Social Studies Outline


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Ellis Island (4-6)
   In this unit, students will visit Ellis Island sites to learn about the patterns and history of immigration in this country. These explorations will serve as a personal link for students to the historical importance of immigration in United States history.

Lesson One: Introduction to Immigration. Read and discuss selected resources about children and immigration. Children develop an understanding of the concept of immigration and reasons why people immigrate.

Lesson Two: Immigration Explorations, Part 1. Organize students into research groups to visit sites on immigration that were created by other children. These sites will provide models for students to complete their own research.

Lesson Three: Internet Research. Using the criteria they developed earlier, students begin to collect and synthesize information on immigration.

Lesson Four: Creative Writing/Historical Journals. Having finished their primary and secondary research, students write a series of journal entries, from the perspective of an immigrant traveling to the United States via Ellis Island.

Lesson Five: Final Reports. Students write reports, including a summary of their research findings and their historical journal entries, to be shared with friends and families.

Fact Checking The News (7-12)
  As part of their social science work, students will monitor current events via on-line and traditional resources. Periodically, students will choose a news article to critically examine using statistical resources available on the Web.

Lesson One: Current Events Research. Students monitor current events using on-line and traditional resources.

Lesson Two: Fact Checking. Students choose a news article to analyze using on-line statistical resources.

Earth Day Trash Survey (K-12)
   As part of Earth Day clean up activities, students will inventory the types of garbage that they picked up and generate statistics on what they found. Students will then develop a survey to be distributed to other classrooms to see what type of garbage they were most likely to find.

Lesson One: Earth Day Participation. Students participate in their local area's Earth Day activities. As students collect trash they keep track of the types of articles they pick up.

Lesson Two: Survey Development and Distribution. Based on the data they gathered during their clean-up activities, students will develop a questionnaire to distribute to other schools.

Lesson Three: Data Analysis. When students have received data from their questionnaires, they analyze the data and prepare a report to be distributed to those who participated. Distribution may occur either via e-mail or through a report published on a Web page.

Lesson Four: Trash Action. After students have created their final report, they will develop action plans to prevent trash from becoming a problem in the future.

Revisiting Pocahontas (7-12)
   Students will engage in a critique of the historical and cultural accuracy of the Walt Disney film, Pocahontas. After viewing the film, students will undertake research using both text and web resources to gather information about the accuracy of he film.

Lesson One: Introduction. Students will discuss what makes a valid historical resource.

Lesson Two: Pocahontas as a Resource. Students will view the film and write guided responses in journals. Journal responses will be shaped by a set of questions that students will use through out the unit to evaluate resources they use. Students will begin to identify possible inconsistencies in the film.

Lesson Three: Evaluating Pocahontas. Students will begin their research using both web and library resources. Students will work in teams to address specific concerns about the movie. This stage of the unit will most likely take several class periods to complete.

Lesson Four: The Merits of Pocahontas Examined. Student research teams will report their findings. Students will take notes on their classmates' findings and incorporate the results in their final projects.

Holocaust Resources (7-12)
   The Holocaust is an historical event that provides unique teaching opportunities and challenges. It can serve as a lens for students to understand the complex interplay of human intention, political and military power, and racial and ethnic hatred. At the same time, the magnitude and evil of the Holocaust places serious demands on educators. We who teach about the Holocaust must approach our subject matter carefully, being sure to properly contextualize its history so that events and people do not end up as lifeless stereotypes. We also need to be sure that the material we use is both appropriate for our students and true to the historical record.

Current Events (7-12)
   As part of their studies of modern American history, students will use various news sites to gather information on current events.

Lesson One: Historical Context. As part of their standard course of study in American history, students discuss general trends in modern American history.

Lesson Two: Current Events Research. Students look for news stories on the Web that highlight some of the trends in modern American history.

Introduction to Architectural Visualization (10-12)
   In this unit, students will undertake a preliminary study of architecture: reading about philosophies underlying the pursuit of architecture and comparing different architectural styles.Students will speculate about the types of buildings and structures that might be needed in the future, and will try their hands at drawing some of these.

Lesson One: Introduction to Architectural Concepts. Students begin to familiarize themselves with some of the general concepts of architecture.

Lesson Two: Introduction to Architectural Philosophies. Students begin to familiarize themselves with some of the competing philosophies underlying architecture.

Lesson Three: Introduction to Architectural Visualization. Students begin to familiarize themselves with the capabilities of architectural visualization.

Lesson Four: Speculations on Future Architectural Developments. Students speculate about the kinds of structures that might be necessary for future generations to build. Students draw the structures they imagine.

Essay Exchange (10-12)
   In this unit, students will develop both their social science research and writing skills. Students develop position papers on a variety of topics, conducting research to formulate and support their thesis statements.

Lesson 1: Thesis Development. Students identify areas of interest and conduct preliminary research using on-line and library resources to develop their thesis statements. Students gather data for one to three weeks both inside and outside of regular class time.

Lesson 2: Rough Drafts. Students submit rough draft of position papers. Rough drafts are evaluated by instructor and students refine them. Messages announcing the project are placed on computer networks. The instructor e-mails copies of rough drafts for evaluation to those who respond. Reader-volunteers can also visit the school's website where the essays are posted to read and review. Phase 2 duration: One to three weeks.

Lesson 3: Final Drafts. Students develop final versions of their position papers. Final versions are added to the school's web pages. The final projects are announced over the Internet via e-mail lists and World Wide Web, local bulletin board systems, national computer networks such as the World Message Exchange, RIMEnet, and commercial on-line services. Duration: one week.

Lesson 4: Responses. Students receive and read electronic reviews of their essays. Responses from reviewers will be used as basis for class discussions and further research. Duration: 2 weeks.

Virtual Ellis Island Museum (K-12)
   In this unit, students will conduct primary and secondary research to learn more about their cultural and ethnic heritage. These explorations will serve as a personal link for students to the historical importance of immigration in United States history.

Lesson One: Introduction to Immigration. Read and discuss selected resources about children and immigration. Children develop an understanding of the concept of immigration and reasons why people immigrate.

Lesson Two: Immigration Explorations, Part 1. Organize students into research groups to visit John Schick's Virtual Ellis Island Museum. This site will provide models for students to complete their own research. The list of criteria students develop from their research will guide them in conducting their research and constructing their own site.

Lesson Three: Oral Histories. Using the criteria they developed earlier, students begin to conduct oral histories of family members to learn about their cultural and ethnic heritage.

Lesson Four: Immigration Explorations, Part 2. After they've completed their oral histories, students conduct secondary source research using the internet and library resources to learn more about the backgrounds of their family's cultural and ethnic heritages.

Lesson Five: Final Reports. Students write reports, including a summary of their research findings to be shared with friends and families. Students should draw on the criteria developed during their initial explorations to guide the format of their reports.

Neoclassicm/Romanticism
   In this unit, students will use Internet resources to conduct research on Neoclassicism and Romanticism (N/R), two periods in history, each with distinctive components, such as literature, architecture, and music. Students will gain a general overview of N/R through a series of search and write-up activities that focus on the major defining features of N/R.

Lesson One: Introduction to Neoclassicism and Romanticism. In this lesson, students use Internet resources to begin to answer, in written form, a series of questions about N/R. The lesson introduces students to both general and specific concepts of N/R and conducting research on the Internet.

Lesson Two: Further Study of Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Students continue to conduct Internet research to answer the remaining N/R questions. Students are encouraged to contact and communicate with N/R professors or other experts, either singly or over e-mail discussion lists.

Lesson Three: Selecting the Focus of the Neoclassicism/Romanticism Project. Based on the research they conducted in Lessons One and Two, students identify and flesh out an area of particular interest to them in the field of N/R for the purpose of developing and submitting a more in-depth project on that area of interest.

Lesson Four: Critiquing the Neoclassicism/Romanticism Project. Students request feedback on their projects from N/R experts they have contacted. Students work in pairs to critique each other's work.

Lesson Five: Revising the Neoclassicism/Romanticism Project. Students revise the in-depth project based on the suggestions they receive from their peer editors and their N/R expert contacts for publication on a class Web page.

Building Community Web Pages (5-12)
   Students will work in task forces to explore the contributions of community organizations and will develop Web pages for a number of local agencies.

Lesson One: Organization Fair. Students begin their investigations of community organizations by creating brief profiles of local agencies.

Lesson Two: Agency Contacts. Student task forces begin contacting organizations they have chosen to profile.

Lesson Three: Building Web Pages. Student task forces complete their profiles by creating Web pages about their community agencies. Students' Web pages are compiled in a central site and the projects are announced on various electronic forums.

Investigating Environmental Legislation (5-8)
  The Investigating Environmental Legislation Unit includes a variety of activities where students learn about environmental laws and the voting records of their local and state legislators. The unit promotes awareness of the impact of national and state policy making on local environmental issues and encourages students to become active participants in the larger social policy-making process.

Lesson One: Identifying local and state legislators. This lesson involves using a variety of resources to identify local and state legislators. The activity can be introduced with a general group discussion on how laws are made at the state and national level, as well as how legislators are elected, the kind of laws recently passed, and the relationship between laws and environmental issues.

Lesson Two: Legislator environmental voting records. In this lesson, students use the Internet to investigate their local and state legislators' voting record on environmental issues of interest.

Lesson Three: Write a report on environmental records of local and state legislators'. Following their research, students write and peer edit reports on their local and state legislators.

Lesson Four: Current environmental legislation. Students use the Internet to identify and review pending environmental legislation that might impact their local community. The rich variety of Internet resources available allows students to search for legislation of interest on environmental issues.

Lesson Five: Letters to local and state legislators. Students write to their local and state legislators, either via e-mail or U.S. mail, critiquing their voting record on environmental issues and sharing their own views on these important issues.

Holiday Explorations (4-6)
   In this unit, students will learn about the values and traditions of particular countries, cultures, and groups through exploration of a holiday of their choice. Each student has the opportunity to give a presentation about the holiday she or he has chosen, either on or close to the day on which it falls during the school year.

Lesson One: Selecting and Investigating a Holiday. Students use the Internet resources provided and their own searches to select and investigate a holiday of interest to them.

Lesson Two: Presentation of Findings. Students create Web-based, multimedia, or text-based documents of their research findings for presentation to the class when their holiday occurs.

Lesson Three: Discussion of Common Characteristics of Holidays. Based on the research they have conducted, students participate in a group discussion that helps them see the characteristics each of the holidays they have investigated has in common with the others.

Lesson Four: Creation of a Classroom Holiday. Based on the research they have conducted and the discussion in Lesson Three, students invent a holiday for their classroom, including name, customs, songs, foods, and other defining characteristics.

Lesson Five: Sharing the Classroom Holiday. Students invite classes, both in their school and in remote locations, to join them in celebrating their classroom holiday.

Destination: Anywhere (4-6)
   Students will develop a better understanding of maps and how to read them. Students will "stop" in at least one city or town of interest on their trip. Using Web resources on sights to see in various cities, students will plan what to do during a day they spend in this city or town. Students will create maps of at least one of the places they visit, identifying features they liked so they can return at a later date.

Lesson One: Mapping Your Neighborhood. Students use atlases, maps, and Web resources to generate and examine maps of their own neighborhoods. This activity will serve as background for the map-reading tasks in the next lessons.

Lesson Two: Selecting a Destination. Students use atlases, maps, and Web resources to select a destination and a place to stop along the way for a day trip. Students think about the reasons they want to visit this particular place.

Lesson Three: Charting the Course. Students use atlases, maps, and Web resources to determine the distance, driving time, and amount of money they will need to make the trip (estimates should include hotel/motel stays, meals, and souvenirs).

Lesson Four: Stopping Along the Way. Students use atlases, maps, and Web resources to plan a day trip to at least one city or point of interest that is on the way to their final destination.

Lesson Five: Creating a Map for Future Reference. Students use atlases, maps, and Web resources to create maps of either the site of their day trip, their final destination, the entire trip, or some combination of these.

Plimouth Plantation (K-6)
   Students will visit the Plimoth Plantation web site to learn more about how people lived in this country during the 17th century. This lesson can provide a great supplement to traditional studies about pilgrims and Native Americans.

Immigration Explorations (3-6, 10-12)
   Students visit John Schick's Virtual Ellis Island Museum created by students in his classroom. This site will provide models for students to complete their own research.

Pick a Holiday (4-6)
   Students use the Internet resources provided and their own searches to select and investigate a holiday of interest to them.

Take a Trip (4-6)
   Students use atlases, maps, and Web resources to select a destination and a place to stop along the way for a day trip. Students think about the reasons they want to visit this particular place.

What Does Your Name Mean? (7-9)
   In this activity, students use Internet and library resources to find the meanings of their first and/or last names and discuss the evolution of the concept of naming individuals.

Investigating Neoclassicism/Romanticism (10-12)
   In this activity, students use Internet resources to begin to answer, in written form, a series of questions about N/R. The lesson introduces students to both general and specific concepts of N/R and conducting research on the Internet.

  Related Resources for teaching art and music in the classroom.


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