Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA
EDU 343

Social Studies Lesson Plan

Name: Kelsey McFarland Date: 4/5/21

Subject: Social Studies Grade Level: 1st Grade

I. Topic
Culture: Learn the seven continents and describe differences between some of the
cultures on those continents.

II. PA or Common Core Standards

7.1.1.B Describe places in geographic reference in physical features.
7.2.1.A Identify physical characteristics in the community and region.

III. Lesson Objectives - Objectives must be written using observable verbs

TSWBAT name the seven continents (North & South America, Europe, Asia, Australia,
Antarctica, and Australia).
TSWBAT describe characteristics of cultures from different areas around the world.
TSWBAT identify physical characteristics of different continents.

IV. Materials
• Geography PowerPoint
• Google Earth
• iPads
• Continent coloring page
• Crayons
• Color key & word bank

V. Lesson Development

A. Introduction
Project the geography PowerPoint on the Smart Board. Ask students to name
the seven continents. Click to the first side and walk through the seven
continents. Ask students which continent we live on (North America). Explain
to students that they are going to visit a country from each of the continents
and see some different people and cultures from those places.

B. Lesson Development (Activities, Procedures)

Ask students to get their iPads out and on their desk. Ask them to open up
the app Google Earth. Remind them that they have been using Google Earth
during their computer class and they should remember how it works. Start
with asking about North America. Have students talk into their microphone
and say, ‘North America’ and watch as their map moves to the continent. Ask
students to describe some of the physical features of the continent
(mountains, lakes, rivers, plains). After exploring and discussing the features,
ask students some questions about the culture in Pennsylvania. Ask what
holidays, food, and language people speak in PA. Click through the slide that
shows different surface culture components. After visiting North America,
introduce South America. Have students say, “South America” into their
iPads. Once students are there, have them describe the continent in terms of
physical features. Then introduce the country of Brazil. Show students the
different food, holidays, and language that they speak. Walk through the
presentation and introduce a country from each continent. Have students
continue to speak into their iPads to locate the country on Google Earth.

o North America: Pennsylvania

§ Holidays: 4th of July, Christmas, and Thanksgiving
§ Food: burgers, hotdogs, fries, and mac & cheese
§ Language: English
o South America: Brazil
§ Holidays: Festa Junina, Parintins Folklore Festival, and Carnival
§ Food: Moqueca, brigadeiros, and Pão de queijo
§ Language: Portuguese
o Europe: Italy
§ Holidays: Festa della Repubblica and Ferragosto
§ Food: Pasta con le sarde, homemade pasta, and ribollita
§ Language: Italian
o Africa: Uganda
§ Holidays: The Nile Festival and The Festival of the Ugandan
Martyrs
§ Food: Luwombo, Posho, and Muchomo
§ Language: Swahili
o Asia: China
§ Holidays: Chinese New Year, Tomb Sweeping Day, and Dragon
Boat Festival
§ Food: Sichuan Pork, Dumplings, and Peking Roasted Duck
§ Language: Mandarin
o Antarctica: Scientific bases
o Australia
§ Holidays: Australia Day
§ Food: Meat pies, Pavlova, and Witchetty grub
§ Language: English

After discovering several different countries, open a discussion about

similarities and differences between people in the United States and people
around the world. Ask students what things we might be able to share with
other countries or what they can share with us.
 C. Evidence of Differentiated Instruction (Content, process, Products, or
Learning Environment)

Content: The different culture components will be presented visually and

auditorily for students.

Process: Students can use the word bank to spell the different continents.
They will also still have their iPad out with Google Earth pulled up. They can
speak into the iPad to find where each continent is and label it on their
coloring page.

D. Closure (Summary)
Pass out the continent coloring page. Ask students to label the seven
continents and color them according to the color key.

VI. Assessment/Evaluation
Students will participate in discussion of differences between people on different
continents. They will also discuss physical characteristics of each continent when
viewing through Google Earth. Students will correctly label the continents on the
coloring sheet.

VII. Adaptation for your EL

For my fictitious EL, I would have them listen to me say the name of the continent and
repeat it into their microphone on the iPad. Then Google Earth will take them to that
continent. They would be able to use speech-to-text instead of having to spell and type
out the names of the continents and countries. The student will be provided a coloring
sheet where they will label the continents. There will be a word bank of all of the
continents provided for the student and a copy of the color key. The student will color
the color words with the correct color with help from the teacher. The student will use
their iPad and the Google Earth app to locate the continents. The student will cut the
words from the word bank and glue them to the corresponding continent. This way they
are not required to write the names of the continent but will still be required to color
the continents with the correct color. The student will also participate in the class
discussion of the differences between cultures in different continents. They will be
prompted to share what they have learned or previously knew about these countries.
The student will also have the opportunity to share any differences in their culture with
the class.

VIII. ELs Proficiency Level

Overall, my fictitious EL is between the emerging and developing level. She is at level 3
(developing) for listening and speaking. There is one more WIDA descriptor she needs to
meet which is sequencing pictures of stories read aloud. For speaking, she needs to sort
and explain grouping of objects, make predictions or hypotheses, and distinguish
features of content-based phenomena. She can ask questions of a social nature and
express her feelings. She can also follow modeled multi-step oral directions and classify
 objects according to descriptive oral statements. Her reading and writing levels are
lower at the emerging level. She needs to search for pictures associated with word
patterns and sort words into word families. For writing, she needs to provide
information using graphic organizers and describe people, places, or objects from
illustrated examples and models.

IX. Self-Evaluation
I understand that ELs need extra support for reading, writing, listening, and speaking as
well as opportunities to grow in these areas. This lesson and adaptations were created
based off class discussions and readings. This lesson was a walkthrough of the seven
continents and several different countries. I discussed different surface culture
components with the students and explained differences between them. This was to
create a comfortable and welcoming environment for an EL. The adaptions were made
to support the EL in reading and writing while focusing on their listening and speaking.
Since this is a social studies lesson, I wanted the EL to learn the content without their
ELP preventing them from participating. The speech-to-text adaption helped students
who struggle spelling to search for the continent on Google Earth quicker and keep at
pace with the lesson. This also helped them practice pronunciation of these places. They
were able to locate the continent without having to look up at the board to type out the
word. The word bank helped students with labeling the coloring page. They could cross
off the word once they wrote it and not have to ask for the spelling. The EL would have
been able to cut and paste the words onto the correct continents instead of writing. The
EL would have participated in the group discussion and be encouraged to share their
culture with their peers. The students used the word bank and were able to correctly
spell the continents using it. Next time, I would give clear expectations for the speech-
to-text strategy. I would model for students the volume level the room should remain
at. I would also express that they can speak into the microphone or type the word by
looking up at the board. The lines on the worksheet to label should be larger. The
students were able to correctly color the continents based on the coloring key. The
students were excited to ‘visit’ the different continents and countries. A few students
expressed their feelings towards some components of other cultures, and I explained
that they are different than us. That some cultures have different beliefs, holidays, food,
clothes, or even look different than us. I expressed that it is okay to be different and
that everyone lives on the same planet despite being on a different continent.

X. Justification
This lesson promotes the inclusion of my EL because it walks through several different
cultures and countries from around the world. The students will visit each continent and
look into one of the countries from that continent. They will see a few different
components of cultures as well as their own culture. This will show that there are
people around the world who are different from them but that share some similarities.
This will create a welcoming environment for the EL to share about their culture and the
country their family came from. They could express the differences or similarities with
their peers. It brings attention to the students that there are even other cultures within
the classroom. These adaptations would support the EL in reading and writing. The
speech-to-text strategy would allow the EL to search on Google Earth without having to
 spell the names of countries or continents. She would be able to speak it into the
microphone. This would also have given her practice pronouncing the academic
vocabulary from the lesson. The word bank would have helped the EL with
remembering all of the names and labeling the worksheet. She could cut and paste the
words instead of writing.

Cooperating Teacher Approval ________________________________________