Essential Questions

Standards of Learning

How is our planets geography represented? Why are maps and globes important in our lives? What are some major features on a map/globe of planet Earth? Where are the seven continents, the five oceans, and the equator located on maps and globes? People, Places, and Environments Social Studies 2.5The student will develop map skills by a) locating the equator, the seven continents, and the five oceans on maps and globes; Music 2.2 The student will sing a repertoire of songs alone and with others, including 1. singing melodic patterns that move upward, downward, and stay the same; English 2.2 The student will expand understanding and use of word meanings. a) Increase listening and speaking vocabularies. c) Clarify and explain words and ideas orally. e) Use vocabulary from other content areas. English 2.9 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction texts. c) Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning. d) Set purpose for reading.
f) Locate information to answer questions.

Objectives

Materials

Procedures

Students will be able to identify the seven continents and the equator on a map of the world. - Students will be able to demonstrate their ability to sing a song in a group that has a melodic pattern. - Students will be able to describe why maps and globes are important in their liveshelping them understand where they, their classmates, and their ancestors are from. - The students will need sticky notes. The students will also need a few copies of the books Explore Earths Seven Continents by Bobbie Kalman, The True Books: Continents series by David Peterson, and Spotlights on the Continents series by Karen Bush Gibson. The students will also need a few classroom computers that have the following website open: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm. Each student will have a Geography or Our Planet packet that has a page for each continent where they can fill in the information they find. The students will need an exit ticket to demonstrate their current understanding. - The teacher will need a large map of the world to present in the front of the class and on which she and the students to can place their sticky notes. The teacher will also need a globe. The teacher will need a large poster that has the lyrics to the seven continents song. Introduction (5 minutes): 1) The teacher will first review with the students the difference between a map and a globe. She will show an example of both to the students ask them which is

which and what differences they remember in shape and the differences between a continent and an ocean. Next, the teacher will explain that today they will learn more about the specific continents. The teacher will model how to write down what country they or their family lived in before coming to the United States on a sticky note by writing down where her family lived. The teacher will then have the students write down this information on a sticky note. If the student still does not know, the teacher may assist if she knows or she will ask the student to write down a place he would like to visit. Instructional strategies (45 minutes): 1) The teacher will help the students locate the countries as they come to the large map in front of the classroom a few at a time and place their sticky notes on the countries their families came from. After the students have placed the sticky notes, the teacher will prompt the students to describe what patterns they noticesuch as people live on land and not in the oceans. She will also explain that a country is smaller than a continent. A country has political borders created by leaders and a continent generally has geographic borders, such as oceans or mountains. The teacher will then ask the students to look at where most of the sticky notes are located and identify for them each continents name. The teacher will then prompt the students to discuss why it is important to know about the different continentsit helps us learn where other people are from. 2) The teacher will then point to the equator and will then ask the students if they know what this line. The teacher will prompt the students to discuss what it looks like it might bedividing the world into two equal parts. The teacher will explain that the line is call the equator and help students remember it by relating it to the word equal and the fact that it divides the Earth in half into a Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The teacher will stress that this is an imaginary line and does not actually exist on the surface of the Earth. 3) Next, the teacher will introduce the continent song and teach it to the students. The continent song is sung to the tune of Frere Jacque. The teacher will sing the song to the students first and as she sings, she will point to each of the continents. After singing it a few times as a class, the teacher will have a few students come up to the board at a time and point to the different continents as they sing the song. 4) The teacher will explain that now that the students have mastered the continent song and know the names and locations of the continents she will break them into four groups to continue learning and exploring. The teacher will have predetermined groups of students who work well together and are of mixed ability levels. The teacher will hand out packets to every group member to record their findings. The teacher will explain that the packet includes a continents and ocean section and to just focus on the continent section for now. Two of the groups will be at the computer stations exploring this website and practicing labeling and locating the continents: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm. The other two groups will be exploring the books listed above to learn more about each of the continents. As the students complete the online labeling games, they will switch

Formative Assessment

Differentiation

Technology Integration

with groups that are researching the different continents in the book. 5) Students will have ample time to research every continent and complete the online game. While the students work, the teacher will circle between the different stations and monitor progress. The teacher will help scaffold students who need additional assistance and answer any questions. Summary (5 minutes) 1) The teacher will have the students finish up at their centers and will direct the students to come back together on the carpet. The teacher will ask a few students to share some of the interesting information they have learned about the specific continents. The teacher will ask if the students have any questions. To conclude the class will review the concept of the equator and sing the continent song again. The teacher will then preview that during the next days lesson the class will take a tripthey will travel between the continents on the worlds oceans and learn more about each ocean. 2) The students will complete a short exit ticket and hand in their packets for the teacher to review. - The students will work on completing their packets that will have the information they are acquiring about the continents. This will help assess their ability to get information from a nonfiction text. - The students will complete a written exit ticket to assess their knowledge of the objectives. - Students who are English learners or are at a low reading level will have the exit ticket read to them. The exit ticket will provide the options for students to write or draw. During the center activity time, students who are struggling will receive additional support from the teacher. The books during the centers are at varying levels so students can work with nonfiction texts that are at their levels. The website has different levels of difficulty to support students at different levels. The groupings for the centers are mixed ability levels so students can help one another read the nonfiction books and use the website. - Students who finish quickly will be able to continue to explore and learn more detailed information as an extension of the lesson. - Of Gardners multiple intelligences, this lesson will especially help learners that are strong in the following intelligences: visual-spatial (reading maps), bodilykinesthetic (the students who will point at the continents on the board), musical (singing the continent song), interpersonal (working in groups and class discussion), intrapersonal (research in the books and online), and linguistic (class and group discussions). Use of the following website during centers: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm