BHSU School of Education Lesson Plan Format

PART A: PLANNING
Grade Level: _____K___

Date: _______________________

Targeted Content: _______________Social Studies_

Integrated Content: Science________________
Taught: # of Students ___20___
# of Boys ____12___
# of Girls __8_____
# of IEP Students ___4_____

# of ELL Students: ________ # of High Ability Students _2___

State Content Standard and/or Common Core Standard(s):

Target Standard(s): 1.G.1.3 Distinguish between land masses and bodies of water using maps and
globes
Supporting Standard(s): 2-ESS2-2. Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and
bodies of water in an area.
Instructional Setting: Check all that apply:
Whole Group
Small Group
Individual Student

X
X

Centers
Workshop
Lab

Other (list)

Lesson Focus: The focus of this lesson is to inform students about how rivers are represented on maps.
Learning Outcome(s):
As a result of this lesson, students will be able to identify and highlight at least three rivers on a map.
They will create a model of a land mass, lake, and 2 rivers on a paper plate.
Assessment Measures:
Formative Assessment(s): Students will be assessed based on the highlighting of rivers they do on the
maps provided, and the models they make on paper plates.
Summative Assessment(s): No summative assessment.
Differentiation: Lower ability students will only need to create one river on the plate versus two rivers for other
students.
Materials: White/SMART board, map printouts, highlighters, GoogleEarth, Smartexchange map
Books:
Over in a River: Flowing out to Sea by Marianne Berkes
Where the River Begins by Thomas Locker
The Big Rivers: the Missouri, the Mississippi, the Ohio by Bruce Hiscock
PART B: DELIVERY OF INSTRUCTION
Introduction: Write the word river on the board. Ask the students to describe a river they have seen. Ask them
what type of human activities did they see taking place on the river. Take this time to do a turn-to-talk so they can
share ideas of things to do. (Examples might be boating, swimming, fishing, and barges using the river to
transport goods.) Ask them to name any rivers they may know of or have seen.
Procedures for Teaching and Learning:

Tell the students that a river is a large stream of water that flows through the land. There are many rivers
in the United States. The largest river can be found on a map of the United States.

Pull down the map or show a map of the Unites States. Explain to the students that a symbol is used to
show the location of a river. The symbol is an arrow blue line drawn on the map. The blue line symbol
shows the river flow from its beginning to it end.
The place where a river begins is the river source. The place where a river empties into another body of
water is the river mouth.
**this is done on the SMARTboard using SMART exchange map of the United States.
The Mississippi River is the longest in the United States. Show the students the symbol for the Mississippi
River. Using the map-marking pen, trace the Mississippi River from its source in Minnesota to it mouth
near the Gulf of Mexico. Label river source and river mouth. Underline the words Mississippi River on the
map. (The words Mississippi River follow the course of the river and can be hard for students to find.
Many features labeled on a map or globe cannot use left to right reading progression. This makes map
reading difficult for your students. Point this out to the students.)

Ask students to come to the map and locate other rivers. Let them trace the river on the map and locate the
name of the river. After the river has been identified have another student write the name of the river on
the board.

Continue this procedure for any other rivers the students have time to locate.

Once we are finished with the SMART board activity, ask the students to sit on their carpet spots. Explain
what we will do on the paper plate. They need to create one land form, one lake, and two rivers on the
plate using markers.
Questions:
Have you seen a river?
o If so, what was the name of it?
What are different activities you can do on a river?
Does anyone know what the longest river is in the United States?
Does anyone know what the longest river in the world is?
Closure: Friends, with this new information you can help your parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, or friends
when they are looking at a map. You will be able to point out the rivers on any map you look at!
Release to their centers so they can create their model on the paper plate.
Independent Practice: Students will each receive a printout of a map and a highlighter. They will need to
highlight where the rivers are located on their map.
Assignment: No assignment.