Curriculum Center Suggestions & Activities
Grades Four through Six
Objectives
(will differ for you depending upon grade and ability level of your
students)
For you:
- To offer you teaching resources to enhance regular curricular studies.
- To provide you with information on valuable places on the Internet.
- To introduce you to how others are using online sources.
- To give you activities about the states to use with your students.
- To help you integrate use of online resources into your studies of
the 50 states.
For your students:
- To help students develop an interest in Internet resources related
to a study of the 50 states.
- To help students use links to locate information within and beyond
sites
- To introduce students to learning about other places by taking virtual
tours.
- To show students the wealth of resources about states that is available
on the World Wide Web.
- To encourage students to seek new learning methods and to work together
on group projects and presentations with and without technology.
Curricular Extensions, Projects, Ideas
Here are a few ideas on how to help students with this study:
1. Because a number of sites offer K-12 lesson plans, we encourage you
to spend some time reviewing what is available in order to find appropriate
lessons for your classes. To get you started, try these:
2. Check the curricular themes and the lesson plan section of Apple's Curriculum area to
find additional ideas about the states. The themes "Celebrate America!"
and "US Presidents & the Presidency" relate well to this
area of the curriculum.
3. Use one or more of the map sites and/or wall maps in your classroom
to help the students find the 50 states on United States and world maps.
Give them outline maps to complete so that they can better identify the
states of the United States.
Take the students to Media
Shockwave of the States to help them learn more about the states. Let
them make up games about the states to quiz each other. See how fast the
class can learn all of the states and their locations.
4. Find pictures of flags of the states using the sites. Have the students
find their own state flag and the state flags for all the states that border
their state. Download and print the flags to display in the classroom.
Let the student design their own state flag based upon their favorite things
in their home state.
5. Invite parents to come to school and be guest experts. Ask them to
take your students to their favorite places on the web that tell about
the state they live in now and the state in which they were born (if they
were born in another state).
6. Travel online to some of the virtual tours of governors' mansions,
state capitals, and state attractions. You'll find a number of these listed
in the Web Sites and Descriptions. You'll also
want to take the students to see the special sections for kids that are
part of many of the official state sites.
7. Use the database information on the states to show the students how
to find information for reports on the states. Have them plan a "state
sale" where they compile the best facts about a state in order to
"sell" it to others. Let all the children do their sales pitches
on the computer. Have other students look at the sales ideas to determine
which states they'd like to buy.
8. Take your students on a virtual field trip around your state. Have
them act out being at parks, visiting historic sites, having a picnic,
visiting another school, meeting famous people in the state, etc. Do the
same with states in other regions if you have time. Another idea would
be to have the students role play the part of the governor of a state.
What would they do? Where would they live? What statement would they give
to the press about their hopes for the state?
9. Teach the children your state song. Let the children have fun singing
the song for guests visiting the school, parents, and other classes.
10. Go to the flag
and capital
indentification sites to let your students have while learning about the
states.
11. Use the Governor's
Favorite Recipes site to help your students learn about foods in different
states. You might want to plan a day when you and your students create
some of the recipes. Encourage some of the students' parents to assist
with the cooking.
12. Using the information in sites, create history timelines for selected
states.
13. Go to Arizona's
KTVK TV Kids Club Crafts and try some of the projects for kids. Students
might construct kites, for example, complete with their own state logos
on them.
14. You won't want to miss the ghost
towns in Arizona. Go to Ruby and let the students find the ghost basketball
court. Why did this town of 300 become a ghost town? Let the students visit
some other ghost towns.
15. Take your students on a tour of the Boyce
Thompson Arboretium in Arizona. Click on the map sites to find wonderful
cactus gardens, high trails, herb areas, eucalyptus groves, demonstration
areas, etc. during this delightful virtual walk.
Sample Student Activities Grades Four through Six
(Adapt these to Grade & Ability of Students)
Activity #1 Ready for Radio?
Grades 4-6
Plan a 10 minute audio tour of your state for a visiting dignitary visiting
from Europe. Search for information on your state, organize the information
into an exciting tour talk, and then use a tape recorder to record this
special trip around your state. Listen to your work and redo it if necessary.
You'll want to sound enthusiastic and to give the best and most exciting
tour possible.
Activity #2 Are You Good at Words?
Grades 4-6
If you like word games, try your expertise with some word puzzles featuring
Maryland symbols and Maryland cities. The cities games are for advanced
levels, but you can do it. A map of Maryland might be a handy resource
for this one.
Bookmark:
Word Scrabbles
Activity #3 Eating a Lobster Properly
Grades 4-6
Miss Manners says you need to learn how to eat a lobster correctly and
politely. That indeed is a difficult thing to do. But-you can learn how
by visiting the bookmarked site below.
Bookmark:
How to Eat
a Lobster like a Massachusetts Native
Activity #4 Travel Back in History
Grades 4-6
(Teachers, students will need the list or bookmarks of the state sites
from the Web Sites & Descriptions.)
Select a state, go to its official site, and find interesting facts
about the history of the state. Collect information and pictures from the
site, its links, and other resources. Then organize the information into
a multimedia report to show to your classmates.
Activity #5 State Travelogue
Grades 4-6
(Teachers, students will need the list or bookmarks of the state sites
from the Web Sites & Descriptions.)
Using the sites on your list and your other school resources, plan a
trip through one of the regions in our country. Make sure you visit at
least 3 states. Write about your adventures on the trip in a new article.
Submit the article to the school newspaper or to your community newspaper
for publication. Don't forget edit your article and give it to your teacher
and parents to check before sending it out for publication.
Activity #6 Database of States
Grades 4-6
With a partner from your class, use the ideas from the bookmarks to
create your own unique database of the states. Organize the reports from
your data so that they are interesting and useful. Share your work with
your parents and your class. Explain why you think your database is as
useful as those online.
Note: Although you want to make your database very interesting, you
don't have to include the amount of information that is in the online databases
in the bookmarks. That would take you forever!
Bookmarks:
A Brief Guide
to State Facts
The Internet
Public Library's Stately Knowledge Chart
State Knowledge
50 states of the
United States
Activity #7 Birds, Birds, and More Birds-and one Chicken!
Grades 4-6
Use the bookmark for this site to find your state bird and birds from
many of the other states. One state bird is a chicken. Which state has
a chicken for a state bird? Many of the states have the cardinal for a
state bird. Can you find out which ones have selected the cardinal? What
are some of the state birds you like? If you could pick your state bird,
what would it be? Use the computer to draw a picture of your state bird
or your favorite state bird. Under the picture, give information about
the bird such as where it lives, what kind of bill it has, what it likes
to eat, where it nests, where it travels, etc. You might want to make a
booklet featuring birds in your state, not just your state bird.
Bookmark:
State Birds
Bird Highlights from Around
the 50 States
Activity # 8 My Favorite Things
Grades 4-6
With a group of your classmates, plan an information campaign about
favorite things in your state. Make posters and one page folded brochures
describing what you consider "state treasures." Check your work
carefully and have your parents and teacher check it, too. Then, send it
to the State Chamber of Commerce.
Consider:
What is fun and worth seeing?
What are 'don't miss' types of attractions?
What are the favorite foods that are served in your state?
What are your favorite stores and restaurants?
What else can you think of? What IS wonderful about your state?
Activity #9 Find Your Way Around Denver
Grades 4-6
Go to the bookmarked site and see if you can find your way around the
Denver maze within the time limit. You might also want to go from this
maze to other city mazes.
Bookmark:
Denver
game
