Lesson #1 Audience: Elementary, Grade 3

Plan Prepared By: Katherine Orth

Standards: History and Social Science Standards of Learning in Virginia: 3.6 The student will interpret geographic information from maps, tables, graphs, and charts. 3.11 The student will explain the importance of the basic principles that form the foundation of a republican form of government by b) identifying the contributions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King, Jr.; Materials/Space/Time: Document Camera/Overhead Projector, Worksheets (1/student), Markers, Classroom map of the United States, map of Washington monuments (http://www.visitingdc.com/map/washington-dc-mall-map.htm). This lesson will take place with the whole class in an average classroom space with children working at tables/desks. The lesson will take about one hour. Lesson Description: Anticipatory Set: The teacher will review the cardinal directions. Teacher will describe to students how Washington D.C. is the national center of government buildings and meeting places in our country, and show students where Washington D.C. is located on a map. Additionally, teacher will tell students that people important to national history are honored there at memorials. Ask students to hypothesize what memorials mean, and tell them they’re going to see what memorials look like today. Objectives and Purpose: 1. Given a review of the cardinal directions, students will be able to use the directions to find and orient themselves between four monuments on the Washington Mall. 2. Given four monuments on the Washington Mall, students will be able to correctly determine who the monument is for, and why that person is important to the legacy of democracy. Input/Modeling: The teacher will put a map identical to the students’ personal copies up on the document camera. Instruct students that you will be starting at the Lincoln Memorial and travelling to the Washington Memorial. Use a pointer or your finger to trace the journey. Refer to the compass rose on the map, and show students you are traveling east. Show students a larger picture of the memorial, and ask students what important things George Washington has done for democracy to earn that memorial. Check for Understanding: After completing the first leg of the journey, check to see that students understand the travels. Ask students questions like “Where did we start?” “What direction did we travel to arrive at the Washington Memorial?” “Why is this building important?” Guided Practice: The teacher will then pass out an identical map for each student, and students will get out a marker to trace their journey. As a class, we will then determine how to direct ourselves from the Washington Memorial to the Jefferson Memorial. Have a student volunteer come to the front of the room and trace with their finger the route they would take, and have students follow along with their own maps at their desks. Independent Practice: Have students, using the instructions on their map, then independently find the route from the Jefferson Memorial back to the Lincoln. Students will trace the route on their maps with their markers, and write on the map which direction they are traveling to get from one monument to the

next. After finding their way to the last monument, students will write one sentence about why each figure honored by the monument is important. Closure: After all students are finished with their maps, they will compare their maps with a partner at their table. If students have questions or got different answers, discuss as a class. Evaluation: Formative: The teacher will check for understanding after modeling the assignment before allowing students to begin on their own. While students are working through guided and independent practice, teacher will circulate to make sure students are staying on task and understanding the directions. Summative: After the lesson is over, the teacher will collect the maps students have traced and check to make sure the traced directions are clear and the student knows which direction s/he was moving. Background Information Since the class will have been talking about famous people in American government’s history, they will be familiar with Lincoln, Washington, etc. A new topic for the students will be the concept of monuments. A definition of monuments appropriate for third graders would be “a structure created to honor an important person or event.” Though the monuments discussed in this lesson are in Washington D.C., a connection can be made to the monuments in the classroom’s town, and their importance to the town. The three important people discussed in this lesson are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. They will have been discussed in the context of Civics in the classroom. Students will have learned that George Washington was the “Father of our Country.” He earned that nickname by being an important leader in the Revolutionary War, as well as being present at the Constitutional Convention and being the first President of the United States. Thomas Jefferson not only was the writer of the Declaration of Independence, but he also was the third President of the United States. Jefferson also did work to form the concept of education in our country, saying that all males should have some form of education, and that your knowledge should be a determinant of success. Finally, Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, and helped the nation through the Civil War and pushed for the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments’ passage.

Multiple Choice Question

See the map above. What direction would you have to travel to go from the WWII memorial to the Washington Monument? A. B. C. D.

North South East West

Monuments in Washington D.C.

Name:______________________________

1. Circle the three monuments we will be discussing today: - The Jefferson Memorial - The Washington Monument - The Lincoln Memorial 2. Follow the teacher as we travel from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. What direction are we travelling? Trace the route with a marker.

_________________

3. What is one reason that Washington is important enough to have a memorial in Washington DC?

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ 4. Watch as we together travel from the Washington Monument to the Jefferson Memorial. What direction are we travelling now? Trace the route with a marker.

_________________ 5. What is one reason that Jefferson is important enough to have a memorial in Washington DC?

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ 6. On your own, now travel from the Jefferson Memorial to the Jefferson Lincoln Memorial. What direction are you travelling? Trace your route with a marker.

_________________ 7. What is one reason that Lincoln is important enough to have a memorial in Washington DC?

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________