A remix of Michigan social studies resources all in one place. In this foundational lesson students are introduced to the ways geographers look at places and the questions they ask. Students begin by reviewing the concept of ‘community’ and the geography of their local community by completing a class chart.

After reviewing natural (physical) and human characteristics from Lesson 1, students use maps to identify and describe significant natural (physical) characteristics of Michigan including mountain ranges, sand dune areas, the Great Lakes, inland lakes and important rivers. In a connection to science students briefly explore how glaciers helped to create some of these natural (physical) characteristics. The lesson uses multiple resources including informational text, legends and photographs.

In this lesson students continue their study of the important natural (physical) characteristics of Michigan by exploring vegetation and climate. They begin by analyzing special purpose maps of forests and orchards. Next they are introduced to the concept of climate, connecting to science topics of weather and seasons from previous grades. In addition, they briefly explore the impact of the Great Lakes on climate. The lesson also includes a chart reading activity dealing with Michigan state symbols.

Important bodies of water include the Great Lakes, inland lakes, rivers and waterfalls. In a connection to science students briefly explore how glaciers helped to create some of these natural (physical) characteristics. The lesson uses multiple resources including informational text, legends and photographs.

The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and GIANTS all in one place. In this lesson students continue their study of the geographic theme of ‘place’ by exploring significant human characteristics of Michigan including bridges, cities, highways and lighthouses. In addition, students explore how people interact with natural (physical) characteristics by creating human characteristics (e.g. bridges are built over rivers, towns are built along bays.)

This tool is used for teachers to understand what the students are getting out of their learning by recording three things they learned, two questions and one main idea.

The Roadmap is a remix of Michigan Open Book, MC3 and GIANTS all in one place. This foundational lesson introduces students to historical reasoning through the analysis of primary sources, such as historical maps and photographs. They examine how historians are detectives of the past and use evidence from primary and secondary sources. Students then explore the chronology of the settlement of a village in Michigan and identify the causes and effects of the founding of the community.

The Roadmap is a remix of Michigan Open Book, MC3, and GIANTS all in one place. In this lesson students apply what they have learned about the study of history to American Indian cultures in Michigan. They explore early American Indian groups in Michigan. Students then identify similarities and differences among the groups known as the “Three Fires.” Geography concepts are applied when students examine how American Indians used, adapted to, and modified the environment. The lesson concludes as students connect the past to the present by investigating American Indians in Michigan today.

The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3, and GIANTS all in one place. In this lesson, students explore the movement of the French into Michigan and the influence of these newcomers on native cultures. Students analyze illustrations, maps, narrative text, timelines, and other sources as they gather historical evidence about this time period in Michigan history.

The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and GIANTS all in one place. In this lesson, students explore how conflicts between the French and British led to the British taking control of Michigan. Students then examine the impact of the British on native cultures. Using illustrations, maps, timelines, and other sources, students gather historical evidence about this time period in Michigan history. Throughout the lesson a focus is placed on the identification of causes and effects.

The Roadmap is a remix of Michigan Open Book, MC3 and Giants all in one place. In this lesson students learn about early pioneer life in Michigan, including why settlement in Michigan was slow at first. Through primary sources and literature, students explore the challenges pioneers faced. They also analyze artifacts of an early settler cabin from an archaeological dig. Finally, students use what they have learned to construct a historical narrative about daily life in the early settlements of Michigan.

This is a Roadmap that is a remix of Michigan Open Book, MC3, and GIANTS all in one place. In this lesson, students first explore factors that led to increased population growth in Michigan. Students create a timeline and use maps and other resources as they learn how Michigan attained statehood. A focus is placed on the causal relationships between various events. In addition, the influence of individuals in creating history is addressed through examples such as Lewis Cass, Stevens T. Mason, and the many early settlers who came to Michigan.

This Roadmap is a full year plan that covers the geography, economics, government and history of Michigan.

In this unit students explore the rise and fall of the ancient Roman Empire. Over the course of the unit, students learn about different characteristics of the Roman Empire, what lead to the Empire’s growth and success, and what eventually lead to the Empire’s demise. Through learning about the daily routines, structures, and rituals of the Roman Empire, students will be challenged to draw conclusions about what the civilization valued and how those values compare to societal values today. This unit builds onto the 2nd grade nonfiction unit on ancient Greece, in which students began to think about how the daily routines, structures, and rituals of a civilization show what they value. This unit, in conjunction with the second grade unit on ancient Greece, will help students understand early influences in the world and the first republics.

The mentor texts for this unit, Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House and Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome, allow students to practice multiple informational reading strategies in two very different text structures. In both texts, but predominately in Eye Wonder, students will practice using a multitude of text features and illustrations as a way of learning new information about a topic. Over the course of this unit, students will constantly be thinking about how the information from one text builds on and connects to the information in the other text. Then at the end of the unit, students will be asked to critically analyze the similarities and differences between the two texts.

In Work Time A, students participate in a Language Dive that guides them through the meaning of a sentence from One Well. The focus of this Language Dive is on the function of nouns (L.3.1a). Students then apply their understanding of the meaning and structure of this sentence when determining the main idea of the text and when determining the function of nouns in One Well and during the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment. Refer to the Tools page for additional information regarding a consistent Language Dive routine.
In Work Time B, students reread One Well to answer text-dependent questions, including questions about vocabulary (RI.3.1, RI.3.4, L.3.4).This is meant to help students gain a deeper understanding of the first two pages of the text and to use information gained from the illustrations to demonstrate understanding of the words (RI.3.7). Pay careful attention to this routine in order to apply it in subsequent lessons.
To increase student independence with reading and analyzing texts in Module 4, students dig in deeper to determine the main ideas and supporting details of pages of One Well in triads and pairs throughout the remainder of the unit, rather than through teacher-led close reads.
In the Closing, students contribute to the class KWEL chart--repeating the routine from Lesson 1. Refer to this lesson for more detail as necessary.
In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners with a characteristic of their choice.
Students practice their fluency by following along and reading silently as the teacher reads One Well aloud in Opening A.
The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to water. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it

An activity combining language and science to encourage students to think about the night sky to help them write a poem related to astronomy.

Bitsbox is a learning system that teaches real coding. No coding experience necessary!! This highly engaging site may be used to quickly teach students how to create an app using a modified javascript computer language in an Hour of Code style format.

In this week 1 of 6 hyperdocs, students are presented a problem and solve it through the use of one of the Computational Thinking strategies. This lesson is designed with K-5 in mind, and can be adapted to meet the needs of any classroom.Week 1 Problem: James has just learned that he has to stay inside for a few weeks and can’t play with his friends. He has an iPad, but his mom said he can only have it for 30 minutes a day. He also has toys, but says he is bored of them and has nothing fun to do. His mom said he could have anything in her craft room, but he doesn’t know what to do with the boxes, string, fabric, tape, sticks, and paint.  What can James do to make his day fun?This lesson is part of the Virginia K-12 Computer Science Pipeline which is partly funded through a GO Virginia grant in partnership with Chesapeake Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and the Loudoun Education Foundation.