Brief Overview of Vermont Unit
This unit is a sixteen-week study of Vermont. Having it occur during the early fall months allows for many wonderful field trip connections. The culmination of the lessons/activities will be a published Vermont Brochure, which each student will make to share their learning of content and technology skills.
Three historical fiction books will be read; Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare, Cave of Falling Water, by Janice Ovecka, and Green Mountain Hero, by Edgar N. Jackson. A response to literature will be written at the end of each book. At least one response will be related to how the book is connected to what they are learning about Vermont.
Students will be reading and writing poetry. Their final piece will be a poem about Vermont. They will gather leaves from the forest behind school, identifying what kind of tree(s) they came from. They will be pressed and used to add a decorative touch to their final copies of the poems that will be displayed. Another copy of their poems will be inserted into their brochure.
A combination of expository books and video will be used to generate discussion about the original Vermonters. At this time, note making strategies will be introduced.
Teacher generated Vermont Fact packets will focus students on gathering specific information. This information will be gathered using a number of different sources.
Map skills will be reviewed. Students will use Vermont maps to review locating keys, direction, borders, landscape, and other physical features. Other maps to be used include maps of Vermont lakes, rivers, and counties.
Students will experience numerous field trips throughout this unit. During each trip, students will bring digital camera to capture their experiences. Students will rename images and insert selected ones into their brochures. They will also choose one photo to write about in greater detail. These pages will be bound together to make a class book of our related field trips.
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Information Technology Tasks Index Page
Page created by Deb Gurwicz, Donna Macdonald
and Sarah Vachereau
Orchard School faculty members
This page last updated: 04/14/07 .