Blog post 14: Final lesson ideas

The lesson I would like to propose as a final for this web class would be for the subject area of Social Studies for the 5th grade.  The concentration of Math, Science and Reading during the schooldays is more overpowering than that of the area of Social Studies and for this reason I would like to do an intensive year long project with 5th graders with the focus on the timeline of lessons of a year long Social Studies units addressed during the class.  I know it is late in this school year to start this project now, so I would use it at the beginning of the next school year. I have noticed that students enjoy Social Studies and are not very familiar with its contents until addressed in class.  But with the time restraints and since Social Studies isn't a testing subject, it is just skimmed to address only minimum content knowledge. 

 

In this year long project I would address all the TEKS to start with the beginning of the year lessons.  I will present the research project at the beginning of the school year and assign teams with 3 students on each team. The project would use the web tools of Blogger where students will write their findings and present as a Prezi presentation at the end of the year.  Blogger will serve as an individual communication tool used only between team members and where I can monitor their progress and entries.  A list of important activities or events that I want to be touched upon will serve as a indication of what students should address.  Students would take notes about the Social Studies lessons addressed during the day and start collaborating with their team members of how they want the information presented on their Prezi presentation early in the school year as assignments are covered in class.  There will be a time limit on the Prezi presentations so that students can address only the most important aspects of the Social Studies timeline they want to present.  

In order to monitor progress and students assessments I would compile a timeline of different entries that will be required to be done by a specific time of the year so that students will be working and collaborating on the project during the whole year and not wait until the end of the year and try to backtrack all the information covered in class.  I would require photos, quotes, maps, and other online  Internet resources that students might need to do on their own.   Students would be able to use campus resources such as guidance from librarian or even computer technology teacher that can guide them about finding information or input about how to import pictures or other graphics.  

I know this project seems intense and will require effort and commitment from the students but at the end I feel the students will have a clear understanding of everything they learned through out the school year and they can keep their Prezi presentation as a valuable resource of what they learned in Social Studies in their 5th grade class.