4th Grade Social Studies with Angela Robbins - SD

Summary

In this educational transcript, students engage in a multifaceted lesson that combines social studies with reading comprehension. They analyze perspectives from Native Americans and colonial settlers in Delaware, using photographs to visualize life during those times. The class also discusses various viewpoints on contemporary school issues, such as uniforms and technology policies. Through close reading strategies, students examine primary source passages to determine the author's perspective, deepening their understanding of historical and current societal viewpoints. The lesson aims to enhance students' analytical skills and foster a love for reading complex texts.

Takeaways

• 📚 The class has been studying Native Americans and colonists in Delaware, focusing on analyzing different perspectives from various viewpoints.
• 🔍 Students are encouraged to use photographs to activate their understanding of colonial times and extract information for later lessons on perspective analysis.
• 👥 Group work is utilized to discuss and share observations from photographs, aiming to connect these to the broader topics of the class.
• 🌾 The photographs depict scenes such as farming, which helps students to visualize life during colonial times and consider the perspectives of those living in that era.
• 📝 Students are guided to use graphic organizers to record information about settlers, their origins, the areas they settled in Delaware, the resources they used, and what attracted them to the land.
• 📖 Reading activities involve close reading strategies, where students read texts multiple times for different purposes, such as fluency, vocabulary familiarization, and identifying key ideas and details.
• 🔑 The concept of 'perspective' is emphasized, with students learning to identify the viewpoint from which a text is written and to use evidence from the text to support their analysis.
• 📚 The teacher provides background information and context to help students understand the time period they are studying, which is the colonial era.
• 📝 Students are tasked with creating a diary entry from one of the perspectives they've studied, to deepen their understanding of life during colonial times.
• 🤔 The teacher reflects on the importance of evidence from the text versus background knowledge, noting the need to balance both for a comprehensive understanding.
• 📈 The script highlights the teacher's belief that the Common Core standards have fostered a love of reading among students, especially with the inclusion of complex nonfiction texts.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the social studies lesson?

The main focus of the social studies lesson is to analyze perspectives from different viewpoints, particularly those of Native Americans and colonists during colonial times in Delaware.

What is the essential question the students are trying to address?

The essential question is 'How do we analyze perspectives from different viewpoints from different people?'

How are photographs being used in the lesson?

Photographs are being used to help students get a general idea of what colonial times may have been like and to pull any information that might help them later in their lesson when analyzing perspectives.

What is the purpose of using sticky notes during the reading activity?

The purpose of using sticky notes is to mark important words, vocabulary, and key ideas and details that are relevant to the lesson's theme and social studies focus.

What did the students do with their partners while reading the 'Delaware Adventure' book?

The students used a graphic organizer to fill out various areas such as where the settlers came from, where in Delaware they settled, what resources they used, what attracted them to the land, and why they settled where they did.

What is the first passage the students are reading called?

The first passage the students are reading is called 'Prairie Farmers'.

What do the students need to do while reading the passage independently?

While reading the passage independently, the students need to think about whose perspective the text was written from and what that perspective means.

What strategy has been implemented school-wide to help students with their reading?

The strategy implemented school-wide is close reading, which involves reading the text multiple times for different purposes to get the most information out of it.

What is the final assignment for the students regarding the colonial times lesson?

The final assignment is for students to create a diary entry from one of the perspectives discussed, such as a Native American, a child, or an adult from colonial times, describing what their day was like.

What summarizing activity will the students do at the end of the lesson?

The summarizing activity involves creating a dialogue between two different perspectives, discussing and contrasting their viewpoints on life during colonial times.

How has the Common Core approach impacted the students' attitude towards reading according to the teacher?

According to the teacher, the Common Core approach has created a new love of reading among the students, as they are now more excited to read and engage with nonfiction pieces and research projects.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Integrating Perspectives in History and Literature

This paragraph discusses the educational activities in a classroom setting where students are exploring the perspectives of Native Americans and colonists in Delaware. They are also learning to analyze different viewpoints through the lens of social studies and literature. The teacher introduces the concept of merging these historical topics with the skill of perspective analysis, using photographs as a text feature to activate prior knowledge. Students are encouraged to extract information from these images to aid in later lessons. The teacher guides the students to share their observations and connect them to broader discussions about colonial life and Native American experiences.

05:02

🔍 Analyzing Textual Evidence for Perspective Understanding

The second paragraph delves into the specifics of how students are taught to analyze perspectives within texts. The teacher emphasizes the importance of using textual evidence to understand differing viewpoints, particularly in the context of historical accounts. Students engage in close reading strategies, such as reading texts multiple times for different purposes, using post-it notes to identify key vocabulary, and discussing the possible authors and time periods of the passages. The teacher also highlights the need for students to distinguish between their own background knowledge and the evidence presented in the text, focusing on the perspectives of children and settlers during colonial times.

10:03

📖 Reflecting on Colonial Life Through Reading and Diary Entries

In this final paragraph, the teacher wraps up the lesson by having students reflect on the perspectives of different individuals from colonial times. The students are tasked with creating a diary entry from one of the perspectives they've studied, such as a Native American, a child, or an adult settler. They are also asked to create a dialogue between two different perspectives, encouraging them to think deeply about the contrasting experiences and viewpoints of people during that era. The teacher reflects on the success of the lesson, noting that the students have developed a newfound love for reading and a better understanding of complex texts, which aligns with the goals of the Common Core curriculum.

Keywords

💡Social Studies

Social Studies is an educational discipline that focuses on society and the relationships among individuals within a society. In the video, students engage in discussions about Native Americans and colonists in the context of their local area, Delaware, which is part of the broader theme of understanding historical and cultural perspectives.

💡Perspectives

Perspectives refer to the viewpoints or ways of thinking about a topic, which can vary greatly among individuals. The video emphasizes the importance of analyzing different perspectives, such as those of an aunt, a boy, and the students' own views on contemporary school issues, to develop a deeper understanding of historical and personal narratives.

💡Colonial Times

Colonial Times refers to the period when European powers established colonies, often in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The script mentions colonial times to set the historical context for the students' analysis of the experiences and challenges faced by settlers in Delaware.

💡Photographs

Photographs are visual representations that can provide insights into past events or conditions. In the video, photographs of colonial times are used as a tool to help students activate their thinking about the period and to extract information that will aid in their later analysis of perspectives.

💡Graphic Organizer

A Graphic Organizer is a visual tool used to organize information or ideas in a structured way. The script describes how students use a graphic organizer to categorize and analyze information about settlers, including their origins, the areas they settled in Delaware, and the resources they used.

💡Pilgrims

Pilgrims are early settlers who traveled from Europe to the Americas, seeking religious freedom and new opportunities. The term is used in the script when students identify figures in photographs that resemble pilgrims, indicating the historical connection to the first European settlers in America.

💡Perspective Analysis

Perspective Analysis involves examining a piece of text or information to determine the viewpoint from which it was written or presented. The video's lesson focuses on teaching students how to perform perspective analysis on texts about prairie farmers and settlers to understand different viewpoints on life during colonial times.

💡Evidence

Evidence in this context refers to the details or proof within a text that support an interpretation or analysis. The script mentions that students are to use evidence from the text to determine the perspective of the author and to understand the life and conditions of people during colonial times.

💡Diary Entry

A Diary Entry is a personal record of someone's daily experiences and thoughts. In the video, students are tasked with creating a diary entry from one of the perspectives they've analyzed, such as a Native American, a child, or an adult during colonial times, to deepen their understanding of that perspective.

💡Common Core

Common Core refers to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a set of educational standards in the United States that outline what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade level. The script mentions Common Core as the educational framework guiding the students' reading and analytical activities.

Highlights

Students are learning about Native Americans and colonists in Delaware from a social studies perspective.

The class discusses analyzing perspectives from various viewpoints, including current topics like school uniforms and cell phones in school.

The lesson integrates social studies with reading by using photographs to analyze colonial times.

Students are encouraged to extract information from photographs to aid in later lessons on perspective analysis.

A classroom discussion about the appearance of pilgrims and the prevalence of farms during colonial times.

Students connect the photographs to the concept of perspectives and discuss the settlers' possible opinions about the future.

The use of a graphic organizer to identify where settlers came from and why they chose to settle in certain areas of Delaware.

Students preview passages to identify important vocabulary and key ideas related to the settlers' experiences.

A focus on the time period of the passages, which is identified as colonial times, to provide context for the reading.

Students are instructed to read a passage independently to determine the perspective from which it was written.

The importance of using evidence from the text to analyze the perspective of the passage, rather than relying on background knowledge.

Students engage in a close reading strategy to extract academic vocabulary and main ideas from the passages.

A classroom activity where students create a dialogue between two different perspectives on a given topic.

The assignment to write a diary entry from one of the perspectives discussed in class to deepen understanding.

Reflection on the effectiveness of the lesson and the impact of Common Core on students' reading habits and engagement.

Transcripts

during social studies you guys have been

talking with mrs. Rodriguez about Native

Americans that have come to our area

you've also been talking about colonists

that have settled here in Delaware

during reading we have been talking

about analyzing perspectives we've

talked about perspectives from an aunt

and a boy we've also talked about our

own perspectives from current topics

such as uniforms in school extended

school year cell phones in school

vending machines in school so now what

we're going to do is we're going to

merge those two topics we're going to

merge our social studies aspect of

Native Americans colonial times and

colonists and our analysing perspectives

so our essential question is going to be

how do we analyze perspectives from

different viewpoints from different

people we're going to activate that

today by looking at photographs which is

also a text feature that we've been

talking about during our literacy

reading time you're going to work in

your group and just take about a minute

to look at these photographs with these

photographs I want you to just get a

general idea of what colonial times may

have been like okay and see if you can

pull any information out of these

photographs that you think's going to

help us later in our lesson when we're

analyzing perspectives okay they lose

tons like we do when we go camping but

that's like a normal that's going where

those

and there's not that many people when we

get kids probably don't suppose yeah

that's why they live mm-hmm who would

like to share out what you saw in your

photograph or what you found interesting

or what might connect to what we've been

discussing

they look like pilgrims okay it looks

like there's some pilgrims anybody want

to add to what Liberty has said there's

lots of formid there's lots of farms

okay I see Jay saying me too he agrees

nice job geez Diego what would you like

to sell then the bunt band Eli's there's

a facade houses okay the saudi houses so

you made that text connection which i

really like go ahead and sitting around

the fire telling opinions about the

future oh they're sitting around the

fire timeout opinions about their future

do you think their future that they'd

ever expect us to be where we are today

no probably not

right there's access and they could have

pulled the wagons to get somewhere they

could have used the oxen to pull their

wagons their covered wagons to get to

the destination they were going nice job

I understand some of you still want to

share but we need to move on I'm going

to click your photographs you did an

amazing job analyzing these pictures

right before this lesson the students

used our delaware adventure book while

reading the book they read with their

partners used a graphic organizer to

fill out various areas that these

settlers came from in which areas in

Delaware that they settled what

resources they used what attracted them

to the land and why they settled where

they did well we previewed the passage

previously can somebody tell me what we

previewed it for what we pre viewing

these passage for what did you do with

partners when you worked with them the

goal was to bullish sticky notes on okay

I wanted sticky notes on the papers what

purpose did those sticky notes serve

important in words important words write

important vocabulary some of the

vocabulary words we came up with we

posted on the back wall that you wrote

after you did that you look for key

ideas and details as Delilah said to

we're going to read it for a different

purpose we're going to read it looking

at perspectives we're going to analyze

it we've not talked about who wrote

these passages we've not talked about

the time period of these passages that's

why I showed you the pictures to help

get you thinking about the time period

so who can tell me now by a raise of

hands what time period you think we're

going to be reading about come on Meal

Time colonial times very good so how

we're going to do this is the very first

passage you should have in front of you

is called prairie farmers so go ahead

and take that passage you can remove the

post-it notes from it because they're

going to be in the way while you're

reading you are going to take about

three minutes maybe five depending on

how long it takes you and you're going

to read this text independently while

you're reading I want you to think to

yourself whose perspective was this

written from what's perspective me

what's a perspective mean Madison what's

another word for perspective be pulling

their viewpoints nice job so you're

going to analyze this piece of text

you're going to break it apart you're

going to study it okay you're going to

look through it to find out whose

perspective whose viewpoint this came

from in doing that you're going to have

to look at evidence and attach and

you're have to use the test to help you

in order to delve deeper into common

core I feel the students need to be able

to look in and use evidence to clearly

see that everyone's perspective is not

the same they sell that within

themselves and their daily lives but

looking through the lens of a historian

they need to realize that as well with

some to look forward and Thomas like his

brother it okay so it has to be like a

kid a child

in whose perspective do you guys think

that it's restless farmers are getting

its farmers Oh kids farmer or a farmer's

child possibly okay and today's lesson I

was very pleased that they were able to

delve into the text I think it's because

we spent so much time talking about

perspectives and analyzing what it meant

so once they broke into their expert

groups they were able to dig in and

delve in without my guidance standing

there looking over them we are going to

read this one Oh group we will set up a

large house in a big village now we use

long poles to build its structure the

root covers the cooking area so that it

is even bigger than the floor a strategy

that we have implemented school-wide or

close readings the students have that

down to a science as to when they're

reading an informational text the best

way to read it in order to get the most

information out of it so with this

particular passages the students read it

once independently quietly to themselves

they read it a second time with a

partner to help increase that fluency

and just familiarize themselves with the

vocabulary the third time they read it

they use post-it notes to pull out

academic or content vocabulary instead

of giving that to them I thought that

was important that they pull out the

vocabulary words that they thought went

along with our theme and social studies

that we're currently working with and

then they looked through it a fourth

time to find the main idea or key

details okay so you think it's a boy now

let's take this a little deeper system

if you're right girls can't have sisters

you're exactly right you don't just have

to have brothers you're telling me that

you think it's a child let's agree on

that it's child do you think it's the

same child that the other passage came

from or do you think it's a different

child it's really okay what do you mean

you say different what do you think the

other where do you think the other child

was from and what do you think this

child is from what are your thoughts

this one this child is like a village

and then when you're in this one they're

like and they're like think I know what

you're saying the first child lives in a

village and rocky chimed in rocky you

said Brittany said they're in a village

and then what did you say they're Native

Americans to us agreed that this is a

Native American trial nice job boys and

girls our third and final passage as I

said you have already pre read it

independently and with partners but now

I'm going to read it to you so go ahead

and remove your post-it notes and please

follow along as I am reading settlers

came to this area to build farms they

found the land difficult to plant in

you're going to take about another

minute in your group jot down whose

perspective this was written from you

are going to decide as a group what is

their perspective of this time period

what was life like for them that's going

to be the top box of your organizer the

bottom box is the word evidence

what's evidence mean what does evidence

mean proof find proof that's what I was

looking for important details and proof

I wondered how the Pioneer plan wash us

wash plants say grain without the rain

so the hunt

the hunting were so hot yeah cos when

it's me the dad what was that one it's

in him cuz he went the dad went to suit

huntin and found the prints that fit for

their family no and what are we finding

for evidence that their life was harsh

that they can't just go to a grocery

store and buy food they had the farm we

work hard okay they define work hard

they run they can't run to Walmart like

we've got now get an education they

didn't get a very good education because

it didn't have schools better very good

well they had schools but today they're

working the schools were a what kind of

school week a week school it was a

weaker school but they were all together

in one classroom

well grade levels because and if you

forgot the firewood for the class then

you would have to get in the back over

oh it's really cool and nice job pulling

that background knowledge because that

wasn't in your text was it that's what

you've learned during social studies

with another teacher is that they had to

bring their wood to heat their home or

heat their schools you didn't bring it

and guess what your punishment was your

sister back of the room being cold then

do you think you'd forget it again no no

very logical consequence isn't it nice

nice job

any other evidence to support we're

still thinking an area that I would like

to see improved I felt they pulled too

much of their background knowledge and

maybe not as much as evidence from the

text and that comes from the previous

lessons that we've done with settlers so

they feel confident in that subject so I

would just explain to them next time

only evidence from the text at this

point and then when you go to do your

diary entry you can pull more of your

background knowledge into that part of

it a speaker from each group is going to

come out and share out Brittany and

Collett are experts on prairie farmers

and one of you could please share what

was the perspective of it was a child

the farmer's child the life was happy

because they enjoyed their life but they

had to work okay do we all kind of a

Greek as we read that passage would you

say the child's life was happy they

didn't seem miserable did they they

seemed happy and content but they had

work to do

they couldn't play video games right

they couldn't just sit back and watch

television they didn't have video games

their life was different than our life

today what's your evidence to support it

Colin no way meat no fire and school and

you would be punished and have to sit in

the cold we had to build fences we had

to borrow plows farms other families we

will sell corn to buy more animals it

was my job to gather firewood and water

let's give them a round of applause for

presenting the perspective ago and now

let's have settlement who are my

speakers for settlement what was the

perspective the settlers life was hot

was harsh okay it was harsh harsh

meaning hard it was difficult

what was your evidence that it was harsh

or hard they can't go to stores to get

food they need to plant their own okay

they'd plant their own food what else

once they're done with those questions

independently we will share them as a

whole the final assignment is actually

to create a diary entry they can choose

one of the perspectives whether it's a

Native American perspective the child

perspective from colonial times or an

adult perspective and write a diary

entry of what their day was like during

colonial times our summarizing activity

we will finish filling in our graphic

organizers at a later point our

summarizing activity you're going to

create a dialogue you're going to create

a dialogue between two different

perspectives you can use the Native

American child or the settlers or

farmers child or the adult settler in

that dialogue you're going to go back

and forth just to conversations what

they might say to each other

okay remember I did that with you the

other day when we did homework my

dialogue was homework was important okay

it helped review what I did in class you

came back at me and said mrs. Robbins

it's not important I have to help a

dinner and I play ball and I say that's

not important homework is going to take

you farther in life and you said this is

Courtney and you said it's important to

eat right so that was our dialogue back

and forth about the perspective of

homework you're going to have a dialogue

back and forth from the perspective of

two of these people we have three

you need to choose - one person's going

to be in one color one person's going to

be in the other color and you're going

to complete the tri-fold

I can honestly say that with common core

I feel like my students have created a

new love of reading and with pulling in

these different text complexities and

the information on the nonfiction pieces

the students have embraced it and

they're wanting to read and they're

excited to read that next nob or do a

research project with it so I feel like

as teachers now that we know what our

focus is it's a more clear focus we can

find activities and novels nonfiction

pieces to pull in to help them find the

love of reading that as teachers we all

want our students to have