Lesson Title: American Landmarks

Day Number: 4
Author: Meghan Ashman
Grade Level: 3rd
Background Information
Time: 45 minutes
Concept:
Understanding what a landmark is and its characteristics
Discuss significant US landmarks
Understanding what a statue is and its meaning for existing
Vocab:
Landmark an important natural or human feature that marks a location
Statue a monument built to honor or remember a person, an idea, or an event
Skills:
Identification
Web based inquiry
Creative writing
Hands-on sculpting
Public speaking
Integration of Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to identify important US landmarks
Students will be able to complete a web based virtual tour and questionnaire
Students will be able to create a personal landmark out of clay
Students will be able to write a five sentence description of their personal landmark
Students will be able to read their landmark description aloud to the class
Students will be able to share their ideas and what they found to be important to a
partner
Standards
7.1.3.B: Identify and locate places and regions as defined by physical and human
features.
8.3.3.B: Identify and describe historical documents, artifacts, and places critical to
United States history.
1.1.3.D: Demonstrate comprehension/understanding before reading, during reading,
and after reading on grade level texts through strategies such as retelling, summarizing,
note taking, connecting to prior knowledge, supporting assertions about text with
evidence from text, and non-linguistic representations.
1.8.3.A: Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge.
NCSS: Science, Technology, and Society: enable learners to identify, describe, and
examine both current and historical examples of the interaction and interdependence of
science, technology, and society in a variety of cultural settings.
Anticipatory Set
Today, we are going to learn about landmarks and statues.
Does anyone know what a landmark is? Does anyone know an example of a landmark?

A landmark is an important feature that marks a location.

Can anyone look around the classroom and think of what we can use as our classroom
landmark?
Maybe we can say that a students desk is a landmark because it shows that we are in a
classroom. We could also use a textbook since that is what we use to learn.
Now that have an idea of what a landmark is, I am going to show you important
international landmarks and I want you to raise your hand if you recognize any of them.

Procedures
(Content is in black, teacher talk is in italics, teacher questions are in blue)

Teacher will show pictures of various landmarks and statues from around the world
Eiffel Tower (France), Taj Mahal (India), Great Wall of China (China), Statue of
Liberty (USA)
The teacher will hold up a picture of the Eiffel Tower
Do any of you know what this is? Do you know where we can find this landmark?
The students answer where the landmarks can be found
How do you think the people were able to make this landmark? What kind of technology
did it use?
Contractor Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tower in 1889. He built the Eiffel Tower out of
puddling iron, not steel.
Look at the map of Europe can someone locate France?
Map shown on interactive whiteboard
Who can come point to France on the board so we can all see where it is?
Repeat for pictures of all the landforms
Now we know that the Statue of Liberty is an important US landmark, can you think of
any others?
Ex: White House, Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore, Gateway Arch, Grand Canyon,
Cinderellas Castle (Disney World), Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building,
Hoover Dam, etc.
As the students say these landmarks, the teacher will hold up the 3D printed
landmark, show the class, and pass it around for them to examine
Those are great examples!
The Statue of Liberty is one of the most important U.S. landmarks. Do you know why?
Answer: it represents the U.S.s freedom
A statue is a monument built in honor or to remember a person, idea, or an event. In
1885, France gave the U.S. the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty stands on an
island in New York Harbor. It is the U.S. symbol of freedom.
Have any of you ever been to the Statue of Liberty? What can you share with the class?
Another important landmark in the U.S. is all the way out in South Dakota (teacher
points to South Dakota on the map). Do any of you know what it is?
Mount Rushmore is another important landmark for the United States.
It shows four presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt,
and Abraham Lincoln. By a show of hands, who has heard of one of these presidents?

Mount Rushmore is so big that it took over 400 workers and took 14 years to complete.
Mount Rushmore is 60 feet tall! Do you know how many students would have to stand
on top of each other to be that tall?
Teacher picks 15 students to stand up
If all 15 of our friends stood on top of each other they would be as tall as Mount
Rushmore.
On the iPads, you are going to research either the State of Liberty or Mount Rushmore.
You will go on a virtual tour and then you will have to find 3 facts or interesting topics
about the landmark.
When you found all of your facts you are going to draw a picture of the landmark on this
paper.
Do you have any questions?
Now that we have researched important U.S. landmarks, we are going to create our
own!
I want you to think about yourself. What do you like? What is important to you?
Using clay, you are going to create your landmark! It can be anything you think of! When
you create your landmark think about important characteristics of landmarks and
statues that we have discussed.
When you are done making your landmark you are going to write 5 sentences describing
it and its importance.
Do you have any questions?
Now that everyone has finished with the personal landmark, we are going to share what
we made! Ill go first! My landmark is a giant flip-flop. It will be in New Jersey. It is blue
just like the color of the ocean. It is 100 feet tall so people from all over the state can see
that we are near the beach! It is an important landmark because I spend every summer
in Stone Harbor with my family.
Who would like to share next?
Each student will share what the landmark is, its location, a description, and why it is
important.

Differentiation
Students who are more visual learners will have the opportunity to look at 3D printed
images of the landmarks, a virtual tour of the landmarks, and look at real photographs
of international landmarks
Hands-on learners will get to use clay to design and create a personal landmark
Independent working students will have the opportunities to individually research the
Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore
Closure
After the students share their landmark and their 5 description sentences, the teacher
will have the students display their landmarks in the classroom.
Today we talked about landmarks and statues, we did a virtual tour of Mount Rushmore
and the Statue of Liberty, and we even created our own landmark.
Can you turn to a neighbor and share something you learned by doing the virtual tour?

Does anybody want to share something interesting with the class?

Ill share something interesting that I learned in the lesson. I learned more about you!
Just like every country has its own landmarks with their own meaning, so do you! Im
glad that I learned more about my friends and what is important to you!

Formative / Summative Assessment

Students will draw either the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore
Students will research either the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore and write down 3
interesting or important facts that they found.
Students will then design their own landmark that represents something about
themselves
Students will use clay
Students will write 5 sentences describing the landmarks features, meaning, and
significance
Students will share their landmark with the class
Materials / Equipment
Photographs of: Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, and Statue of Liberty
Map of Europe, Asia, and the United States (shown on SmartBoard)
3D print of: Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, White House, Liberty Bell, Gateway
Arch
iPad (one per student)
Landmark handout (one per student)
Pencil
Clay
Lined paper (5 sentences about landmark)
Technology
SmartBoard students have to identify the country that the landmark belongs to
3D printer used to have a miniature visual of the landmarks
iPad/Computer web research on Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore
Statue of Liberty - http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2512-statue-of-liberty-fun-facts
Virtual tour of Mount Rushmore - http://archive.cyark.org/mount-rushmore

national-memorial-virtualtour

Virtual tour of the Statue of Liberty http://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/stli/eTour.htm

Reflection on Planning
While creating this lesson, I realized that there can be more issues than I originally planned. At
first when I made the procedure, I thought wow this is easier than I thought. But when I was
adding the teacher talk and the questions that I would ask my students, I realized it wasnt as
easy as I first anticipated. As a teacher I think you need to play devils advocate with yourself and
question every step and directions to make sure that it is clear and concise and all of the
students will be successful in the lesson. When asking the questions, I wondered, what if the
students wont be able to answer these questions? As a teacher I will have to be able to pull out
key information and rephrase my questioning in order to have the students participate. I also
reflected back on my own experience that I had in the classroom. I feel like a lot of my social

studies consisted of sitting in a desk and doing a lot of listening. How boring is that for
elementary school students. Throughout the lesson I wanted to make sure that I provided
students with the ability to get up and moving and actively participate in their own learning. I
know my learning style will be similar to other students (hands-on learning) but I also wanted to
accommodate other learning styles because I know not everyone learns the same way. To
differentiate for every student, I have incorporated hands on learning with the virtual tour,
building your own landmark, and by 3D printing landmarks for the students to physically hold.
For students who like to learn individually, they get to do the questionnaire on their own, and
building the landmark is also a way for students to work independently.
Content Outline
o

American Landmarks
Landmark an important natural or human feature that marks a
location
Ex: Statue of Liberty
Stands on an island in New York Harbor
Was given to us by France in 1885
Symbol of freedom
Attracts many tourists
Statue a monument built to honor or remember a person, an idea, or
an event.
Mount Rushmore
Sculpture of four United States Presidents- George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
South Dakota
Images of their faces are carved into a cliff

Name: __________________________________________________________________

Landmarks
Write 3 interesting or important facts that you found:
1.

___________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________
2.

___________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________
3.

___________________________________________________________________________________

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Draw your landmark (either Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore)