Title of Unit: Geography Title of Lesson: Land and Water Forms Submitted By: Denise Crosby

A. Summary of the Lesson Plan: This social studies lesson is designed for 1st grade students to learn about the basic land and water forms sensorially. This lesson uses the Montessori Research & Development Geography textbook (p. 121-126). B. Target Population: Grade Level: 1st grade Skill Level: students at all learning levels Grouping: small group reading & discussion, independent for activity and assessment C. Materials: A container of brown clay A pitcher of blue water A plastic knife (cut the clay) A spoon Eight trays Land & Water form pictures from around the world for sorting activity (See last page of lesson) World Puzzle Map (See last page of lesson) D. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards G5.1.1 Differentiate between and identify water and land on a map and globe and use the terms ocean and continent G6.1.1 Sort and group pictures displaying geographic features, e.g. forests, deserts, lake regions Student-Friendly Standards I can identify landforms (island, peninsula, cape, isthmus, archipelago), and water forms (lake, gulf, bay, strait, and chain of lakes) and find examples of each on a map of the world.

E. Procedure: 1. Refer to Presentation 1 in Montessori Research & Development p. 121-124 Group students in groups of 6-8 Review background knowledge Present the clay to the children and invite them to work with it. Tell them that the earth, in the beginning, was just like this clay. It was barren and there was no life, this clay reminds us of the earth. Introduce the vocabulary as each land/water form is introduced

2. Four students should mold the clay into four trays.

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2013 Karen Powell- Instructor page 1

Title of Unit: Geography Title of Lesson: Land and Water Forms Submitted By: Denise Crosby

Say, Now we have prepared the land; we must also prepare the water. Take another tray and fill it with water. The result is two contrasting elements: land in one tray, water in the other tray. Repeat this process three more times. We now have four trays of clay and four trays of water.

3. Take a tray of clay and a tray of water. With the plastic knife, draw any closed curve. Dig into the clay with the knife and take out the part that is cut. Put it into the tray of water. With the spoon, dip some of the water from the water tray into the hole that is created in the tray of clay. With this procedure, we have created two contrasting forms: island and lake. Give the terms: island and lake. Write the names and have the students match the labels to the land/water forms. Show pictures of lakes and islands from around the world.

4. Continue Presentation 1 with each landform as listed in MR&D textbook p. 121-124. Allow the students to work with their hands forming the land and water forms. Ask questions of students if they have ever seen or been to lakes, islands, etc 5. Refer to Presentation 2 in MR&D p. 125-126. Have students study a pair of contrasting land/water forms. Ask questions to help the students form definitions of each land/water form. Write each definition.

6. CLOSURE: Discuss each land and contrasting water form and definition. Using world puzzle map, find each landform and water form. F. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? Observe, question and discussion with the students during the lesson, will be my main form of assessment for this lesson. The students will create all eight landforms and water forms from paper and label them. This work can be organized into a booklet. Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. The student must identify the four landforms and four water forms correctly.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 2

Title of Unit: Geography Title of Lesson: Land and Water Forms Submitted By: Denise Crosby

G. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? The easiest part of this lesson will be the hands-on work with clay and showing the contrasting land/water forms. The students will immediately see the contrast and applying the vocabulary to each form will be straightforward. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? I think the most challenging part of this lesson will be asking the leading questions that will help the students form definitions for each land/water form. It will be the most challenging but when the students have completed this exercise, they will own the vocabulary. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? As an extension of this lesson, I would have the students locate land and water forms on paper maps. 4. What will you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? For students who are having trouble understanding the concepts in this lesson, I would have them help make a wall chart of the land and water forms. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? This lesson is interactive, fun and gives the students a sensorial, symbolic representation of the land and water forms. It is presented plain and simple without any extraneous objects. The importance of this lesson is that the children work with their hands and form definitions from the observations they are making. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? The most difficult part of any lesson is always the authentic assessment. I feel this lesson is mostly assessed through observation and interaction with the students during the lesson.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 3

Title of Unit: Geography Title of Lesson: Land and Water Forms Submitted By: Denise Crosby

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 4

Title of Unit: Geography Title of Lesson: Land and Water Forms Submitted By: Denise Crosby

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 5