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Colorado Explorer's Diary |
Credits:
Janet Walter
Adams 12 Five Star Schools Technology Integration Specialist
Linda Block-Gandy
Adams 12 Five Star Schools Science Teacher on Special Assignment
Steve Gandy
Technology Coordinator
Mountain View Elementary School
Broomfield, CO
VITAL INFORMATION
Subject Matter:
Elementary, History, Language Arts (English), Social Studies, Technology
Grades:
4
Software Application:
StarOffice, MS Office, AppleWorks
LESSON DESCRIPTION
Summary:
Students will create a diary from the perspective of an explorer related to Colorado history. The diary will include journal entries and maps documenting their journey.
State & National Standards:
CO- Colorado Academic Standards
Subject : History
Standard 1: Students understand the chronological organization of history and know how to organize events and people into major eras to identify and explain historical relationships
Chronological thinking is at the very heart of historical reasoning. It provides the framework for organizing historical thought; for determining the order in time of historical developments; for determining how long they lasted; and for examining the various relationships among historical events. It also provides students with a sense of their past, which is necessary for them to understand the present and see possibilities for the future.
Expectation by Grade or Topic : Fourth Grade
Suggested Expectation : construct time lines of significant historical developments in Colorado, identifying the dates at which each occurred, and place them sequentially along a date line that marks at evenly spaced intervals the years, decades, and/or centuries of the time period under investigation
Suggested Expectation : create a brief historical narrative that chronologically organizes people and events in a select period of Colorado history
Suggested Expectation : create time lines that show people and events in sequence by years, decades, centuries
Suggested Expectation : describe a cause and
effect relationship in a sequence of events
Standard 2: Students know how to
use the processes and resources of historical inquiry
The study of history requires obtaining and deriving meaning from historical information. It is essential that students of history be able to use the processes of historical inquiry to formulate historical questions, identify patterns of events, analyze cause-and-effect relationships, and evaluate historical arguments in order to make usable conclusions. In addition, the skills needed for evaluating historical arguments are fundamental for understanding current social issues and policy.
Expectation by Grade or Topic : Fourth Grade
Suggested Expectation : gather historical data from oral history, interviews, diaries, letters, newspapers, speeches, texts, maps, photographs, and artwork. (Topics may vary widely, but techniques for verifying information should be constant.)
Suggested Expectation : use available technology to obtain historical information
Suggested Expectation : identify, analyze, and make generalizations about life in Colorado history using primary sources including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, art, documents and newspaper archives
Suggested Expectation : distinguish fact from fiction by comparing documentary sources addressing historical figures and events with fictionalized characters and events of common eras.
Suggested Expectation : summarize and sequence
major events in Colorado history from 1876 to the present and locate significant
places and events on a map of the state.
Standard 3: Students understand that
societies are diverse and have changed over time
An understanding of the history of societies is indispensable to an understanding of the rest of history and to the understanding by individual students of their roles in the societies in which they live. Students need to understand the interactions that led to the diversity of societies and family and kinship groupings. They need to understand how contacts and exchanges between and among individuals, peoples, and cultures since earliest times have affected societies throughout history. They also need to be able to identify and describe the cultural heritage of the United States.
Expectation by Grade or Topic : Fourth Grade
Suggested Expectation : compare how and why people traveled to Colorado; and the major trails (Santa Fe, Smoky Hill, Overland, etc.) which they used Subject : Reading and Writing
Standard 2: Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences
Writing and speaking are essential tools for learning, for success in the workplace, and for responsible citizenship. Developing a range of writing and speaking abilities requires extensive study, practice, and thinking. Students need frequent opportunities to write and speak for different audiences and purposes, and they need to be able to communicate expressively, informatively, and analytically. Growth in writing and speaking abilities occurs by applying skills to increasingly challenging communication tasks
Expectation by Grade or Topic : Fourth Grade
Suggested Expectation : generate topics and develop ideas for a variety of writing and speaking purposes (for example, telling a story, publishing a class newsletter, writing a letter to an adult, writing or orally presenting a book report, creating and producing a play, introducing a speaker or an event, narrating a presentation);
Suggested Expectation : organize their writing;
Suggested Expectation : chose vocabulary that communicates their messages clearly and precisely;
Suggested Expectation : revise and edit speech and writing;
Suggested Expectation : create readable documents with legible handwriting or word processing at the appropriate time. Standard 3: Students write and speak using conventional grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling
Students need to know and be able to use standard English. Proficiency in this standard plays an important role in how the writer or speaker is understood and perceived. All skills in this standard are reinforced and practiced at all grade levels and should be monitored by both the teacher and student to develop lifelong learning skills
Expectation by Grade or Topic : Fourth Grade
Suggested Expectation : know and use correct subject/verb agreement;
Suggested Expectation : know and use correct modifiers;
Suggested Expectation : know and use correct capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviations;
Suggested Expectation : spell frequently used words correctly using phonics rules and exceptions.
Local Standards:
INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY CONTINUUM
Standard #2 Productivity Applications: Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
2A.1.1 Begins using touch typing with home keys.
2A.2.1 Independently uses spell check and thesaurus.
2A.3.1 Changes character formatting such as font color.
2A.3.2 Utilizes different document layouts. (i.e. newsletter, etc.)
2A.3.3 Changes document formatting such as: alignment, bulleted/numbered lists, borders, line spacing, margins, etc.
2A.3.4 Inserts a graphic into a word-processed document.
Lesson Outcomes:
Students will produce a diary with at least three journal entries. They will use formatting skills to bold and underline the date and be able to import a graphic.
Assessment:
Final student product should be graded using the attached Diary Rubric.
Assessment/Rubrics:
Attachments:
1. Diary Rubric
CLASSROOM & TIME MANAGEMENT
Student Prerequisites:
Students need to have the research done on their events for the diary and be ready to word process them as journal pages.
Lesson Preparation:
Class instruction in this period of Colorado history should be completed prior to this activity. The diary is a final product for students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts already taught in class.
Time Frame:
2 class periods. 45 Min. per class.
Implementation Steps:
Day 1:
Explain the task to the students: They will be using their knowledge of important events from their study of Colorado history to construct a chronological diary from the perspective of an explorer. The events will be word processed in a diary format (date then paragraph with journal entry). A map will be imported and drawing tools used to show the progress made between each journal entry.
Extension: Have the students use the Internet (see resources) to find and download appropriate graphics to enhance their diaries. Have them make note of the names of the files they download.
Day 2:
Have them begin entering the dates and descriptions of events. Encourage them to use their formatting skills to enhance the readability of the final product with color, font, and highlighting choices. (i.e. They could color all the dates in blue and events in green.)
The graphics should probably be added last. You may need to review how to add graphics that are not a part of the programs clip art feature. Have them use the drawing tools to mark the map showing the route traveled between each journal entry.
Printing is optional but probably desirable for evaluation and sharing.
RESOURCES
Lesson Resources:
Links:
1. Grade 4 Internet Sites -mountain.adams12.org/4thSites.html
A clickable list of our pre-screened Internet resources for 4th grade.
2. Colorado Explorers - http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/elem/parr/explorers/coloexpl.html
Parr Elementary School in Jefferson County created this list of links on Colorado Explorers.
3. Colorado's Characters - http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/elem/parr/explorers/coloexpl.html
Colorado Mall provides information in an easy manner for you to browse through the State Of Colorado.
4. Doing History - Keeping the Past - http://hewit.unco.edu/dohist/
Step out of your world and into the past. Take a journey into Colorado's history in the company of people who made that history.
STUDENT PRODUCT(S)
Product(s) Description:
A chronological list of dates and events with evidence of color coding and graphics as enhancements to create a visually appealing diary about the life of a Colorado Explorer.
REFLECTION
Comments:
A variation would be to create a book format for the pages and bind them together to make a small diary.
| Explorer's Diary Rubric | ||||||
| Name: | ||||||
| Category | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Self Score | Teacher Score |
| Historical Events | Historical events chosen are completely unrelated to the content and not thought out. 5 or less events are recorded. | Historical events chosen are somewhat unrelated to the content and not well thought out. 6 - 8 events are recorded. | Historical events chosen are somewhat related to the content and thought out. 9 - 11 events are recorded. | Historical events chosen are related to the content and well thought out. 12 or more events are recorded. | ||
| Diary Layout | Historical events/times are stated and the diary is incomplete. Text cannot be read against background. Font size and style are not consistent. | Historical events/times are stated and the diary is incomplete. Text is difficult to read against background. Font size and style are somewhat consistent. | Historical events/times are stated and the diary is mostly complete. Text is fairly easy to read against background. Font size and style are mostly consistent. | Historical events/times are stated and the diary is complete. Text is easy to read against background. Font size and style are consistent. | ||
| Mechanics | Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors. | A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors. | Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors | No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. | ||
| Page Layout | Very little care was shown in the design, layout and color of the diary pages. | Diary pages shows poor design, layout and color. | Diary pages shows design, layout and color that is acceptable. | Diary pages shows design, layout and color that is pleasing to the eye. | ||
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Developed under a grant from Sun Microsystems, Inc. Open Gateways at Mountain View
Elementary School by Steve Gandy, Technology Coordinator - mountain.adams12.org/TISS
© 2003