Megan Smith

April 24, 14
EDU 370

Social Studies Integrated Unit

Two Major Mountain Ranges & Five Major Rivers
My first approach to teaching this integrated unit was to find a standard that my
teacher needed to be taught. I wasnt able to use my original host teacher , Mrs. Turners
classroom, because she only taught science and math. Her co-teacher, Mrs. Johnson
taught social studies and English language arts, agreed to allow me to teach my social
studies mini-unit with her class. The two classrooms teachers divided their classrooms
into academic levels and disbursed the students who are in Reach amongst the two
groups. Needless to say, there was a huge difference between the academic levels of the
two classrooms. With that said, I decided to use only the students who were in my host
teachers classroom to collect data from, that way it would be an equal mix and I could
better see if the students truly learned from the lessons I taught. Ms. Johnson asked if I
would teach the academic standard:
SS3G1 student will locate major topographical features. Identify major rivers of the
United States of America: Mississippi, Ohio, Rio Grande, Colorado, and Hudson. Identify
major mountain ranges of the United States of America: Appalachian, Rocky.
My first step was to then pre-assess the students to find a starting place to begin
my unit. From the pre-test I observed that the only information that some students were
aware of was the names of the two major mountain ranges and that the Mississippi river
was indeed the longest river in the united states. I knew that I would need to create a
lesson to help the student distinguish the difference between the two major mountain
ranges and then to incorporate extensive practice in locating the rivers because those

Megan Smith
April 24, 14
EDU 370
could potentially be easy to mix up. My first step was to introduce the lesson. I started by
reading the class a book called, Where the River Begins. This book was about the
Hudson River and I told the class that we would read the book and then after we found
facts about the different regions, then we would discuss which river the story was about
at the end. I used this to incorporate childrens literature. Each week the students are
given newsletters with information about the person or place that they are learning about.
It suffices as a textbook, and the teacher prints copies for each student. Since the students
were already used to this format and the teacher didnt have a newsletter to use from her
social studies resources, I just created my own with all the information that I felt was
relevant based on the standard. In addition to that I also made a study guide that I would
encourage the students to read every night. They would first have to fill in the blanks but
after that I would inform them that each lesson would require them to know the
information from the study guide, so if they wanted to participate, then they would need
to read it. That seemed to work well since most of my lessons were very interactive. I
split the class into seven different groups; I placed chart paper around the room and the
students had to jigsaw around the classroom to list different facts about each landmark.
Once they were finished, the groups all went back to the chart where they began and then
they were the teachers, and had to teach the class. That worked really well and the
students loved the idea of being the teacher.
In my second lesson I integrated earth science and we discussed the similarities
and differences between the Rocky and Appalachian Mountain ranges. I had the class use
a Venn diagram to compare the two and they found that the Rocky Mountains are taller

Megan Smith
April 24, 14
EDU 370
than the Appalachian Mountains. Also, that the Appalachian Mountains are older than the
Rocky Mountains. Then, as a class we experimented how weathering occurs. I brought in
three small containers of dirt pressed firmly against the side of the container. Also, I
brought a cup of ice (snow), a straw (wind), and a spray bottle (rain), to demonstrate the
effects of weathering. What I wanted the students to observe was that weathering happens
over a period of time. Also, that there was a big age difference in the Rocky and
Appalachian Mountains and that could be one reason why the Rocky Mountains are so
much taller. With scaffolding and questioning the students discovered each aspect and
were fascinated with my weathering effects.
I integrated English language arts into a lesson as well by having the
students write informative papers about the mountain ranges and rivers. I asked the
students where they found information and then had them all pretend we were going to
Florida for the very first time. We wanted to find out information for the things we could
do in Florida and also what features the state has. I asked again where we could find that
information and they said various places such as, the Internet, magazine articles, and in
books. I then told the students that today we are journalist and a magazine company
needs us to write informative letters about the mountains and rivers that we have learned
about. I allowed the students to use their study guides as a reference and gave them a
graphic organizer to list information they needed to include in their papers. Once they
finished writing there stories they wrote or typed their final drafts that I would then bind
for them to have as a reference. This was a fun lesson and the host teacher informed me
that they needed more practice with informational writing, so I decided to incorporate it.

Megan Smith
April 24, 14
EDU 370
Finally I gave the class a post assessment to see what the students had learned.
The majority of the class did great and it was evident that learning had occurred when I
compared their post assessments with the pre-assessments. There were a few who
confused some of the rivers and did poorly as a result. However, the majority of the
students who did not do well just simply did not read the directions. On the front page of
my post assessment there was a box where the students had to circle the five major rivers.
Some students did not circle anything and as a result they automatically missed five
questions. If I had this assessment to do over, I would briefly explain that part of the
assessment so that hopefully no one would miss this section. Overall I really enjoyed this
unit. The students were wonderful and allowed me to do so many fun and engaging
activities.
This experience of teaching a unit was absolutely wonderful! The cooperating
teacher was really helpful and offered suggestions and provided books for me to use
about the different mountains and rivers. Then, during the week that I taught the unit, my
host teacher was actually out sick so I was able to teach my entire lesson and was
provided with extra time as well. It was nice to be able to return the favor and help with
the classroom while she was out. During this week is when I acquired most of my hours
in the classroom and it was great because I was able to play the role of a teacher
throughout the day and administer the assignments that the host teacher left for the
students.
The one thing that I would have liked to change the amount of time that the reach
students (gifted) had to complete the craft activity, because they were in reach during the

Megan Smith
April 24, 14
EDU 370
writing activity, they had to complete the writing and craft activity in one period. As a
result, they werent able to finish the craft and were upset because I hung the finished
products outside. If I was to redo this scenario again, I would have allowed the students
to take some of the extra materials home with them to do for homework and return the
next day. I was very happy that they enjoyed the craft activity so much, not only was it
fun, but it was very educational and a great way for me to informally assess.
I truly feel like this unit gave me a lot of confidence. At first, I was hesitant to
have the class participate in the jig saw activity because it was the first lesson and I didnt
have a chance to establish a classroom management plan. However, I decided to do it
anyways because it was much more engaging than just having the students complete a
study guide. The lesson was a little hectic at first, but after I figured out that the teachers
had this black book for misbehaving student, I was able to use that as a backup when the
class was too loud. After this lesson, I decided to give my students more freedom, which
allowed for some interesting lessons. I have found that confidence is key and that
children are a lot like horses, they can sense fear. As long as I stayed confident and firm
to my punishment of signing the black book, I could control a classroom of 28 children,
which has always been my fear of having a classroom completely to my self. Needless to
say, I realize that not every unit will go this well, however, Im very glad this unit did and
it helped me realize how much fun teaching really is.