Social Studies Grade 5

Education 3602 Educational Psychology – Lessons That Fit

January 28, 2020
Parker Bijl & Kelsey Shoults
LESSON PLAN
Grade:__Five__ Lesson Title: __The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowlands__

Overview of lesson (150 words). Write a clear and concise paragraph that indicates what the lesson is, how it is
connected to the POS and what students will learn.

This social studies lesson scaffolds off of the previous learning of the Appalachian region. Students will now
be traveling to The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowlands area of Canada. We will travel by Maritime travels ferry
to arrive at our destination where we will explore this region. Students will learn about: the geographical
formations of the land, the many industries that encompass the region, how the climate is, and the establishment
of communities. This will all be taught to the students through an interactive lesson full of engaging videos and
opportunities to collaborate. By the end students will have an appreciation and understanding of The Great Lakes
St. Lawrence Lowlands.

Alberta Program of Study: Goals and Objectives . Carefully select GLO and SLO that pertain to your lesson. Do not
put in 10 SLO's just because you find a link. Choose selectively and think carefully about what is achievable for students to learn
by the end of the lesson/unit

GLO /GLE SLO/SLE

● 5.1: Physical Geography of Canada
o Students will demonstrate an
understanding and appreciation of
how the physical geography and
natural resources of Canada affect
the quality of life of all
Canadians.
Critical Questions
The unit inquiry question guides the unit...at the end of the two lesson students must be able to respond to the unit question. The inquire question is a
broad question and is linked to curriculum outcomes
● 5.1.1: value Canada’s physical geography and
natural environment
o appreciate the variety and abundance of natural
resources in Canada
● 5.1.2: examine, critically, the physical geography of
Canada by exploring and reflecting upon the
following questions and issues
o What are the major geographical regions,
landforms and bodies of water in Canada?
● 5.1.3: analyze how people in Canada interact with
the environment by exploring and reflecting upon
the following questions and issues
o In what ways do natural resources and the
physical geography of a region determine the
establishment of communities?

Unit Inquiry Question: What

makes up The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowlands region and why is it an
important area of our country?

Lesson Guiding Questions (These types of questions guide the lesson itself and are more specific questions.These can facilitate
dialogue, they can be used for formative assessment and can be used to facilitate pedagogical discussion with your students. Guiding

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questions aim to provoke thinking and can be used for share/pair activities. Guiding questions are just that - guiding. A lesson should
have several guiding questions.

Lesson Guiding Questions

● Where do you think we are traveling next?
● Does anyone remember the names of the 5 great lakes?
● What kind of industries do you think are present in this region?
● How do you think the climate (weather) is in this region?
● Why do you think people settled here originally?
● Why do you think they continue to live in this region?

Learning Objectives
Students will…
Students will learn the geographical formation of the region (Landmarks, bodies of water, important
features).
Students will learn of the many industries that work within The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowlands
region.
Students will develop how the climate is and the different weather patterns the region sees.
Students will understand how communities became established and why they currently remain.

Annotated Learning Resources List

These must be relevant and age appropriate and from a reliable source. If it is on online resource provide an active link. If it a book, cite the
book and author. Provide 2 -3 sentences (annotated) to indicate what the resource is and why you have chosen it. How does it support your
lesson and student learning?

Resource #1: https://www.tvokids.com/school-age/videos/great-lakes

Resource #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=35&v=Sgj-LVHaPvM&feature=emb_logo

Resource #3:Whale watching video Globalnews.com

Resource #4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTfnFLCSHs&feature=emb_logo

Resource #5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=uMR9vis1oQU&feature=emb_logo

Resource #6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sP4WBAXXH0&feature=emb_logo

Resource #7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68P6HROaOJY&feature=emb_logo

Material and Equipment
List: Art supplies, manipulatives, smartboard, online white board etc…

● Smartboard and electric pens

● White Board
● Erasable markers
● PowerPoint clicker
● Canadian scrapbooks
● Pencil crayons
● Ferry “passports”

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● Maple Cookies

Lesson Procedures

Introduction (__min.):
Description of Hook/Attention Grabber; Expectations for Learning and Behavior; Transition to Body. Indicate the timing for each sec

● The lesson will begin with loud downtown city music playing where it will peak the student’s curiosity of
where we will be traveling next.
● I will have the students try to make a guess of where we are heading and use prompts such as a busy city
near large bodies of freshwater.
● I will then introduce that we will be traveling from The Appalachian region to The Great Lakes St.
Lawrence region.
● At this time students will receive their scrapbook work pages. My students with ADHD will get a page
that has less information required for her to fill in, but the same amount as the other students.
● Students will receive their Maritime travels passport to board the boat where we will then watch a ferry
safety rap video to make this idea of “traveling” more engaging.
● After the video, we will have arrived at our destination.
Body (__min.): This is the largest part of your lesson. Write clearly and concisely. Image a substitute teacher picks up this
lesson; will they be able to carry it out based on your descriptions and instruction?

Writing must be descriptive and clearly organized. Specify activities/steps/scaffolding and transitions in lesson. Indicate timing
of each section. Identify teaching strategies, organization of class etc. How and when are you using formative assessment in your
lesson? Indicate differentiation and accommodation in the provided tables

Steps and Procedures Identify Teaching Strategies: ex. Direct

1. We will start off by giving a short overview on this
region, highlight a few key points of information, and
show the students on a map which area we are in.
2. Our first topic is that of the Landforms and Geographical
features of this region.
a. Students will see the different formations of land
and bodies of water that are a part of this area.
b. I will play a video on the 5 Great Lakes to
introduce them to the students.
c. Then, we will fill in the section of their scrapbook
on the 5 names.
i. Students will work quietly at their table
groups. Quiet nature sounds will be played
to restrict loud noise level.
3. Students will color on their map this region.
4. Our next sections focus on the industries that make up
The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowlands regions.
a. Start with farming and the way the people
manipulate the land to extract its resources.
b. Next, is the maple syrup industry and we will look
at the amount Canada is responsible for
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instructions, pair/share, jigsaw, whole group
discussion etc. When will you use these and why?
● Direct Instruction will be used when
introducing new sections of this region.
● Whole group discussion will be used
when asking questions throughout the
lesson.
● Pair/share can be used when asking the
students why settlers moved to this area
and why have they stayed.
Assessments
Indicate what these will be and when you
would use them.
Formative: Example: Observation/Anecdotal,
Student/Teacher conferencing, check list etc...
When will you administer these and why?
● A majority of my formative
assessment will be done through
observation when I walk around as
they do their scrapbook pages.
● When we are doing examples on the
board of what to write in their
Social Studies Grade 5
producing. scrapbook assessment through
c. Possibly have them try the maple cookies. question and answering will be a way
d. Last of the industries is that of Tourism, which is for me to check that they are grasping
large for the size of this region. the content I have taught them.
i. Whale-watching
Summative Assessment: Example Rubrics,
1. Two videos will be used to show quizzes test etc., projects
this form of tourism and the beauty ● No summative assessment is necessary
of whales. for this lesson.
ii. Quebec’s Winter Carnival
1. First video will highlight the
beauty of the city. Ask the students
what some things were they saw in
the video.
2. The second one specifically
highlights the carnival.
iii. Niagara Falls
1. First video: The wonders of the
falls.
2. Second one is a bonus video to
show the students something I have
done while in Niagara Falls.
e. Students will be put into groups to act out one of
the following industries to the group. They will
have some time to get creative and will then
present to the class.
5. Meditation Brain Break to help break up content and
bring the students attention back in.
6. Next, the students will learn about the mild climate in this
region.
a. Long, hot summers.
b. Mild Winters.
c. Lots of rain and snow.
d. Sometimes experiences severe thunderstorms,
blizzards, fog, and ice storms.
e. Students will get time to write this down as a
group in our scrapbook page.
f. Work as a class to highlight these concepts on
their triangle
7. The last section is the Establishment of Communities.
a. Walk through the timeline of how the
communities came to be.
b. Started as a region full of lust forests and endless
greenery.
c. Settlers came and began to cut down trees to
create space for the development of farms.

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d. Now: this region still has its farmlands but is full
of cities and downtown areas.
e. Work on scrapbook page to write down why
people originally settled here and why they still
are settled here.
i. Go over as a class and write it on the
screenshot of their page.
8. To end the lesson, I will pull up a completed screenshot
of their scrapbook page and allow them to work on it and
finish any parts they missed.

Differentiation
● Students with ADHD in the classroom will have the option to access:
○ Fidget cubes
○ Wobbly chairs
○ Noise canceling headphones
Provide an example of an alternative way to deliver information to students. Imagine that you have some students that struggle with writing, what ways can you
differentiate your instruction to support students learning?

Consolidating and Closure: In this part of your planning you are providing time for ensuring that students learned
and understood what was intended in the lesson. If they haven't you will need to revisit your lesson plan or re-teach (if
necessary) Here, you could provide an exit slip or walk through a guided whole group and/or small group discussion.
This part of the lesson can act also as a transition from lesson body into closure...cleanup and getting ready for the next
class. Don't forget to time this too and to indicate very clearly how you will facilitate consolidation and closure.
Provide Clear steps and indicate process. Often 5 mins is allotted for this section but that is not enough time. To
consolidate, clean up and get students ready for transition can take up to 10 - 15 mins depending on the lesson

● For conclusion students will finish by adding any details they want to their scrapbook and color other parts
they want.
● Once they finish their specific page for this region, they will be instructed to glue it into their book.
● After it is in their booklet, they will clean up the scrap paper and any other materials they used.
● They will then put their Region of Canada scrapbooks into the designated Social Studies bin bucket.
Reflective Notes: You will only fill out this section after your deliver your lesson.

Adjustments to The Lesson

The first adjustment will be to modify the amount of work required on the scrapbook pages.

The regular worksheets will have 10 - 12 fill in the blank points of information where the adjustment

for the students with ADHD will have the same amount of content but 5 - 7 spots for fill in the blank.

Second, an adjustment will be to put limits on the room volume and background noise. Nature sounds

will be playing during work periods. Next, our adjustment includes a think pair share in which the

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students will work with one of their peers to come up with ideas for why they believe settlers moved to

this region. The students will participate in a group skit activity followed by a meditation brain break.

To close the lesson students will place their scrapbooks in the designated social studies bucket.

Students will have access to fidget toys, wobbly chairs and noise canceling headphones.

Rationale
The adjusted worksheet will reduce the amount of information the students will transfer from

the slides while offering the same amount of content, mitigating the feeling of being overwhelmed due

to large task requirements (Dupaul et al., 2011). The strengths of this adjustment are that it offers the

student fewer tasks to focus on during a short period of time. The negative is that, yes, she is still

getting the same amount of content, but what is being asked of her is not comparable to the other

students. By playing soft nature sounds it helps to adjust the room volume, which in turn will reduce

distractions and keep all students focused on the task at hand. Strengths of this adaptation would be

that it helps keep the students accountable of their noise level while working, but it presents the

negative of minimizing collaboration between students as they work. By incorporating a think pair

share into the lesson, it gives the students the opportunity to express their thoughts while hearing the

opinions of others. This will help the student learn social skills by listening to others in a small group

and uses the ADAPT strategy which has students think aloud (Hutchinson & Specht, 2020, p.79).

Using this adaptation reduces the potential negative of whoever is paired up with our student with

ADHD to do all the work and dominate the conversation. The skit activity has students up and

moving, which keeps the students with ADHD involved. Having all students work in groups allows the

teacher to support those with the student with ADHD to get started on the task and stay focused

(Hutchinson & Specht, 2020, p.79). The only drawback to this activity is that it offers the potential to

have the student boss the others around like Annie did in our case study. Immediately following the

group skit, the class will participate in a meditation brain break. This is done to help bring the students,

especially the ones who struggle, to calm back down and begin working on content again. A weakness
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of using this adaptation is that it will take time away from instruction and limit the amount of content

we can deliver. Since students with ADHD struggle with organization, having a designated social

bucket for their materials will help the student remain organized and have a specific place for some of

their work. By providing this accommodation, the drawback is that it stops keeping the students

accountable for their own work. Allowing students to have access to different classroom fidgets and

accommodations will help to reduce distractions and behaviors. The strength of this strategy is that it

can help the student stay on task and be less disruptive in the classroom. However, a weakness is that

they can become a distraction for other students and may cause those to act out if they are unable to

access the same resource.

References

Hutchinson, N. L., & Specht, J. (2020). Inclusion of learners with exceptionalities in Canadian

schools: a practical handbook for teachers. Toronto: Pearson Canada.

DuPaul, G. J., Weyandt, L. L., & Janusis, G. M. (2011). ADHD in the classroom: Effective

intervention strategies. Theory into Practice, 50(1), 35-42. doi:10.1080/00405841.2011.534935