An Integrated Approach to Teaching

Unit 2 Alaska Exploration and Research 

Unit 2 is a focus on Alaska which is my platform for teaching them how to do research and to demonstrate how a person's environment effects the way of life. Here are the components of what I planned: 

READING Whole Class Book Club/Socratic Seminar: Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
  

Goals: 

• Have a group discussion about the book
• Think deeply about what was read
• Learn about Alaskan animals, land, and culture

WRITING Workshop: 5 Paragraph Informational Essay THEN a 5 Paragraph Research Paper

​Goals:

• Learn the structure of a 5 paragraph essay
• Learn the steps to research

Students will first write an essay based on something they consider themselves an expert on. Right now, I have students writing about soccer, the Paleo diet, dancing, and taking care of pets. I am modeling with an essay on Running. The goal of this essay is to have them focus only on the structure of an essay rather than gathering information on it which is what they will be doing when they tackle their research paper.

When we start the research paper, they will be researching a US state of their choice while I model researching Alaska. They will have at least 2 "just right" books of their choice to use as references. They will not use the internet as part of research (too much to teach about how to do that at this point in the year!). 

SCIENCE: The Scientific Method 

Goals:

• To learn how to use the Scientific Method​

Project: Create a science experiment that answers a question you have pertaining to your state.
For example, an experiment I will do with the class will be about permafrost which is a landform found in Alaska. We will have a "State Fair" at the end that replicates a traditional Science Fair without awards. Everyone will share information on their state and their experiment. Students will share how their experiments relates to the state that they researched.

I have Science Journals for each student, and this is the place where they will take their notes from lessons and record all of our experiments. We started off with a Cloud Collection experiment to answer the questions if clouds determine weather, and do certain clouds produce various types of precipitation. 

Social Studies: 50 States and Capitals

Goals:

• Learn how to read a political map of the United States
• Know all 50 states and capitals (and their correct spelling!)
• Understand how a person's environment influences their way of life (this ties into the research they do of their state, and comparing the lifestyles across the country)

I have a lot of games and puzzles that I found online and made so that the kids are able to achieve this goal of memorization quickly. I am hoping that beyond memorizing the states and capitals, they are able to understand a bit about each region and how they are different.

Get the Reading and Writing Nonfiction Unit Plans I created just for this part of my school year!
​Click on the image below