Part 1: Social Studies Unit Plan
Social Studies Standard
The students in grade 3 will visit the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site (EIMHS). The trip will make it possible for the students to make connections between the Indians in the United States and from any other country they will choose. It will be a learning opportunity through the museum, films, nature trails, and archeological excavation sites. The trip will make it possible for students to connect the classroom and real-world experience concerning the Indians.
Art Standard
Create ceramic works of art incorporating multiple clay methods and techniques such as pinch, coil, slab, score, slip, and join.
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Learning Objectives
The students will be able to do projects about the Indians and present them in class on aspects such as differences in geographical location, comparing and contrasting Indians from America and another country such as India, food, cloth, and shelter.
Discussing the visual arts and ceramics associated with the Indian tribe as learned from the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site.
Write a short essay at the end of the lesson describing how the American Indian cultures applied their surroundings in obtaining life necessities and developing the permanent settlement.
Lesson Materials
These are: Graphic organizer, textbooks, papers, pencils, chrome book, internet access, notes from previous lessons, and pencils.
Learning Activity
Students will be required to have background information about Native Americans, especially the Indians. They will establish other countries where the Indians are found and compare the cultures of the two groups. The previous lesson information will guide the students through research and writing the final essay. The graphic organizer will assist in gathering and organizing data.
Differentiation will be crucial in this area as it will help meet the learning style of different students since they have various understanding capacities. Creating small groups will help the students organize their writing and researching content required.
Instructional Strategy
The instructional strategy will be determined by disability needs and English Language Learner’s ability of the students. The approach will help each student achieve the learning objectives.
Part 2: Reflection
Integrating social studies and arts is an approach used by educators to make the lesson enjoyable. Social studies deal with learning about the culture, social, geographical, and economic life of people, which may be monotonous for third-grade students. Using arts and ceramics will make the lesson interesting since the learners will be engaged in the activities. The art lessons will also be used to express the creative skills of the students. Though the textbook contains most of the knowledge students need to acquire, it does not provide real-world experience. To enhance understanding of the textbook information, activities such as trips will make the learners connect what they learned, and that knowledge is retained easily. The change in the environment and use of art develops abstract and analytical thinking skills of the children. It is also a way of promoting self-discipline, self-control, and autonomy since the students will make some of the ceramic arts on their own, with minimal supervision.
Learning about the history of Indians will help the learners appreciate culture and diversity. These aspects are needed, especially in American society, to appreciate other people. The students have different learning ability which explains the diverse instructional strategies. Since the classroom has different ethnic groups, they will learn to appreciate and live together. Each student is unique in their way, and understanding it helps accommodate each one's needs. In the classroom, some of the students are English language learners, while others are not. The factor will be essential when forming groups to make sure that students will assist each other, and each learning needs will be accommodated.
