Grade: Elementary

#1400. New England States

Social Studies, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Nov 7 06:32:15 PST 2000 by Steve Fenwick (bnkh@grove.iup.edu).
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, United States
Materials Required: Map of US, Blank map,text book or info,scissors, construction paper,markers,tape
Activity Time: 40 minutes
Concepts Taught: able to locate each New England State on a map

I. Steve Fenwick
Social Studies
Grade 5

II. Rational and Background
I will be teaching the students the names and locations of the New England states as part of a unit on all fifty states. The purpose of this lesson is to inform the students on how our country works and where each state is located in the United States. The students will learn in groups about the New England states because they will get to hear different facts from different students and because each student will see the outline and location of the states several times. The students are aware that there are fifty states in our country and know the names of some of them.

III. Objectives
TLW learn the names of all of the New England states
PI: The students will fill in a blank map with the names of each New England state in the correct location

TLW learn at least five important facts about a given New England state
PI: The students will be responsible for writing five important facts on a paper before they start a new subject.

IV. Resources
Classroom map of the United States
Papers of a blank map of the United States
Papers that explain important values of each New England state
Textbooks
Scissors
Construction paper
Markers
Tape

V. Concepts and Skills
1. The students will be able to locate each New England state on a map
2. The students will know some information about each New England state

VI. Procedure
A. Introduction and motivation
The purpose of this lesson is to be able to locate all of the New England states on the map and be able to list five facts about each state. The teacher will show the students the New England states on the classroom map. Next, the students will get into groups of five and each group will be responsible for cutting out the shape of all the New England states. Each student in the group can do one of the shapes. After they cut out the shapes the students will write down five important facts about each state on its shape. The students will get this information from their textbooks and handouts. Next, the students will tape the cutout shapes, onto a bigger piece of paper, in their correct location. Finally, each group will go to the front of the class and explain their projects.

B. Lesson Body
Everyone knows that we live in the United States and that there are fifty states in our country.
However, there is much to be learned about our country.
Do you know that the states are grouped into different categories by location?
We are going to learn about the New England states in this lesson.
Who knows where the New England states are?
The teacher will show the students the New England states on the classroom map and tell them to look at the maps in their books. Next the teacher will assign students to groups of five and tell the students to pick one of the New England states to draw but no one in the same group can have the same state. After the students draw their state they will cut it out and write five facts about that state on their cutout. The students will get this information from the textbook and handouts that the teacher will pass out. When the students are finished writing, they will tape their cutouts on one piece of paper and present it to the class. Each student will read at least one of the facts to the class. The teacher will then tell the students to go back to their seats. Then the students will individually fill in a blank map of the New England states.

C. Lesson Closure
The students will hand in their maps and the teacher will then go over the right answers. Next, the teacher will point at one of the states and the class will say the name of that state out loud. The teacher will then pass back the maps and tell the students to correct their mistakes if necessary. Finally, the class will hand their maps back in to be graded.

VII. Evaluation
A. Student Assessment
1. Students will be assessed on how well they cooperated and the maps that they turned in at the end of class.