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Michigan
Unit 

Kaci Parker
Spring 2020
Ferris State University
EDUC 431 & 432
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Table of Contents
2 Documents

Part 1: Focus
Rationale……………………………………………………………………....pg. 3
Student Introduction……………………………………………………..…….pg. 4
,
Part 2: Scope and Sequence
Content Areas……………………………………………………………….…pg. 5
Statement of Technology Emphasis…………………………….…….…….…pg. 5-6
Statement of Efforts to Include the Arts…………………………………….…pg. 6

Part 3: Audience and Environment

Audience Identification and Analysis…………………………………………pg. 7-8
Classroom Environment ………………………………………………………pg. 8-9

Part 4: Thematic Unit and Summative Assessment

Summative Assessment Opportunities ……………………………………….pg. 10
Common Core Standards …..…………………………………………………pg. 11

Part 5: Individual Lesson Pans

Lesson One: Cardinal Directions……………………………………………..pg. 1-5
Lesson Two: Michigan Cherries………………………………………….…..pg. 6-11
Lesson Three: Mackinaw Bridge……………………………………………..pg. 12-14
Lesson Four: Life Cycle of a Robin…………………………………………..pg. 15-17
Lesson Five: The Great Lakes ………………………………………………..pg. 18-20
Culminating Activity: Michigan Map ….……………………………………..pg. 21-24
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Rationale
This third-grade unit plan focuses on the students learning about importance’s in their

own state. These lessons each hit and important topic in Michigan either current or historical.

These lessons do not go in depth due to the age and standards, but students can get some

background knowledge about their home state. Michigan is an important topic for young students

to start learning about. Obviously, students know where they live but most students in 3rd grade

do not know the importance’s of where they are living and some things that have happened in

their state.

Throughout this unit plan all areas will be covered. These include, Math, Science, Social

Studies, Language Arts, P.E., Music, Art, Health and Technology. All the standards that have

been included are all from Michigan’s standards. These are all integrated in different lessons,

making sure that the teacher can cross curriculum with different ideas.

The teacher will experience different types of learning for the student. With the topic

being Michigan, it is a very broad topic and the standards are all scattered. This unit gives the

teacher lots of material to get information from and lots of different topics to teach.

Students have all different types of learning styles. For this unit plan, it is in place for all

learners. Every lesson has a little bit of every learner type. There are many ways that the lessons

include ways for kinesthetic, visual and auditory learners to be comfortable with the material.

The homework assignments are all fun and engaging for students.
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Dear Students, 

I am excited to say that we will be starting a new unit about our

beautiful state of Michigan! We will explore many different
importance’s of our Great State! By the end of this unit, we will take
everything we have learned to create a 3-D Michigan map… out of salt
dough! How fun! We will be exploring the cardinal directions to know
which way you are traveling. We will learn about Traverse City and the
sweet cherries up there. We will jump in to see how the Mackinac
Bridge changed so much for our state. We get to look through a bird's
eye as we learn the life cycle of an American Robin (Our state bird).
To end the unit, we get to swim through all the different Great Lakes
and learn about what they bring to our state. 
Who's excited? I know I am! 

Your Teacher, 
Miss. Parker

P.S. The picture above is one of our Great Lakes. 

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Content Areas Chart

Lessons Math Language Science Social Music Technology Art P.E.
Arts Studies

Cardinal
Directions

Michigan
Cherries

Mackinaw
Bridge

Life Cycle of a
Robin
The Great Lakes

Michigan Map

Statement of Technology Emphasis

Technology improves every day. As we go about our everyday lives, we see that children

all around are exploring and using the internet. This shows that young students know how to use

technology and is part of their everyday routine. When students walk into a classroom in a world

like today, they will most likely see technology, whether it be Ipad’s or laptops. As we continue

to watch technology grow, we see the importance of its uses.

Technology is a large part of this unit plan. Every lesson has some sort of technology

incorporated throughout. Technology is important when it comes to helping students. If you send
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a student home with homework to work on, they can easily get in touch with the teacher through

google classroom or something similar. It is a huge gateway for students and teachers to expand

their learning. Not only does this help organize students work, it is also helpful for the students

to practice for future technology use. In third-grade, students are starting to type more and

become more aware of technology.

I have found it very important to keep it going through my lessons in this unit plan and

beyond. I will strive for students to become aware and understanding of the websites and search

engines that they use.

Statement of Efforts to Include the Arts

Including the Arts into lesson planning will greatly increase your relationship with

students and help students to become comfortable. Through my time in college, I have taken

courses geared towards including the Arts. When teaching any lesson, it is simple to add in

something as small as a cut and paste when doing a science lesson. It is as simple as having

students sing along when learning a new language art standard. Including the Arts can be very

simple and needs to be done in most lessons.

In my unit plan, I included both music and arts at least once each lesson. It is important

for students to express themselves through curriculum that most teachers do not include. Also

added in my unit is lots of movement. There are many students that learn best when they are

moving or drawing.

Including the Arts will help most students remember and learn curriculum better and it

will help the relationship as stated above. Letting students have the option is important also.

Allowing options in the classroom will increase motivation.

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Audience Identification and Analysis

I have a classroom with twenty-five students. This group of students come from a

suburban school district in West Michigan. The classroom consists of fourteen girls and eleven

boys. This classroom is made up of Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic and African American. This

classroom is diverse for the setting it’s located. The majority of the students are from a good

social economic household. There are some students that come from a lower socioeconomic

background. The students that come from a lower background, we do very well with taking care

of these students. When the family is in need, we focus on that need.

Our students are not able to take their chrome books home unless they have

communicated with the teacher and have signed them out. When they become 4th graders, they

will be allowed to take them home. As we assign assignments, the teacher will allow Chrome

books to go home to help with the assignment. For the students that may not have access, the

teacher will have printed material for them, so they are able to finish with the other students.

Now let’s get into my students’ abilities. I have one student that is ELL. They are from

Mexico but are fairly fluent in their English, as they have been here for 2 years. I have 2 students

that are ADHD and need extra reminders at times. I have a student that has a visual impairment.

They cannot see without their glasses on. That is the disabilities that I have in my classroom. My

ELL student gets pulled out by the ELL teacher 2 times a week for 45 minutes at a time. We are

working on the student’s vocabulary and pronunciation. This student wants to learn and proves

themselves everyday that they are working as hard as they can. Their attendance is outstanding.

My two students with ADHD are best friends and love to find ways to disrupt the class. The

students sit away from each other during class instruction. We have developed a system that the

students are allowed to work together as long as they have meet their daily checks. When partner
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work comes, I find it important that students choose their partners and if they prove they cannot

work smart with that partner, they are done with that partner. My students know that. So, for my

two ADHD students, they receive check ins through the day. If they have hit their check ins, they

may work with one another. For the visual learner, this student sits near the front and is given

print copies of all notes shown on the board. This way the student can follow along and see the

material.

For the rest of my students, they are all hard workers and know the expectations. If they

do not follow them, they may not receive a positive. We have a rewards system that after 50

positives, they receive a reward. This can be something small or large, it is the teachers’ choice.

We will assess the classroom at the end of the day and the students talk with their table and are

honest to agree or disagree about getting a positive that day.

Classroom Environment

My classroom consists of lots of Christmas lights and low lighting. When someone walks

into my classroom, they will see lights, flexible seating and lots of space. I do not overload my

room with junk. Everything in my room is meaningful and useful. I do have regular tables but

not many of them. I have a kidney shaped table for group conferences. I have two regular

rectangle table lined in the back. The rest of my classroom has different style tables with

different types of chairs. I find it very important that students are comfortable when they are

learning. The big overhead lights that are in every school building just make the students tired. I

feel that Christmas lights and lower lighting actually help the student to listen and learn much

better.
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My library is full of all types of books. There are simple- complex (Age appropriate)

chapter books. There are lots of picture books. Picture books are totally normal in my classroom.

Students should be excited to read picture books. The importance in almost every picture book is

huge. Every story has a story and I like my students to understand that. Some are more complex,

some are easy.

When you walk into my classroom full of students, you will feel the comfort. My

students all feel safe and welcomed in my room. If there’s ever a time that a student says or does

something outside my expectations, they are immediately having a talk with me. I will not

tolerate bullying or rude talking in my classroom. My students will all feel safe and happy. I

never want students to feel scared or lost. I work with all students and spend extra time if

someone needs it. Is there enough time in a day to give one on one conferencing with every

student? No, but there sure is enough time in a week to find time with each student. If that’s

during silent reading time, that is okay. I want to keep my students on track.

Summative Assessment Opportunities

Through my unit plan I have assigned small formative assessments. There are a few
that could be labeled summative, but I do not feel there is a need for that. I feel the end of the
unit culminating activity helps wrap up all that we learned during the unit. Students will be
making a salt dough map of Michigan in a pizza box. Students will then be adding important
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parts of Michigan like but not limited to, the Great Lakes, The Upper Peninsula, labeling
Lansing, labeling the Bridge, labeling where cherries mainly grow. Students will take everything
they learned from the unit to bring it all together in a fun and messy project to show what they
have learned. They will be allowed to use technology (with clean hands).

Common Core Standards

3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique
and diverse life cycles, but all have in common birth,
growth, reproduction, and death. 
3 – G2.0.2. Describe different regions to which Michigan belongs

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a

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text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.A.1 Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7 as the

total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For
example, describe a context in which a total number of objects
can be expressed as 5 × 7.

3 - G1.0.1 Use cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) to describe

the relative location of significant places in the immediate
environment.

Objectives:
Student will be able to identify the stages of an American Robin bird by creating a
narrative.
Students will be able to describe the different bodies of water attached to Michigan and
one that is not by labeling on a map
Students will be able to ask and answer questions accurately from the text.
Students should be able to draw an array of given multiplication whole number problems
with no more than 1 incorrect
Students will describe the cardinal direction using a compass to locate at least 4
significant places in Michigan.