4th+Grade+Unit+Plan+-+Social+Studies


 * 4th Grade Unit Planner ** - **Social Studies**

School: ISS School code: Title: Ancient Civilizations Teacher(s): Jeff Ridlington, Karen Wood Date: 12/12/2009 Proposed duration: number of hours 35 over number of weeks 7
 * Class/grade: 4 Age group:

|| • ** transdisciplinary theme **
 * ** 1. What is our purpose? **
 * To inquire into the following: **


 * Where We Are In Place and Time **

An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives. • ** central idea **

Past exploration and settlement affect cultures today.

What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for? Students will use Prezi.com to complete these tasks.
 * Summative assessment task(s): **

Summative: Graphic Organizers Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting two ancient civilizations.

Summative: Performance Task Poster showing aspects of Korean culture and history ||
 * ** 2. What do we want to learn? **

What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry? Form- What are the key components of a civilization focus on 5 various components in different civilizations Change- Inventions from the past affect us today. Compare 7 ancient wonders of the world with the 7 new wonders. Reflection- Why do people in different cultures have different religions and beliefs? Why did people in the past have different moral codes.

What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea? • What is the history of major groups of settlers? • What are similar and dissimilar aspects of two groups of people (cultures?, migrant groups?, settlers?) in the past? • How are the past and present connected?

What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? 1. Who settled Ancient Korea? 2. How was culture expressed in ancient civilizations? 3. Why are there differences in religions among ancient civilizations? 4. How does the place a group of people is located affect the culture of those people? When they migrate, which elements of culture change and which ones remain similar? 5. What are similarities and differences among two groups of people in the past? 6. What contributions have past civilizations made that affect our culture in the present? || // This column should be used in conjunction with “How best might we learn?” // What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for?
 * ** 3. How might we know what we have learned? **

- Write three questions about the Central Idea on a 3X5 card. Collect, shuffle, distribute to groups, discuss, share what they found out, and post questions that will be answered through inquiry and research.

- Take Home Survey- students will complete survey with parents reflecting how their culture impacts their daily lives, holidays, and family life.

What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for? Formative: Selected Response- Short Quiz on historical figures of Korea

Formative: Selected Response- Short Quiz on map of Korea

Formative: Short constructed response - Dangun story picture- choose one scene from the tale of Dangun to illustrate and write an explanation about the event. || What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions? Who settled Ancient Korea? How was culture expressed in ancient civilizations? - Create a timeline from ancient civilizations to the present. This will be throughout the entire unit as the class adds to it (one big time line, or individual?) - Read various folk tales including "The Legend of Dangun" -Center activities with books and websites on Ancient Korea -Interview family members on the settlement of Ancient Korea - Dangun Power Point -Note taking and paragraph organizing activities on religions of Ancient Korea -Participate in Korean Culture Week activities or actively take part in some other Korean culture activity. What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? Inquires- Conducting inquiry and research into an ancient civilization Knowledgeable- Discovering how past civilizations affect their culture today. Communicators- Will share their research findings with the community. Open-Minded - Appreciate their own culture and that of others. || What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available? Buddhist monk, Confucius scholar, Parents and relatives, Cultural Museums, Library, Art How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? Visit a temple ||
 * ** 4. How best might we learn? **
 * Skills: ** Thinking, Communication, Research
 * Attributes: **
 * ** 5. What resources need to be gathered? **
 * Students will acsess websites researching ancient Korea.
 * Power point will be used for a presentation on Dangun.
 * Students will produce summative tasks using Prezi.com.
 * Create short iMovie presentations about their experiences in learning this topic.