Rivers Run Through It

Grade: 5

1. Goal:

Content: SS.05.GE.03: The student will be able to locate, identify, and know the major significance of major mountains and land regions in Oregon.

SS.05.GE.03.03: Locate, identify and know the major significance of major mountains, rivers, and land regions of Oregon.

Language: EL.05.WR.04: Choose a form of writing that best suits the intended purpose-personal letter, review, report or narrative.

2. Objective:

Content: Locate major physical and human features of the Earth.

Language: The student will be able to write increasingly complex sentences with specific vocabulary.

Examples of forms:

Beginner: The Rogue River is in Oregon.

Early Intermediate: The Rogue River is in Oregon.

Intermediate: The Rogue River is in Oregon and it begins flowing from Crater Lake

Early Advanced: In short, the Rogue River begins at Crater Lake and flows west, meeting the ocean near Gold Beach.
Advanced: Therefore, the Rogue River stretches west and it tours Southern Oregon.

Targeted Language Skills:

Reading: Students will read the handout provided to summarize the history of the Rogue River.

Writing: Students will summarize (using the gist technique) the history of the Rogue River in their journals. Also they will be asked to identify 8 major rivers in Oregon on a map.

Speaking: Students will work together in their cooperative groups and pair share activities to locate the rivers of Oregon. Also, they will discuss how they will present the history of the Rogue River to the class.

Listening: Students will actively listen to the teacherÕs directions; they will also listen to their peers during cooperative learning.

3. Materials/Equipment/Supplies/Preparation

During this lesson, students will be exposed to a variety of learning strategies, such as cooperative learning, bilingual labeling, modeled talk, multimedia, Multiple Intelligences and pair-share as they learn about Oregon's eight major rivers, with a specific emphasis on the Rogue River. In order prepare the lesson I will need to have an overhead transparency of Oregon's major rivers. Along with the transparency, I will also need a small map for the students to identify the rivers and insert in their journals and also a map for the students to work with in their cooperative groups. I will also need to have atlases, maps and globes available for the students to access information about Oregon's rivers. Also, I will need a handout to give the students that summarizes the important facts about the Rogue River's history that I think is important for the students to know. Knowing that I will put the students in groups based on their multiple intelligences it will be important that the classroom has lots of resources that will allow the students to express their intelligence in a unique way (ie. Musical instruments, posters, calculators etc). I will also need a big chart listing the names of Oregon's rivers available for students to look at throughout the lesson.

4. Procedure

A. anticipatory set, motivation or hook—about 3-4 minutes

Now that students are in new cooperative groups based on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, they will have an opportunity to work together to create a definition for River. The class will look at some pictures of rivers to help generate ideas. During this portion of the lesson the teacher can also ask questions about rivers and to build on previous knowledge or experiences the students my have; they will Pair-share with a partner to generate some of these ideas.

B. Teaching/Modeling—about 20 minutes

Now that we have reviewed and discussed what rivers are and how they interact with our lives, we will look at a map of Oregon on the overhead that shows the eight major rivers that flow in our state: Grande Ronde, Lower Owyhee, John Day, Deschutes, McKenzie, Umpqua, Rogue and Lower Kalamath. We would write these vocabulary terms on the white board for future reference throughout the lesson. As the teacher, I would show different maps so the students can see how the rivers may differ on each map. I would then put up the map of Oregon that the students will receive, and as a class we will locate the rivers and identify them on the map-which is a task the students will do at the end of the lesson. Lastly I would point out the Rogue River, and give a brief history of the river. The Rogue River is important to Oregon history as it was life for the Indians, the new settlers, the gold rush and still is recreational for people of today. I would then give each group a handout that summarizes the information delivered in class regarding the Rogue River.

C. Group Application/Guided Practice—about 20 minutes

Student will now have an opportunity to work together to accomplish the tasks we have already done as a class. Each group will get a map of Oregon, and they are to use the resources in the room to identify the 8 major rivers. Also, students will be responsible for using the gist strategy outlined in our text to create a presentation that outlines the main points of the history of the Rogue River. Since students are arranged in groups based on their multiple intelligences they will be encouraged to present their information using the common learning strength they all possess.

D. Independent Application/Independent Practice—about 15 minutes

Now that the students have worked as a group, they will get to word individually with their daily journals. Students will use a map given to them to identify the 8 major rivers in Oregon, which they will then glue into their journals. Also, students will be asked to use the gist strategy to summarize the history along the Rogue River. In order to meet the language standards, ach student will take on role of their choice to convey the information.

E. Closure—about 5 minutes

Now that the students have had an opportunity to reflect on the history of the Rogue and identify the 8 rivers in Oregon, they will have a chance to Pair-share with a partner. Students will be asked to talk about something new they learned or something they thought was interesting. In order to prepare the students for the next lesson (learning the 50 states), the teacher can show the students a map of the United States and identify where Oregon in relation to the other states. The teacher could also make connections to the Rogue River and River at the Grand Canyon (as this was one of the places Kate traveled on her journey in our unit text, Kate Heads West.)

5. Meeting Varying Needs

This lesson is very visual, which could pose a problem for students with visual impairment. In order to help these students, as a teacher, I would pair visually impaired students with classmates who can help the student by reading the material out-loud. Also, for students who may struggle with vocabulary words and spelling, the large vocabulary chart we created can serve as an answer key for such dilemmas. For ELL's I have tried to give students lots of practice with identifying before they are asked to identify on their own. In doing so, I hope to relieve the student of any pressure or anxiety they may be feeling when addressing a new topic.

6. Assessment

In order to assess the students, I will ask them to turn their journals in to the journal basket (the same basket they turn journals into everyday to increase routines and predictability for ELL's). Within the journal is a map where they should have identified the 8 major rivers in Oregon, along with a summary of the history of the Rogue River. As a teacher I would asses their identifications along with sentence complexity and specific vocabulary.

7. Reflection

Was the time allotment appropriate for the lesson?

How did it go overall?

Were the students able to make personal connections to Rivers?

What should I do differently next time?

What happened that I wished went differently?

What went really well?

Is it possible to take a field trip to see the Rogue River?