First Grade Social Studies
Lesson #4
Expert Groups Poster
I. Statement of Purpose:
A symbol is something that stands for something else. All nations have symbols that are special to their people.
Students will be taught about the United States’ national symbols. This will allow them to be informed and knowledgeable citizens of the country they live in. Students must know the history and significance of these symbols. Through their active participation in this project, students will gain experience working in a small group,
researching a topic, the significance of the symbol they researched (as well as other four symbols researched by other groups), and public speaking.
II. Lesson Goals:
1. Students should be able to know the basic information about one of the five examples of national symbols.
2. Students should be able to apply this information to a web diagram/poster assignment.
3. Students should be able to analyze the information learned and report their findings to the class.
III. Lesson Objectives:
1. In groups of four or five, students will research a given national symbol, using the materials provided by the teacher for a national symbols project.
2. In groups of four or five, students will produce a web diagram/poster incorporating the important facts they have learned with pictures.
3. In groups of four or five, students will dissect the important facts about their topic given and share their findings with the class in a report, using their poster.
IV. Instructional Methods:
Day 1
1. Teacher will bring all the students together and show them the poster project they completed as a class during lesson 3. The teacher will tell the children that they will be in groups of four or five and will complete a poster project like they did during lesson 3 using a new topic assigned to their group. The teacher will tell the whole class the five topics the groups will be studying; the flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, Capital Building, and the Supreme Court.
2. Teacher will put children in heterogeneous groups based on ability level.
3. Teacher will assign groups a topic; Flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, Capitol Building, or Supreme Court.
4. Teacher will explain to the groups that they will be given time to research their topic, find facts and pictures, create a web diagram/poster to help them present their findings to the class.
5. Teacher will place the class example, which they made together during Lesson 3, in the front of the classroom to remind them what they need to be looking for in their materials.
6. Teacher will pass out materials to the groups and answer questions from the class.
7. Teacher will walk around the room making sure that students are on track and everyone is participating. The teacher will answer questions if needed.
8. Teacher will monitor the time and make sure that students are close to being finished with their posters at the end of Day 1.
Day 2
9. Teacher will explain to the children that they are continuing to work on their poster projects from the day before and they will be asked to share their findings with the class when they have completed the project.
10. Teacher will pass out the almost finished posters and the books and materials from the day before.
11. Teacher will mention pointers based on what the teacher saw during Day 1.
12. Teacher will give students time to finish their posters, while walking around and answering any last minute questions.
13. Teacher will bring the students back together as a whole class and call groups to present their information. They
will show a picture and tell the important facts they found in their research.
14. Teacher will sum up the findings by allowing for other questions to be asked to make the presentations clearer.
V. Materials:
Books, articles, and pictures for group research about the Flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, Capitol Building, and Supreme Court
The American Flag by Ellen Garin
Statue of Liberty by Ellen Garin
The White House by Ellen Garin
Capitol Building by Ellen Garin
The Supreme Court by Ellen Garin
Outline paper for students to organize their thoughts before transferring to poster, if needed
Large piece of paper for students to make poster
Markers, Glue, Scissors
VI. Assessment:
Lesson 4:
Wrote name of assigned national symbol on poster
0 Points: Students did not write the name of the national symbol that was assigned to them in the middle of the poster.
5 Points: Students wrote the name of the national symbol that was assigned to them in the middle of the poster.
Picture of the national symbol
0 Points: A picture of the national symbol that was assigned to the group is not present on the poster.
5 Points: A picture of the national symbol that was assigned to the group is present on the poster.
Facts about the national symbol
0 Points: No facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
10 Points: One fact about the assigned national symbol is written on the poster clearly.
20 Points: Two facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
30 Points: At least three facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
EXTRA CREDIT:
(5 extra points) Five facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
Presentation by the group of the poster
(Each member is graded individually on this section)
0 Points: Only one member of the group speaks about the topic. The group members do not show knowledge of the topic and do not speak clearly.
5 Points: Most members of the group are given an opportunity to speak about the topic. The group members show some knowledge about the topic and speak clearly.
10 Points: Each member of the group is given an opportunity to speak about the topic. The group members speak clearly and are knowledgeable about the topic.
VII. References:
Garin, E. (N.D.). Capitol Building. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). Statue of Liberty. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). The American Flag. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). The Supreme Court. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). The White House. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
A symbol is something that stands for something else. All nations have symbols that are special to their people.
Students will be taught about the United States’ national symbols. This will allow them to be informed and knowledgeable citizens of the country they live in. Students must know the history and significance of these symbols. Through their active participation in this project, students will gain experience working in a small group,
researching a topic, the significance of the symbol they researched (as well as other four symbols researched by other groups), and public speaking.
II. Lesson Goals:
1. Students should be able to know the basic information about one of the five examples of national symbols.
2. Students should be able to apply this information to a web diagram/poster assignment.
3. Students should be able to analyze the information learned and report their findings to the class.
III. Lesson Objectives:
1. In groups of four or five, students will research a given national symbol, using the materials provided by the teacher for a national symbols project.
2. In groups of four or five, students will produce a web diagram/poster incorporating the important facts they have learned with pictures.
3. In groups of four or five, students will dissect the important facts about their topic given and share their findings with the class in a report, using their poster.
IV. Instructional Methods:
Day 1
1. Teacher will bring all the students together and show them the poster project they completed as a class during lesson 3. The teacher will tell the children that they will be in groups of four or five and will complete a poster project like they did during lesson 3 using a new topic assigned to their group. The teacher will tell the whole class the five topics the groups will be studying; the flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, Capital Building, and the Supreme Court.
2. Teacher will put children in heterogeneous groups based on ability level.
3. Teacher will assign groups a topic; Flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, Capitol Building, or Supreme Court.
4. Teacher will explain to the groups that they will be given time to research their topic, find facts and pictures, create a web diagram/poster to help them present their findings to the class.
5. Teacher will place the class example, which they made together during Lesson 3, in the front of the classroom to remind them what they need to be looking for in their materials.
6. Teacher will pass out materials to the groups and answer questions from the class.
7. Teacher will walk around the room making sure that students are on track and everyone is participating. The teacher will answer questions if needed.
8. Teacher will monitor the time and make sure that students are close to being finished with their posters at the end of Day 1.
Day 2
9. Teacher will explain to the children that they are continuing to work on their poster projects from the day before and they will be asked to share their findings with the class when they have completed the project.
10. Teacher will pass out the almost finished posters and the books and materials from the day before.
11. Teacher will mention pointers based on what the teacher saw during Day 1.
12. Teacher will give students time to finish their posters, while walking around and answering any last minute questions.
13. Teacher will bring the students back together as a whole class and call groups to present their information. They
will show a picture and tell the important facts they found in their research.
14. Teacher will sum up the findings by allowing for other questions to be asked to make the presentations clearer.
V. Materials:
Books, articles, and pictures for group research about the Flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, Capitol Building, and Supreme Court
The American Flag by Ellen Garin
Statue of Liberty by Ellen Garin
The White House by Ellen Garin
Capitol Building by Ellen Garin
The Supreme Court by Ellen Garin
Outline paper for students to organize their thoughts before transferring to poster, if needed
Large piece of paper for students to make poster
Markers, Glue, Scissors
VI. Assessment:
Lesson 4:
Wrote name of assigned national symbol on poster
0 Points: Students did not write the name of the national symbol that was assigned to them in the middle of the poster.
5 Points: Students wrote the name of the national symbol that was assigned to them in the middle of the poster.
Picture of the national symbol
0 Points: A picture of the national symbol that was assigned to the group is not present on the poster.
5 Points: A picture of the national symbol that was assigned to the group is present on the poster.
Facts about the national symbol
0 Points: No facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
10 Points: One fact about the assigned national symbol is written on the poster clearly.
20 Points: Two facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
30 Points: At least three facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
EXTRA CREDIT:
(5 extra points) Five facts about the assigned national symbol are written on the poster clearly.
Presentation by the group of the poster
(Each member is graded individually on this section)
0 Points: Only one member of the group speaks about the topic. The group members do not show knowledge of the topic and do not speak clearly.
5 Points: Most members of the group are given an opportunity to speak about the topic. The group members show some knowledge about the topic and speak clearly.
10 Points: Each member of the group is given an opportunity to speak about the topic. The group members speak clearly and are knowledgeable about the topic.
VII. References:
Garin, E. (N.D.). Capitol Building. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). Statue of Liberty. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). The American Flag. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). The Supreme Court. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Garin, E. (N.D.). The White House. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.