Kelsey Jurewicz

Term 4 Integrated Curriculum Unit

Lesson Plan I
Social Studies: Where in the World? (Introduction to Nigeria)
Location:
Grade:
Duration:
Anticipated Date/Time:

Powel Elementary School

Third grade
30-40 minutes
Tuesday, March 8th, 2:30pm-3:10pm

Goals and Objectives

Essential Question(s):
What makes a culture unique?
How are we alike?
How are we different?
Relevant Unit-Long Understanding Goal(s):
Students will understand where Nigeria is in the world and how it contributes to the rest
of the world.
Students will understand how to read and interpret maps to gather information.
Content Objectives:
Students will be able to
locate Nigeria on a map and articulate Nigerias location in the world using appropriate
geographic terminology (example: continent, country).
compare and contrast Nigeria with the United States in terms of geographic location and
physical characteristics.
consider any preexisting misconceptions they may have about Nigeria and the people
who live there and begin to reframe those notions by assimilating new knowledge into
their schema.
Standards
Social Studies, PA SAS
- 7.1.3.A Identify how basic geographic tools are used to organize and interpret
information about people, places and environment.
- 7.2.3.A Identify the physical characteristics of places and regions.
- 8.4.3.C Compare and contrast selected world cultures.
Literacy, Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3
topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Materials

Ongoing class-generated Nigeria KWL chart

Promethean board [technology requirement]
Laptop
Flocabulary video, Map Skills [technology requirement]
Photos of Nigeria and the United States (organized on PowerPoint slides)
Google Maps [technology requirement]
Pencils and crayons at each table
25 copies of student map books

Classroom Arrangement and Management

Arrangement and materials: Students have assigned seats at desks arranged in three
tables. Students will not need any materials until the end of the lesson, at which point, I will ask
the paper helpers to pass out the map books. Craft boxes containing crayons and pencils will
already be at each table.
Management: Students in my class tend to enjoy discussion-based activities, and I expect
them to be excited by our virtual field trip. Given the nature of the lesson and my knowledge
about this group of students, I do not expect engagement and participation to be an issue. I do,
however, believe that their excitement will lead to an increase in calling out and side
conversations. While on-task, these actions are a concern because it negates the classroom norms
and expectations of listening and respecting others. To address this potential management issue, I
will be explicit with my expectations at the start of the lesson (raised hands, listening to others,
respecting others contributions), give students adequate time to turn and talk throughout the
lesson so that all students have an outlet to express their thoughts and ideas, and consistently
utilize the classroom management procedures my CM has in place to get students attention (i.e.
counting down from five, clapping patterns, etc.). I will also circulate the room throughout the
lesson to help ensure that students are staying attentive and on-task.
Plan
Task (30-40 minutes total)
Students will participate in a virtual field trip to Nigeria.
Before task (2 minutes)
Establish norms
o Tell students that we will be taking a virtual field trip to Nigeria today.
o Remind students that while their excitement is appreciated and sharing of their
ideas is encouraged, it is important that they do so within the established rules and
expectations.
o Remind students to raise their hands, be respectful of others contributions, and to
follow directions.
o Remind students of the signals we will use to reconvene after turn and talk times.

Hook (5 minutes)
Watch Map Skills video on Flocabulary
Nigeria or the United States?
o Display pictures of either Nigeria or the United States (the country will not be
identified).
o For each picture, have students turn and talk about whether they think the picture
shows Nigeria or the United States and why they think that. What prior
knowledge do they have that leads them to believe it is one over the other?
o Reconvene and ask students to share out.
o Reveal the location of each picture after it has been discussed.
o After all of the pictures have been discussed, ask students to make observations
about the task. What did they notice? Were they surprised by any of the pictures?
Were any misconceptions revealed?
Body (15 minutes)
Using street view on Google Maps, begin our virtual field trip at Samuel Powel
Elementary School. Ask students what location is shown on the map.
Zoom out to a street view of Philadelphia. Elicit observations from students: What are we
looking at now? What do you notice (or not notice)? (examples of anticipated responses:
lots of buildings and roads, dense, etc.)
Zoom out to U.S. East Coast. What are we looking at now?
o Make sure students have an understanding that Philadelphia is a city in
Pennsylvania.
Zoom out to show the United States as a whole.
o Make sure students understand that Pennsylvania is a state in the United States,
which is a country.
Zoom out to North America.
o Explain to students that North America is one of 7 continents, and the United
States is a country on the continent of North America, along with 22 other
countries including Mexico and Canada.
o Ask students what continent we would need to go to to find Nigeria.
Travel across the Atlantic Ocean and zoom in on Africa. Reinforce the fact that Africa is
a continent (this concept should be fresh in students minds after having read the book
Africa is Not a Country during the previous days lesson).
Ask students where in Africa we need to go to find the country Nigeria.
Zoom in on Nigeria. Ask students to estimate the relative size of Nigeria (as compared to
Pennsylvania or the United States). Show students a map that shows the size of Nigeria in
relation to Pennsylvania.
Zoom in closer on Nigeria. Ask students what they notice. (Students will likely say they
see green, another point for addressing potential misconceptions that Africa is one big
desert).
Zoom in on several Nigerian cities (Abuja and Lagos) and view the street view photos.
Ask students to make observations and compare/contrast with their observations of
Philadelphia.
Zoom out and return back to Samuel Powel Elementary School.

Note: This discussion will be guided/framed by the following visual (created on the board
throughout the lesson)
Continent
Country
State
City

Address

Close (10 minutes)

As a class, add new learnings to our Nigeria KWL chart.
Students complete Map 2 in their map books (identifying Nigeria on a map of Africa).
o Students will color the country of Nigeria with a crayon color of their choosing.
Assessment of Goals and Objectives
Formal assessment: completion of Map 2
Did students correctly identify Nigeria on a map of Africa?
Informal assessment: teacher observation / class discussion
What kind of observations did students make about Nigeria?
Were students able to compare and contrast Nigeria with the United States? What
elements/characteristics did they pay attention to?
Were students able to use geographic vocabulary? (city, state, country, continent, etc.)
Do students understand Nigerias position in the world geographically?
Anticipating Students Responses
In third grade, students are at the cusp of being able to think abstractly. Some students may
struggle to conceptualize something so far removed from their lived experiences. In fact, one of
the reasons for including this lesson in my unit was to alleviate this issue through the use of the
map, giving students a more concrete visualization of where Nigeria is in relation to where they
are. However, I expect that even with the map, some students may have difficulty making the
leap from the tangible to the intangible. If this is the case, I plan to take adequate time to really
break down the concept of cities, states, countries, continents, etc., using the map as a visual aid
to appeal to multiple intelligences.

Accommodations
Due to the nature of the task, accommodations should not need to be made with regard to the
content of the lesson. There are, however, several students in my class who have IEPs for
varying visual and auditory disabilities. These students seat assignments (in the front of the
room, facing the whiteboard/Promethean board) were made with these considerations in mind,
and as such, provide the necessary accommodations for them to engage with the lesson.