Everything Comes from Something

Last week, I co-presented at the National Council of Social Studies conference in Houston, Texas. Our presentation was based on a lesson designed to increase student awareness of a geography-related concept. The lesson represented an instructional process that integrated literacy skills, used social studies content regarding natural resources and the products that emanate from them, and promoted the use of critical thinking skills (in particular, analysis and prediction). Everyone who attended the presentation participated in a hands-on investigation of a box containing 10 natural resources (many of which were purchased on eBay). They completed the Natural Resources Prediction Chart in groups of 4-6 participants and discussed possible products that could be made from each resource. This activity was followed by a picture walk and read aloud using the text Agatha's Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story by one of my most favorite authors for children, Carmen Agra Deedy. Once completed, everyone participated in a discussion making connections to what the participants had noted during the picture walk, as well as on their Natural Resource Prediction Chart to determine relationships with the text. An interactive resource map presentation using Google Maps, which emphasized each of the ten resources from the resource box, their original location on earth when first documented as a resource, historical summaries, and products that are produced from the resources was used as a reinforcement activity. Check out the video below to see how the lesson went with a group of wonderfully curious first graders facilitated by Agatha herself.