Massachusetts+Biography+Unit+(grade+3+social+studies)

=**__Individuals from Massachusetts: A Biography Unit Plan__**= By: Katie Jacques


 * 1. Where to Begin**
 * Essential Understanding:
 * There are people from Massachusetts history who have had an impact on our curent world.
 * Learning concepts:
 * Understand how people from the past can effect the present.
 * Knowing the main idea and supporting details allows students to expand their understanding of a text.
 * MA curriculum standards (grade 3)
 * Social Studies: 3.7 After reading a biography of a person from Massachusetts in one of the following categories, summarize the person’s life and achievements. (H, C)
 * science and technology (e.g., Alexander Graham Bell, Nathaniel Bowditch, Robert Goddard, John Hayes Hammond, Edwin Land, Samuel Morse)
 * the arts (e.g., Henry Adams, Louisa May Alcott, John Singleton Copley, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Geisel, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Frederick Law Olmsted, Norman Rockwell, Henry David Thoreau, Phyllis Wheatley)
 * business (e.g., William Filene, Amos Lawrence, Francis Cabot Lowell, An Wang);
 * education, journalism, and health (e.g., Clara Barton, Horace Mann, William Monroe Trotter)
 * ELA: Reading Standard for Informational/Expository Text: 2. Determine the main idea of a text; recount key details and explain how they support the main idea.
 * Learning outcome:
 * Students will be able to identify a person in history from MA.
 * Students will be able to summarize the life of a person from MA history.
 * Students will be able to list the achievements of a person in history.
 * Students will be able to describe the influence of these individuals on our present world.
 * Teacher readiness:
 * Who are the most important influential individuals?
 * Science/technology- Alexander Graham Bell: invented the telephone and students can connect to present day use, Robert Goddard: invented the rocket and from Worcester.
 * The Arts-Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau: both authors wrote poetry about nature some are appropriate for children.
 * Business- William Filene: established Filene's, a widely popular department store and landmark in downtown Boston, Ann Wang: helped design one of the first fully electronic computers.
 * Education/journalism/health-Clara Barton: from Oxford, founded the American Red Cross, and was a pioneer for women during a male dominated era.
 * Which area students are most interested?
 * What are students' reading abilities?


 * 2. What is Differentiated**
 * Content
 * Students will have the opportunity to read biographies according to their interest in a particular category.
 * Content will also be differentiated when students identify details and main idea as some students may focus on identifying the facts or details of the text, others will use those details to identify the main idea, and more capable students will take the main idea and details to summarize their text.


 * Process
 * The class will discuss elements of biographies (nonfiction, facts about a person, achievements, etc).
 * Teacher will survey student interest level on the subjects of science/techology,arts, bussiness, education/journalism/health, and political leadership. (List the five categories on the board and have students list them on a piece of paper in order from most to least interesting).
 * Teacher will assign students to each category based on the results of the interest survey.
 * Students will read biography with their assigned group, making use of comprehension strategies and activities while reading (connect, question, predict/infer, monitor/clarify, summarize, and evaluate).
 * When finished reading text, students will independently identify the topic, main idea, and key details.
 * As a final product, students will have the opportunity to work with individually or with a partner and chose an activity based on their learning preference.


 * Product
 * The products will be differentiated while students are reading the biographies to suit their individual level.
 * When they have finished the biography, students will have the ability to choose their final asesssment activity. These will include:
 * timeline
 * historical poem
 * song
 * obituary
 * interview
 * portrait
 * An explanation of these activities is included in section 4: How learning is Demonstrtated.


 * 3. What Are Student Needs**
 * Student Readiness
 * To get students ready for the biography unit, begin by making sure all students understand the term biography by asking for student definitions. Then ask students to Think-Pair-Share to the followng prompt: "If a biography was to be written about me the information I think should be included would be..." After students have had time to think and share their response, create a list of what information is typically included in a biography on the board as a whole class.
 * Students should be comfortable using reading strategies with nonfiction texts.
 * Students also need to be aware of behavior expectations. Since there will be multiple opportunities for working within a variety of grouping, the teacher needs to explicitly review group work procedures as well as what is acceptable and nont acceptable behavior.
 * Student Interest
 * The teacher will capture student interest at the beginning of the unit with a prompt in which they connect the concept to their own life.
 * Student interest will be addressed by the subject of the biographies. Students will rank their top choice of subjects from a teacher-generated list (science/technology, the arts, bussiness, eduation/journalism/health ) and will be placed in a group depending on responses.
 * Students will also have the opportunity to choose their final project from a variety of activities aimed at multiple learning preferences.


 * Identify Learning Profile
 * This class is made up of 17 students: 8 girls and 9 boys. There are 3 students on IEPs and 3 other students who are considered ELL but have tested out of services. Two girls in the class were retained the previous year. The students in this class possess a variety of abilities: many participate in organized sports including swimming, soccer, tennis, baseball, and baskeball, a few students play the violin and piano, and a handful of students are multilingual in Albanian and Spanish. Below is a chart outlining the needs of the 3 IEP students.


 * 4. How Students Will Learn**
 * Before, during, and after reading their biographies, students will have the opportunity to learn in a variety of ways. They will be reading in groups, making use of reading comprehension strategies (connect, predict/infer, question, monitor/clarify, summarize, and evaluate) individually as well as in literature circle format.
 * Mini-lessons will be conducted to assess and assist students with particular skills throughout the unit.
 * Students will be divided into groups based on their interest level in each of the 5 categories.
 * Within these groups they will be reading their assigned biography.


 * Mini Lesson: Finding the Main Idea of a text**

__Guiding Question__: How do details of a text support the main idea? __Learning Concept:__ Knowing the main idea and supporting details allows students to expand their understanding of a text. __Curriculum Framework__ Reading Standard for Informational/Expository Text: 2. Determine the main idea of a text; recount key details and explain how they support the main idea.

__Objectives:__ Students will be able to define topic, main idea and supporting detail. Students will be able to identify the supporting details of a text. Students will be able to use the supporting details of a text to identify the main idea. Students will be able to explain how the details of a text support the main idea.

__Vocabulary__: topic, main idea, supporting detail

__Materials:__ computer with internet access and projector, white board, markers, paper, pencil, leveled texts for students __Introduction:__List detail, topic, main idea on the board and ask if students know the meaning of these words, write correct responses on the board. Keep the definitions on the board for remainder of lesson. Tell students that they will practice finding the main idea of a text to help with their biography final project.

__Lesson Development:__ 1)Project the following website for the whole class and ask volunteers to read the first two slides: [] 2) Model for the class how to identify the supporting details followed by the main idea by thinking aloud. Number each detail on the board and underline the main idea in a separate color. 3) Ask a student to explain why one of the details would not be the main idea. Be sure students are aware that the main idea tells what the ENTIRE passage is about and the supporting details are the smaller parts that help create the main idea. 4) Read aloud the second passage, then ask students to Think, Pair, Share the details and main idea (underlining and numbering as in the first passage). 5) Leave the second example on the board and hand out copies of the third passage to students. Students will indepedently number the supporting details and underline the main idea on their paper. Remind students to use the model on the board if they are stuck. Circle the room to informally assess the success of your students. 6) Ask volunteers to share their anwers, while modeling on the board. __Closing__ As an exit slip, ask students to explain in their own words why it is important to know the supporting details and main idea of a text. You can use their responses in addition to answers from previous passage to assign their next task.

__Assessment:__ After reviewing student responses, assign those students who are comfortable with the concept the task of finding the topic, details, and main idea for their biography independently using the following graphic organizer: **____** .On this graphic organizer, students are expected to write a summary of the topic/details/main idea.

Students who were able to identify the details and main idea but struggled with an explanation can use this graphic organizer: . With this graphic organizer, students identify the supporting details and main idea of the text.

Those students who require extra support with the main idea and details can use this graphic organizer:. On this graphic organizer students identify facts or details based on the topic of the text. After students have successfully identified the facts/details from their text, the teacher can guide the small group with identifying the main idea based on their list of details.
 * 5. How is Learning Demonstrated**

As mentioned earlier, students will have their choice of their final product. These activities are designed to meet the needs of the variety of learning style preferences within a classroom. Below is a description of the final project:

Now that you have finished reading about your famous Massachusetts resident, here is your chance to tell the class what you learned. __Timeline-__ Create a timeline starting when your person was born and ending in the present year. You will include 10 major life events/achievements with an explanation of why you chose that particular event. In addition to the 10 events, you will include at least one present day event that connects our modern world to your person of history. __Historical Poem-__ Create a poem about your person. Below is a guideline to follow. Title Line 1: First name Line 2: Birth date Line 3: Resident of… Line 4: Lover of…( 3 people, places, things) Line 5: Who believed (1 or more ideas) Line 6: Who used…(3 methods or things) Line 7: Who wanted…(3 things) Line 8: Who said, “ (quote) Line 9: Who gave…(3 things, at least one connected to our current world) Line 10: Death Line 11: Last name __Song-__ Write a song to honor your person. In your song you will need to include their first and last name, birth/death dates, adjectives describing their life/personality, where they lived, their accomplishments, quote, important people/things/activities in their life, and their effect on our current world. You may choose to write it to a familiar tune or make your own. You also have the option to bring in an instrument to assist you when presenting your song. __Obituary-__ Write an obituary for your person. If you were in charge of writing an obituary for your person, what would it say? You will need to include their first and last name, birth/death dates, where they lived, family members, occupation, their accomplishments, favorite past time activities, group memberships, any quotes, adjectives describing their life/personality, and their effect on our current world. You may want to use a real obituary as a model. __Interview-__ You are a TV talk show host and you have invited this person on your show. Create a set of questions to ask and answer them as you believe the person would (remember to consider their personality/mannerisms when writing the answers). You should have at least 10 questions and the information to be included is their first and last name, birth/death dates, where they lived, family members, occupation, accomplishments, description of their life/personality, and their effect on our current world. __Portrait-__ You have been asked to draw a portrait of your person. Considering what you have learned, create an illustration that not only includes a portrait but also picture representations of their life. Your picture should include a portrait with their first/last name & birth/death, in addition create a way to represent their occupation, achievements, and effect on the modern world. On the back, please provide an explanation of your visual representations.
 * Directions**: Pick one activity listed below to work on either alone or with a partner. Keep in mind you will be presenting your final product to the class, so please put your best effort forward to create an interesting project.
 * You may choose to create your own poem, however you will need to include a title, first/last name, birth/death dates, adjectives describing their life/personality, where they lived, their accomplishments, a quote, important people/things/activities in their life, and their effect on our current world,.

All projects will be graded using this rubric: project directions and includes all required information. || Follows directions; missing 1-2 pieces of required infomation. || Somewhat follows directions and missing more than 2 pieces of required information. || Does not follow directions; includes little to no pieces of required information. || all facts were correct. || Mostly accurate; 1-2 errors in information. || Somewhat accurate; more than 2 errors in information. || Completely inaccurate; the facts in this project were misleading to the audience. || and presented with originality; a unique approach that truly enhanced the project. || Was clever at times; thoughtfully and uniquely presented. || Added a few original touches to enhance the project but did not incorporate them throughout. || Little creative energy used during this project was bland and predictable, and lacked “zip”. || smooth delivery that holds the audience attention. || Relatively, interesting rehearsed with a fairly smooth delivery that usually holds the audience attention. || Delivery not smooth but able to hold audience attmetion most of the time. || Delivery not smooth and unable to hold audience attention. || until project was complete. Student remained attentive during presentations. || Student stayed on task most of the time, and worked on project until complete. Student remained mostly attentive during presentations. || Student required many reminders to stay on task and to pay attention during presentations. || Student did not stay on task and project may be incomplete. Student was asked numerous times to be respectful during presentations. || Score: __Comments:__
 * Famous Individuals from Massachusetts' History Rubric**
 * || **Excpetional -** **4** || **Admirable -** **3** || **Acceptable -** **2** || **Amatuer -** **1** ||
 * **Content** || Correctly follows all
 * **Accuarcy** || Completely accurate;
 * **Creativity** || Was extremely clever
 * **Presentation** || Interesting, well-rehearsed with
 * **Effort** || Student was able to stay on task and continued to work

__**Helpful Resources**__ __**Reading Strategy Activities**__ __**Description of Reading Strategies**__ __**1000 Biographies for Kids**__
 * Biographies of People Who Shaped Our World**
 * Massachusetts Biographies**