main characteristics of a state holiday and writes them on the smart board as they are mentioned.
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 2

Lesson Plan #1 - history

submitted by: Michele Arnold & Christi Schlack

6. Teacher reviews the lists and asks the students ways that state holidays are different from national holidays. 7. Teacher asked students if Nevada has a state holiday and to name the holiday that it is. Has anyone celebrated other state holidays? 8. Students work with shoulder partner to determine which holidays, from the list on the smart board, are national or state. They will write N or S next to the holiday name on a separate sheet of paper. 9. Individually, students draw a picture of their favorite holiday and write 3 sentences telling why they like it, how they celebrate it and if it is a national or state holiday. H. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? Students drawing of their favorite holiday. Is it national or state? Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. Teacher will know students got it by having them describe the different holidays, listing them as state or national and why/how they are celebrated. I. Closure: Students stand up-hand up-pair up with someone in the class and discuss key concepts they learned from todays lesson. Teacher calls on random partners to share their findings.

J. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? I think the opening of the lesson will be the easiest because the students are brainstorming Holidays. They already have some idea of Holidays and it will be fun to hear which ones they like and know about. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? The part that will be challenging will be understanding what the difference is between a National Holiday and State Holiday. Students might have difficulty learning this because they are only exposed to Nevada Day as a State Holiday. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? Students will learn and explore Nevada Day. They will pair up and research this Holiday and why we celebrate it and create a visual piece to share with the class. 4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? Students who have trouble understanding can do some fact checking on the internet. They can also work with a partner to determine what the different types of
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 3

Lesson Plan #1 - history

submitted by: Michele Arnold & Christi Schlack

Holidays there are. I will also have some different types of books available for students to read. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? The activity could be changed to students working in groups and assigning a Holiday for each group to research and share with the class. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? I still have trouble working from a textbook. Deciding which portion to use from the textbook and where to add my own ideas is daunting. 7. Describe your experience collaborating on this lesson plan.

I liked collaborating with someone. Sharing ideas and brainstorming is very helpful and I can see why teachers need to do this. It also helped having one of us on the computer typing while the other one had the textbook open online so we did not have to go back and forth. Christy and I work well together but I would be curious how it would be with someone who does not do their share. It was also a little tough picking a grade and strand neither of us had done.

Sample of what students turn in:

My favorite holiday is Christmas. It is a National Holiday. I like it because I get presents.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2014

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 4