Standards and Resources

Background

The project is the result of a collaborative effort to target academic areas of need as indicated by the Delaware Assessment Program. Our fourth grade student test scores indicated a need to develop skills in understand chronology. The lesson were designed to increase students' awareness of the chronological events prior to colonization. There are three projects aimed at improving student achievement discussed in the text below.

The Standards

The projects were design to address the following Delaware Social Studies Standards and the ELA Common Core Standards.

Social Studies

4-5a: Students will study historical events and persons within a given time-frame in order to create a chronology and identify related cause-and-effect factors. Essential for Grade 4

4-5b: Students will examine historical materials relating to a particular region, society, or theme; chronologically arrange them, and analyze change over time. Essential for Grade 4

4-5a: Students will develop an understanding of Delaware history and its connections with United States history, including:
-- Native American inhabitants before European contact
-- Exploration and settlement (1609-1775)

ELA

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3 Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9 Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.10 By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.9a Apply grade 4 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions].”).
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.9b Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., “Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text”).

 

Project One

Basic Research: Students selected an individual who explored North America. The students used the following Web sites to assist with the research:

1. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/1600.shtml
2. http://floridahistory.com/early-explorers.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_explorers
4. http://www.bookunitsteacher.com/explorers/explorers.htm
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

The Lesson was framed with the following essential questions:

1. What is research?
2. How do I begin the process of research?
3. What is the golden age of exploration?
4. What explorers were important to North American History?

The children used a worksheet to guide their research and to introduce them to the Golden Age of exploration. The children used the data they collected to create a PowerPoint Presentation.

Project Two

In the second project, the students used the events they collected in their worksheet to input the data into the interactive timelines.

Project Three