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Childrens Lives: Then and Now

A Unit Plan
Developed for
The First-Grade Students
In Mrs. Onakas Class
At Honaunau Elementary School
Honaunau, HI

By: Malie Koehler

ITE 322, Social Studies, Elementary
Institute for Teacher Education
College of Education
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Fall 2015

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Overview
This unit is designed for the first grade students at Honaunau Elementary School, whose class I
will be helping in during the 2015-2016 school year. This unit will be implemented during the
Spring semester of 2016.
This unit explores the lives of children long ago and compares their lives to children today. The
enduring understanding is just that- childrens lives change depending on the time during which
they live.
The benchmark I chose for this unit is as follows:
SS.1.3.1Compare own life with those of children in history.
Prior to the first lesson in this unit, students will take a pre-assessment to gauge their
understanding of life long ago compared to their lives now. This assessment will be focused on
the similarities and differences between the two. They will be asked to match vocabulary words
to their meaning, label pictures that are from long ago as well as pictures relevant to life today,
and finally, they will draw two pictures (one of life long ago and one of life today) and write a
sentence to match.
In the first lesson of this unit, I will introduce the focus of the unit. I will share how life was in
the past in terms of transportation for them to begin comparing life now to life back then. As an
Exit Pass, students will cut and paste pictures in order of their progression concerning
transportation and its development over time.
In the second lesson, the students will revisit the transportation reading as a review and read the
next part about schools long ago. As a class we will create a Venn diagram to show the
similarities and differences of childrens lives within a school setting. Students will then need to
create their own diagram listing at least three similarities and three differences.
In the final lesson, the students will revisit both topics of transportation and school, and continue
with the third reading which covers people in general and how life was long ago in terms of
clothing, jobs, etc. After the reading, they will create a Histogram. They will be asked to imagine
what their life would be like if they lived long ago. Then they would imagine what kind of post
they might share if Instagram existed back then. They will be asked to draw a picture and create
a caption that tells how their picture is different from life today and why. At the end of the lesson,
students will share their Histograms.

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As a pre-assessment, I will be examining their responses to the three page packet administered
prior to the first lesson. As a formative assessment, I will be checking for understanding through
use of the first lessons exit pass, where students will cut and paste pictures in order depending
on the progression of their development. I will also be collecting their individual Venn diagrams
and eliciting additional instruction as needed. As a summative assessment, their Histograms will
be graded according to the rubric below.
Objectives of this Unit Plan
The objective of this unit is for students to be able to
Compare and contrast their lives now to the children who lived in other times
Understand how things change over time
Enduring Understanding
Children's lives change depending on the time during which they live.
Essential Question
How is my life different from children's lives long ago?
How is my life similar to children's lives long ago?
Prior Academic Knowledge and Student Assets
By the time of this unit, students will understand that things change over time, due to the
Reading Wonders curriculum. Students will already know how life is now, simply from living it.
This will aid in their comparison of life then and now. They know what kind of food they eat,
they know what they use for transportation, and they know what kind of clothes they wear.
Students know that there are many different types of thinking maps and ways to organize their
ideas. They already know how to create a circle map. Most of them also know about Instagram
from relatives and being at home.
Academic Language Demands
Throughout this unit, students will be introduced/ reacquainted with the following vocabularycompare, contrast, similar, different, history, past, present, change, technology, timeline,
Histogram, Venn diagram. For this unit, students will need to be able to explain how life was
different and similar using descriptive words and tell why something has changed or remained
the same. Students will need to utilize their writing skills to create their Histograms and will
practice their public speaking skills during their presentations.

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Instructional Strategies
This is an overview of each lesson that is a part of this unit plan. It will focus on active
student engagement to understand how life long ago was different and similar to life today.
Lesson One
We will begin by introducing the vocabulary for the lesson. We will continue by reading our first
mini book about transportation from long ago. Next, we will discuss the content and how things
have changed from long ago to now. As an exit pass, students will cut and paste various pictures
in order of their progression throughout time.
Teacher will- Introduce and define vocabulary words
- Guide class through reading mini book
- Prompt critical thinking and discussion throughout the reading of the mini books to dig
for deeper understanding
- Explain and distribute exit passes
Students will- Recite vocabulary words
- Read mini books together
- Discuss topics presented through the mini books
- Complete exit pass
Lesson Two
We will begin this lesson by reviewing the story read in the first lesson. Class will then read the
next book about schools long ago. Class will discuss and create a Venn diagram about how
school was different and similar to school now. Then, students will create their own Venn
diagram at their desks, listing at least three similarities and three differences.
Teacher will- Lead discussion reviewing content from lesson #1, using the mini book
- Lead class in reading second mini book about schools long ago
- Create a class diagram about the similarities and differences discussed
- Prompt students to create their own Venn diagram at their desks
Students will- Discuss content from lesson #1
- Work together to create a diagram about the similarities and differences
- Return to their desks and create their own diagram listing at least three
similarities/differences

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Lesson Three
We will begin this lesson by reviewing everything learned so far. Next, we will read the final
mini book about people in general and how they lived long ago in terms of clothing, jobs/ gender
roles, etc. Students will make Histograms, and create a picture showing what a child from long
ago might wear, would use for transportation or what they might be doing at school. With their
captions and hashtags, they will need to express what is happening in the picture and how it
differs from their life today. At the end of the lesson, each student will share their Histogram.
Teacher will- Review content from previous lessons
- Give instructions on how to make a Histogram
- Go over what is expected in their Histogram
- Roam the room and aid students who need extra direction and instruction
- Facilitate and monitor presentations using the rubric
- Prompt question asking and comments from the audience
Students will- Participate in classroom discussion about how life is different/similar now from that of
children who lived long go
- Create their Histograms
- Share their Histograms
- Ask questions to the speaker
- Give comments/feedback to their peers
Differentiation
In my first grade class, there are a few multilingual learners, and most of them are Spanish
speaking. These students struggle mostly with reading. To accommodate their learning needs,
teachers will be available to help them read and sound out mini books as well as prompts. If
misunderstanding still persists, I have Google Translate readily available for translating whatever
needs more explanation into their home language. Our use of Thinking Maps will provide a
scaffold for their writing as well, being that they will be accessible during independent work
time. We also have one classified special education student who has a speech impediment. Most
of his needs are met within the whole group instruction. For the presentation, I will give him the
opportunity of having more time to share his Histogram, and I will also give him the option of
just presenting in small groups (or just to a teacher) if he would be more comfortable with that.
For my struggling students, there will be teachers and a tutor roaming the room, available for aid
and more extensive, explicit instruction in concepts and completing tasks. For my accelerated
students, they will be given the option to add more hashtags and comments to their Histogram to
give it deeper meaning and explanation.
Assessment Strategies and Tools
Like I stated earlier, for a pre-assessment, I will be examining their responses to the three page
packet administered prior to the first lesson. As a formative assessment, I will be checking for

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understanding after viewing their exit passes from lesson 1. I will also be collecting their
individual Venn diagrams from lesson 2 and eliciting additional instruction as needed. As a
summative assessment, their Histograms will be graded according to the rubric below. After the
entire unit, students will be given a post-assessment, which will be the same content as the preassessment. They can get a total of 15 points (1 each for the vocabulary and labeling part and 2
for their picture and sentence(s), depending on their ability to answer the prompts: Think about
life long ago. How was life different? How was it the same?
Name:
Objectives
The student was able to document
comparison between own life with
those of children/people from long ago
Student used accurate information from
the unit (mini books, discussion) to
compare life now and life long ago
within their Histogram caption
Student used accurate information from
the unit (mini books, discussion) to
compare life now and life long ago
within their Histogram image
Student used the entire space to create
their image and display the units
concepts

Score: ___/4
Reached

WB (0-1) DP (2) MP (3) ME (4)

Notes

Materials
Based on 20 students
__ 20 Pre-Assessment Packets (Vocabulary, Picture Labeling, Picture Comparison)

Score

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__ 20 Then and Now Folders

__Chart Paper
__ Dry Erase Board
__ 60 Mini books (people (20), school (20), transportation (20))
__ Markers (Regular and Dry Erase)
__ 20 Venn diagram template worksheets
__ 20 Histogram template worksheets
__ 20 Post-Assessment Packets (Same as Pre-Assessment Packet)

Resources

Ritchhart, Ron, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison. Making Thinking Visible. Jossey-Bass, 2011.
Print.