Lesson Plan
Title:  A visit to the Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge, LA (Special Education 4th Grade)
Subject:  Social Studies
Grade Level:  2 - 3
Overview:
The 4th grade students had just visited the Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge in mid-November. This is a unit of lessons followed by the field trip. In these lessons, the students will explore about Louisiana history and the State Capitol on the Internet. They then will create a time line about Louisiana history. They will present the facts about the New State Capitol with a graphic organizer. Finally, they will write about their field trip and publish on the computer.
Approximate Duration:  5 45-minutes Social Studies lesson and 2 40-minute
Content Standards:
  • Civics: Citizenship and Government
         Students develop an understanding of the structure and purposes of government, the foundations of the American democratic system, and the role of the United States in the world, while learning about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
  • History: Time, Continuity, and Change
         Students develop a sense of historical time and historical perspective as they study the history of their community, state, nation, and world.
Benchmarks:
  • C-1A-E1
         describing government in terms of the people and groups who make, apply, and enforce rules and laws in the home, school, community, and nation;   (1,3,4,5)
  • C-1A-E2
         explaining the necessity and basic purposes of government;   (1,5)
  • C-1A-E4
         identifying and describing some of the major responsibilities of local, state, and national governments;   (1,3,5)
  • C-1D-E2
         describing the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society;   (1,5)
  • C-1D-E4
         describing the many ways that citizens can participate in and contribute to their communities and to American society;   (1,2,4,5)
  • H-1A-E1
         demonstrating an understanding of the concepts of time and chronology;   (1,3,4)
  • H-1C-E1
         describing the people, events, and ideas that were significant to the growth and development of our state and nation;   (1,3,4)
Interdisciplinary Connections:  
  • English/Language Arts : Standard 2
         Students write competently for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  • English/Language Arts : Standard 3
         Students communicate using standard English grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and handwriting.
Educational Technology Standards:  
  • Identify, explain, and effectively use input, output and storage devices of computers and other technologies (e.g., keyboard, mouse, scanner, adaptive devices, monitor, printer floppy disk, hard drive).
  • Use a variety of developmentally appropriate resources and productivity tools (e.g., logical thinking programs, writing and graphic tools, digital cameras, graphing software) for communication, presentation, and illustration of thoughts, ideas, and stories.
  • Use technology tools (e.g., publishing, multimedia tools, and word processing software) for individual and for simple collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities for a variety of audiences.
  • Use technology resources to assist in problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.
Objectives:
The students will:
1. State five important dates in Louisiana history.
2. Create a time line of 6 important dates that illustrate what they know about Louisiana history and present in the class.
3. Use Inspiration to list the facts (at least 3) about the New State Capitol.
4. Write and illustrate with digital pictures about their visit to the New State Capitol.
Lesson Materials and Resources:
1. Overhead projector & transparencies
2. marker
3. Writing Paper
4. Journal
5. Fact Sheet "Important Dates in Louisiana History"
6. Fact Sheet "The Louisiana State Capitol"
7. Pamphlet of the Louisiana State Capitol
8. Assessment forms
Technology Tools and Materials:

Hardware:
Computer
Printer
CD-Rom (Photo Jam 3)

Software:
Timeliner
Inspiration
Kid Pix
Microsoft PowerPoint

Background Information:
Before the field trip, the students were introduced about U. S. government. The students know that there are three branches in the government: executive, legislative and judicial. They also know that Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, which is the central point of state government.
Lesson Procedures:
Social Studies - Day 1 & 2
1. The teacher introduces unit to the whole group with the pictures taken on the trip (Photo Jam 3).
2. The teacher divides the class into four collaborative learning groups, with four students in a group.
3. The teacher passes out the fact sheet "Important Dates in Louisiana History" to the students.
4. The teacher guides two of the learning groups to explore Louisiana History on the Internet. 
5. While two of the learning groups are on the Internet, the paraprofessional guides the remaining groups to choose the 6 dates that are to be on the time line.
6. After fifteen minutes, the groups on the Internet will go back to their table and put the 6 important dates on their journal.
7. The other two learning groups explore on the Internet.
8. The group publish their time line on the computer using Time Line and present in the class.

Social Studies - Day 3 to 5
1. The teacher introduces the lesson with the slide show of the digital pictures taken at the New State Capitol.
2. The teacher passes out the fact sheet "The Louisiana State Capitol" to the students.
3. The teacher guides two of the learning groups to explore about the New State Capitol on the Internet using the lesson plan on Trackstar "Louisiana, You Are My Sunshine".
4. While two of the learning groups are on the Internet, the paraprofessional guides the remaining groups to work on the graphic organizer.
5. Students list at least 5 facts about the New State Capitol and form a graphic organizer on their journal.
6. After fifteen minutes, the groups on the Internet will go back to their table.
7. Students put at least 3 facts about the New State Capitol in their journal individually.
8. The other two learning groups explore on the Internet.
9. The group publish their graphic organizer on the computer using Inspiration and present in the class.

English Lesson (Day 1 & 2)
1. The teacher reviews the writing process (write a rough draft, share with a friend, revise, and edit) with the class.
2. The teacher guides the whole group to form an outline of their writing on the overhead project.
3. Students complete the writing process. They have a finished copy to take to the computer to publish.
4. Students pick some digital pictures to illustrate their writing. They publish on the computer using PowerPoint.
Assessment Procedures:
The teacher evaluates the student performance through formal assessments by using the rubrics (Rubrics for time line, Rubrics for graphic organizer, and Rubrics for writing paragraphs). The teacher observes the student cooperation and participation and uses the rubrics for teamwork to assess their teamwork performance.
Accommodations/Modifications:
The special academic needs of students can be accommodated through collaborative learning groups where students can learn from each other. The writing assignment can be modified according to the functioning levels of the students. For the higher functioning 2.5 group, the students are asked to write at least 5 facts about the New State Capitol. For the 2.0 group, the students will write 4 facts. For the 1.0 group, the students will write 3 facts.
          ----- written by Oi Yee Monica Ratcliff  
Reproducible Materials:
Lesson Development Resources:
Pamphlet: The Louisiana State Capitol
Contact Information:
Oi Yee Monica Ratcliff
oyratcliff@yahoo.com
Madison James Foster

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