Information Resource Lesson Plan Form

45 Minute Lesson

Lesson Title: What Is An Atlas? Grade: 3 Date: ____________

Integrated Subject(s)/Unit(s): English/Language Arts/ 1: Reading; Social Studies/Maps
& Globes

Lesson Preparation

Information Literacy Standard(s): 1. The student who is information literate

accesses information efficiently and effectively.

Content Standard(s): English/Language Arts/ #1 Reading 輸 grade 3 student will be

able to recognize and use common text features� Social
Studies #4--A grade 3 student will be able to identify the characteristics and purposes of
maps, globes, and other geographic tools.

Objective(s): Students will be able to access information by identifying an atlas,

understanding the purposes of an atlas, and locating and using four parts of an atlas.

Materials: (Add to the list as needed for specific student accommodations.)

1. Rubric (Use if students write responses to prompts. See rubric on separate page.)

2. A globe

3. A primary atlas set or different atlases

4. Overhead projector and transparencies of atlas pages 葉 itle page, table of
contents, maps, index
5. Large print copies of pages, if needed

Prerequisite Skills: Students should understand the concept of traveling/going places.

Students should be able to identify a globe and state its purpose; identify a book, and its
covers and spine; and name different kinds of books, such as storybooks, textbooks, and
dictionaries.
Learning Accommodations: (Provide accommodations as needed.)
1. Move the visually and hearing impaired to the front.
2. Provide large print copies.
3. Direct students to work in pairs.

Technology Integration: Use transparencies on an overhead projector to show the four

parts of an atlas.

Instructional Procedures

Motivation: 1. Display the globe; ask if someone can identify it and state its
purpose. 2. Say, 鏑 et 痴 imagine that we all want to travel somewhere 葉 o a favorite
place, a vacation spot, or to visit relatives in another state or country. Can you name a
place that you might want to visit?� 3. Say, 泥 o you think that we could use this globe
to help us locate the places that we want to visit? (Answers) 典 hen, let 痴 locate two or
three places that we want to visit.�

Lesson
Say, 典 here is also a special kind of book, called an atlas, that we could use to locate
the places that we want to visit. That special kind of book is what we are going to use
and talk about today. In the library, people often use an atlas to help them locate places in
the world. The book that I am holding is an atlas. An atlas is a book of maps. You can
see some maps as I flip these pages.

Now, before we take a closer look at the atlas (and some other atlases), we need to stop to
look at the objective for today 痴 lesson. Let 痴 read it aloud together.�(Read aloud.)

Say, 鼎 ome walk with me now to the REFERENCE and to the NONFICTION sections
of the library to locate the atlases. The call number for an atlas is 912. In the
REFERENCE section, we add the letter R before the number 912. What do you think the
letter R stands for?�(Answer) 展 ho can tell us how REFERENCE books are different
from other books in the library?�(Answer: People are not allowed to borrow
REFERENCE books). 哲 ow that you know where the atlases are located in the library,
let 痴 take the ones that we need back to our tables.�

�Now we are ready to talk about and use these special books called atlases. Watch as I
show you four parts of my atlas.� [Use an actual atlas or transparencies of pages
needed. Name the four parts 葉 itle page, table of contents, maps, and index 預 s you
show them. Explain that both the table of contents and the index list the names of places
on the maps in an atlas and give the page numbers on which the correct maps are to be
found. When the maps are shown, ask students if they remember what is the purpose of
the atlas. (Answer: To locate places). Direct students to try to think of other purposes
for using an atlas when they look at the atlases together.]

Rubric Introduction: (Include this step if students will write responses to prompts.) 鏑
et 痴 also look at and read the rubric that will be used to evaluate your learning about
an atlas.�

Activities:

Teacher Modeling: Demonstrate how you want the students to: work in pairs to
browse through an atlas and to locate and read the parts of an atlas together. (Suggestion:
Direct student on the left to hold the cover and pages down and the student on the right to
turn the pages of the book.) Demonstrate how they should think of and talk to each other
about other purposes for using an atlas.

Cooperative Learning: Students will work in pairs to:

1. browse through an atlas for 2-3 minutes.
2. locate and read the title page, the table of contents, a map of the United States (or
map of Maryland), and an index page.
3. think of and talk to each other about other purposes for using an atlas.

Direct the students in sharing the other purposes for using an atlas that they have
thought of while working in pairs. (Ex. Finding out what places are near each other,
locating the continents and the oceans, finding out where mountains are, finding out
about the sizes of landforms, etc.)

Individual: Direct the students to individually (pairs take turns) think of the name of
a country or state and then locate that name in the table of contents or index. Turn to the
correct page to find the map of the place. (As one student uses the atlas, the other student
should observe him/her.)
Activity Assessment/Rubric: (Options given here.)
1. Direct the students to silently answer these questions and to raise their
hands if they know the answer(s) to each question: What is an atlas?
What are two purposes of an atlas? What four parts of an atlas have
we talked about? Next, direct the students to open the atlases and turn
to the part that you name for them.

2. Direct the students to identify the four parts as you show the transparencies.

3. Direct the students to write their responses to these prompts: An atlas

is ____. The purposes of an atlas are _____ and _____. The four
parts of an atlas are ____, _______, ________, and ______. (Use the rubric.)

Objective Review: Let 痴 read again the objective for today 痴 lesson. (Read
objective.) Have we accomplished what our objective says we will be able to do?
(Answers)

Evaluation of Student Progress: Do you think that knowing how to use an atlas is
helpful to you? Why do you think so? (Answers)

Follow-up and Extension Activities

Resources: (Others may be used)

1. Other atlases in the Information Resource Center

2. BCPSS and MSDE standards; BCPSS curriculum
3. Internet websites

Suggested Adaptations
1. Teach lessons on using the table of contents and the index of the atlas.
2. Locate familiar places that students have read about with their classroom
teacher. Include the use of the directions: north, south, east, and west.
3. Create maps of the library, the school, etc. Use the maps to make an atlas.
4. Demonstrate the use of maps by using the CD-ROM, 天 irtual Globe,�or an Internet
website, such as www.terrafly.com (select a location and get a map from an
aerial view).
Teacher Evaluation of the Lesson:

Notes: