GEOGRAPHY SKILLS

Standards used: *VA. SOL SS. 2.4, 2.5 *National Curriculum Standards for the Teaching of Social Studies: culture; people, places and environments; global connections. *NAGC Standards: Standards 1.6, 2.2, 3.1, 3.5; 4.2.1; 4.4

Groups used in geography: Dyads, Jigsaw groups, Negotiated Criteriaplease see Power Point for pictures. BASIC PUZZLE BASIC PUZZLE BASIC PUZZLE ASIA PIN MAP ASIA PIN ASIA PIN MAP MAP WITH MAP WITH MAP WITH MAP CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL AND COUNTRY NAME TAGS Learning Learning goals: Learning goals: Learning goals: Learning goals: Learning The learner will The learner will The learner will The learner will goals: goals: The begin the pin The learner understand that understand that understand learner will map of Asia will complete there are seven there are seven that there are complete the using the the pin map continents. continents and seven pin map using landform and using all four then color each continents and rivers and lakes categories of all four continent the be able to read pins. categories of pins and be appropriate each name and pins. In able to color. place the name addition, the definitively on the correct learner will point to the Huang He color continent complete the River and in addition to yellow Himalayas. identifying the information worlds oceans. sheet. Activity: Activity: On or Activity: On or Activity: Basic Activity: Activity: Completely on above grade knowledge of Knowledge of Substantial above grade grade level in level reading the seven the seven knowledge level reading reading. ability. Prior continents will continents is required to ability. 90%Substantial prior knowledge be shown enhanced using read the names 100 % knowledge and at least 85 through the use the positions of of the mastery of all required to % mastery of of the the seven continents and begin this map maps prior to first three Montessori continents in the worlds beginning and and complete maps prior to puzzle map relation to their oceans. these initial beginning and completing using the appropriate this activity. steps on the pin completing map. this activity. control. colors. Evaluation: 100% mastery required to advance to the next activity.

Assessment: The learner can name the seven continents to an adult or classmate.

Assessment: The learner can name the seven continents to an adult or classmate, and color the seven continents map the appropriate colors.

Assessment: The learner can produce a final paper with the correct: colors; names of countries, and names of oceans.

Assessment: The learner can produce a map with all blue and yellow pins in the correct positions.

Assessment: The learner can produce a pin map with all four colored pins in the correct positions.

Assessment: The learner can complete this and all prior activities independently or with peer and/or adult scaffolding.

*Final Evaluation: PORTFOLIO OF TWO CULTURES STUDIED IN GRADE 2. *VA. SOL test

GEOGRAPHY WEEK
Monday: Negotiated Criteria with whole class. Tuesday: Jigsaw or independent study based on student readiness. WebQuest or portfolio for completed work. Wednesday: Jigsaw or independent study based on student readiness. WebQuest or portfolio for completed work. Thursday Jigsaw or independent study based on student readiness. WebQuest or portfolio for completed work. Friday: Think-PairShare. Chinese flags. Chinese map coloring.

*Design-A-Day or Learning Contracts based on student readiness. Reassess and prepare for next Portfolio assessment as needed.*
week.

Hey wheres the rubric!?

The geography portion of this unit has no specific rubrics for several reasons: One, the geography center is one of the anchors in my differentiated classroom. It is an integral part of learning another culture and this center is always open. In fact, geography is open year-round. Two, there are no timelines associated with this geography portion. There is a student contract or Design-ADay (depending on a students maturity or readiness) that needs to completed with the student throughout the unit regarding geography, portfolios, and WebQuest. Three, this is a second grade classroom and so geography can be utilized as a subject with various different entry-level points. Four, if there are many different entry-level points than compacting can be utilized in this anchor area. Five, remember, the student is responsible for completing their portfolio by the end of the year and geography is essential to their portfolio being complete. Essential assessment is done by the work itself. Montessori materials are self-correcting and the goal of Montessori independence is for the student to forget the teacher is there. If they need help they can and should ask an adult or peer. They will use geography to self-regulate their learning and will move on when ready. Finally, no child should be expected to progress all the way throughout the pin maps.

BACKGROUND and CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

Standards used: *VA. SOL SS: 2.1, 2.12 (b) *The National Curriculum Standards for the Teaching of Social Studies: culture; people, places, and environments; global connections. *NAGC: 1.6, 2.2, 3.1, 3.5, 4.2.1., 4.3, 4.4, 4.5.2., 5.1.2, 6.4.1.

Welcome to the great wealth of Chinese culture. The Chinese culture is profoundly important to the world with: great mathematicians, inventions, food, art, and many other rich legacies. The objectives to the lesson are directly from the above standards. Any other epiphanies the learner realizes are a bonus and are to be encouraged. The Lunar New Year Center, art, literature, science and math are only briefly discussed here since this section only assesses the group work or Jigsaws that are fundamental to this section. However, those mentioned subjects support the learning of Chinese culture and are worth mentioning here. Enrichment and anchor centers such as the Lunar New Year center, art, and geography become more necessary as the unit progresses and more students finish with their collaborative work. Again, they are not formally assessed, but are used instead to reinforce concepts, build prior knowledge, and for fun. They need not be completed during any specific time of day. These extensions can be done at any time of day and are independent centers. Some are included in Power Point. There are four Jigsaw groups. Each Jigsaw group must present their findings to the class. There is a rubric to assess oral presentations. Ongoing assessment is done primarily through a Group Work Log on Fridays and meeting with the teacher to discuss work plans. Homework is brief but also assessed. Each Jigsaw group must also complete a How We Worked in Our Group page. This unit concludes with an evaluation and a research project rubric in addition to ongoing assessment on each childs portfolio. Students can decide what of their best work from this section goes in their portfolios. Some suggestions are marked with a #. See Portfolio Assessment.

Week 1: *Socratic Seminar group discussion on China *Tiered questioning: leads to K-W-L *Orbitals groups discussions set for: inventions, biographies, timelines, WebQuests. # *Unit goals for portfolio and WebQuests *Homeworkwrite a letter to the teacher with questions or interests about China. Note home to parents. #

Monday: *Group investigation and Socratic Seminar: Use

Tuesday: *Group investigation: Complete questions as a

Wednesday: *Orbital interests *K-W-L

Thursday: *Orbitals interests *K-W-L

Friday: *Orbitals conclusions.

Ready to pick a Jigsaw group?

reading comprehension page.teacher directed. *K-W-L

class. Orbitals meet if time. *K-W-L

*K-W-L

*Tiered activity: Advanced learners: read background material independently Grade-level, ESL, and auditory learners: Have a strong reader or upper elementary student record information for comprehension.

*Tiered activity: Advanced learners: read background material independently Grade-level, ESL, and auditory learners: Have a strong reader or upper elementary student record information for comprehension.

*Tiered activity: Advanced learners: read background material independently Grade-level, ESL, and auditory learners: Have a strong reader or upper elementary student record information for comprehension.

*Tiered activity: Advanced learners: read background material independently Grade-level, ESL, and auditory learners: Have a strong reader or upper elementary student record information for comprehension.

*Tiered activity: Advanced learners: read background material independently Grade-level, ESL, and auditory learners: Have a strong reader or upper elementary student record information for comprehension.

Lunar New Year center open with books, chopsticks, coloring, fortune cookie art, acrostic, word search # Orbital discussions will entail the students rotating amongst each other to discuss topic and project of interest.

Week 2: *Review *Jigsaw groups inventions, biographies, timelines, WebQuest (WebQuests can be tiered depending on group.) # *WebQuest mini-lesson for the scientifically inclined # *Homework: China word search (tiered). Reading from Literature Circles. Timelinethis group should work at home on timeline. # *Assessment begins

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: *Jigsaws: meet in Jigsaw groups to begin research. Teacher meetings for Portfolio, Design-a-Day and Learner Contracts as needed. *Timeline: should be able to present this week.

Friday: *Jigsaw: Group work logs needed.

*Presentation of timeline. #
Lunar New Year center open with books, chopsticks, coloring, fortune cookie art, acrostic, word search #

*WebQuests: make sure everyone gets to see the Panda Cam @San Diego Zoo. Panda response sheet. *Assessment: *Assessment: Think-Pair-Share review of K-W-Lwhole class. Group work logs, Group presentation rubric for timeline group. # or How We Homework letters from last week. # Worked in Our Group paper. (finished group)
Week 3: *Reviewreview timeline *Jigsaw groups inventions, biographies, WebQuests. # *Web Quest mini-lesson for the scientifically inclined. # *Art: center opens # * Portfolios *Homework: INVENTIONSresearch presents, and then word search for whole class. WebQuest finish at home if necessary. Reading from Literature Circles. #

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: *Jigsaws: meet in Jigsaw groups to continue research. Timeline group can work on art or geography. Teacher meetings for Portfolio, Design-a-Day and Learner Contracts as needed. *Inventions: this group should be able to present this week. # *WebQuest: this group should be able to present this week. #

Friday: *Jigsaw: Group work logs needed. *Presentations

Lunar New Year center open with books, chopsticks, coloring, fortune cookie art, acrostic, word search #

*Art: practice Chinese calligraphy or make a fan. # *Assessment: Portfolio assessments. Group presentation rubric. China word search. # How are groups doing at home? Do they need help?

*Assessment: Group work logs, or How We Worked in Our Group paper. (finished group)

Week 4: *Reviewuse timeline and WebQuest as necessary

*Jigsaw groups biographies # *Portfolios *Art # *Homework: Research for Jigsaw group. Reading from Literature Circles. Great Wall story. #

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: *Jigsaws: Work in art or geography if presented. Teacher meetings for Portfolio, Design-a-Day and Learner Contracts as needed. *Biographies: this group should be able to present this week. #

Friday: *Jigsaw: Group work logs needed.

Lunar New Year center open with books, chopsticks, coloring, fortune cookie art, acrostic, word search #

*Art: make paper lantern or try pronouncing Chinese words into tape recorder. # *Assessment: Homework-inventions # *Assessment: Group presentation rubric. Group work logs Great Wall story to see what the students have learned so far. # How We Worked How is our last group doing at home? Do they need help? in Our Group paper. (finished group)
Week 5: *Reviewall materials *Portfolios *Math and Art # *Homework: Research for Jigsaw group. Reading from Literature Circles. Great Wall story. Optional art at home.

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: *Jigsaws: Teacher meetings for Portfolio, Design-a-Day and Learner Contracts as needed. * Review K-W-L chart *Think-pair-share

Friday: Unit evaluation #

Lunar New Year center open with books, chopsticks, coloring, fortune cookie art, acrostic, word search #

*Art: Tangram art, Yuan conversions if able, make an abacus, or complete all other art projects started. # *Assessment and Evaluation: *Assessment: China theme unit evaluation. # Group work logs Great Wall story. # How We Worked in Our Group paper if not done.

*Final Evaluation: PORTFOLIO OF TWO CULTURES STUDIED IN GRADE 2. *VA. SOL test

Language Arts
Standards used: VA. SOL SS: 2.4, 2.12 The National Curriculum Standards for the Teaching of Social Studies: culture; people, places, and environments; global connections. NAGC: 1.6, 2.2, 3.5, 4.1.3, 4.2.1., 4.4, 5.1.2, 6.4.1 The Literature Circles presented here are all tiered according to reading level. Reading ability is highly individualized and so the plans here do not include objectives. Instead, learners will be assigned to groups based on reading levels and interest. There is support for a second-grader who wishes to read text that is beyond their reading level, but is within their interest level. There are extension activities available for this section of the unit but they are not mandatory. They can be included in a students portfolio. The class has quite a bit of Design-A-Day and Learning Contracts going on with all the concurrent Jigsaw work, Geography, Art, Lunar New Year, and other activities. The teacher will monitor reading and there will be group discussions on most days of the week. # Any child that is struggling with the reading or is an ESL candidate can use an assist, or in some instances will be going to a Resource Room. Audio books and MP3s are available for these titles. Parents can read to their children at home and partner reading is acceptable. The key is for the student understand the interconnections between Lon Po Po or Yeh Shen and the concepts within Day of the Dragon. Weekly assessment is done with a Literature Circle rubric, and is based on participation. Informal assessment is done with Think-Pair-Share or Reciprocal Teaching in Literature Circle groups. Evaluation is done either with a: comparison chart (Lon Po Po), Venn diagram, a Sequence Chain, or a Story Map based on student readiness. Students may also plan a story with a teacher if they are interested in further study. Any of these can be included in the students portfolio. # The teacher will read aloud Little Red Riding Hood and any Cinderella story either before or after lunch so that students can make comparisons between their Literature Circle reading and these other tales. Again, the focus of the Literature Circles is for the students to see themes across cultures.

Our three titles for the unit: Day of the Dragon King, by Mary Pope Osbourne; Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China, by Ed Young; Yeh Shen: A Cinderella Story from China, by Ai Ling-Louie. These titles afford the teacher and the students an opportunity to compare and contrast traditions and themes across cultures and to expand their repertoire of multicultural awareness through literature.

Literature Circle Weekweeks 1-3

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday *Think-Pair-Share or Reciprocal Teaching in alternating groups. Friday: *Reassess and prepare for next week.

Literature Circle Weekweeks 4-5

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday *Think-Pair-Share or Reciprocal Teaching in alternating groups. Friday: *Reassess and prepare for next week.

Final Evaluation: Depends on reading level. A student may complete a sequence chain relating the sequence of events in their story. A student may complete a Venn diagram comparing Lon Po Po with Red Riding Hood, or Yeh Shen with any Cinderella story. Further, a student may complete the Venn diagram and a paragraph reflecting on their readings. Finally, a student may complete a story map.

PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Standards used: *VA. SOL SS. 2.1, 2.4 *National Curriculum Standards for the Teaching of Social Studies: culture; people, places and environments; global connections *NAGC Standards: Standards 1.6, 2.2, 3.1, 3.5, 4.1.3., 4.2.1., 4.3, 4.4, 4.5.2., 5.1.2., 6.4.1.

This portfolio is the constant flowing through the second half of a second grade year. It cannot begin any earlier than that because to get accustomed to a differentiated classroom will take time for students and parents, and simply due to the maturity of the students. Virginia guidelines require a minimum of knowledge regarding China and Egypt. Egyptian activities are not included here. This portfolio assessment is based on current research calling for differentiation for the advanced learner. Primarily, this portfolio is used not only for basic knowledge required but also to compact and telescope the curriculum for the advanced learner who may want to know more about other cultures, or any other aspect of this unit including the effect of those cultures on Virginia and America. This portfolio can also be used by the students and their families who may want to apply to various accelerated programs within Virginia since it is a broad-based sample of student work. For this reason the portfolio is started after winter break and is concluded before SOLs and prior to deadlines for applications to most GT programs. Each student must pick two samples of work per month to include in their portfolio, or a total of eight. A list of required activities is listed under the Portfolio Assessment.

Groups are not required during portfolio work time. Dyads will be used most often due to space limitations at computers, for example. Most of the work included in a portfolio is to be from the classrooms extension and anchor activities and also can be from individual representations of group activities. Learner contracts are recommended but a student may decide after they have completed an activity that they would like it in their portfolio. What is more essential is that a student understand that there are minimum requirements.

Month one:
GEOGRAPHY Student goals: *Every student should have completed the first three required activities in geography.

Month two:
Student goals: * Every student should have completed the first three required activities in geography.

Month three:
Student goals: * Every student should be attempting the pin map with the country pins.

Month four:
Student goals: * Every student should be attempting the pin map with country, landform and rivers and lakes pins.

CULTURAL Student goals: Student goals: Student goals: *Every student * Every student * Every student should be should be must participate in attempting an attempting two more than two anchor center or anchor center or anchor center or extension activity extension extension in the class or at activities in the activities in the home. class or at home. class or at home. *Web Quest *Web Quest *Web Quest Language Arts Student goals: *Any extension activity can be included here.

Student goals: * Every student must participate in multiple anchor center or extension activities in the class or at home. *WebQuest Student goals: *Final reading assessment must be included.

Conclusion Activities Timeline *Some students may develop an interest in the connections between ancient cultures. Excellent! This activity uses Backward Design to encourage the students to make those connections. Please see Power Point. Field Trip *A trip to a cultural center or other Lunar New Year celebration. Please see Power Point. Assessment and Evaluation *Portfolio AssessmentEach student must put portfolio together and complete Letter from Student and Paragraph from Student. Done with whole class. *Portfolio Final Self-EvaluationEach student must complete independently, with reading resource teacher, or classroom teacher. *Portfolio Assessment RubricClassroom teacher.

Whats next? Science

Standards used: *VA. SOL Science: 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7 The prior units on Egypt and Asia should establish within the students minds that things are connected. These two landmasses have dramatic weather and diverse biomes. Science prior to, during and immediately or after the conclusion of the portfolio is necessary to show connections. This unit on weather is to show oceans, water, mountain ranges, and air flow. Some of the objectives would be: What is weather and seasons, how do you measure weather, review water cycle, what are key weather words, how are clouds formed, how does weather flow over mountain ranges, what is a weather front, what is an ocean current, and convection connections. Weather can affect a culture like anything else. Weather affects crops, food, and peoples lives in dramatic ways.

Please see attached preliminary unit study activities.