Curriculum Center Suggestions & Activities
Grades Kindergarten through Three
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 help you integrate Internet resources into classroom studies featuring
the 50 states of the United States.
- To provide you with information on valuable places on the Internet.
- To introduce you to how others are using online sources.
For your students:
- To help students learn about the states of the United States.
- To help students develop an interest in and understanding of using
Internet resources.
- To help students use links to locate information within sites.
- To introduce students to going on virtual tours of interesting places
and to using Internet games for learning activities.
- To give students an idea of where to find the information they need
online.
Curricular Extensions, Projects, Ideas
Note: Many of the ideas below and the sites suggested will not
be appropriate for use with the younger (or nonreading) students in this
age group; some activities will be useful with guidance from adults.
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 lesson plan and curricular theme sections of Apple's
Curriculum area to find additional lessons about the states. For example,
there is a lesson about a database on states created by Grade 3. The themes
"Celebrate America!" and "United States Presidents &
the Presidency" include related information.
3. With the youngest students, have them tell you where they live. Some
will give roads, some cities, some states, and so on. Some may tell you
they live in a blue house or across the street from Jack. Work with the
children to help them learn their addresses. While learning their addresses,
teach them a little about their city or town and state. You may also include
telephone number in this exercise. For nonreaders, put the students' addresses
on the computer and let them practice reading them. Print them and have
the students take these home to show their parents what they know. Encourage
students to "read" the address to their parents and grandparents.
4. Use one or more of the map sites and/or wall maps in your classroom
to help the children find their state on United States and world maps.
5. Have the older children in this age group identify the states that
border their state. Find out how many states the children can identify.
Make a game out of state identification. They'll be so proud when they
learn all the states names and locations. And they can do it!
6. Find pictures of flags of the states using the sites. Let the children
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 children select their favorite state flag. Do you think they'd
like to create a design for a class flag on the computer?
7. 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).
8. Go with your students on virtual tours of some of the National
Parks in the states you are studying.
9. Go with your children on 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.
10. Before going to the databases information on all the states with
the older students in this age group, talk to the students about state
symbols and other official state designations such as state flowers, state
birds, state foods, state animals, etc. Then travel online to one or more
of the database sites to show the students this information. What do they
find interesting? Do they think that their home state has the right flower,
bird, etc? Have they ever seen these in their neighborhoods? Use the database
information to let the children create reports on the states.
11. Take your students on a virtual field trip around your state. Let
them role play the part of going on a real trip. 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.
12. Plan a play about an event in the history of your state. Make sure
there are enough parts for everyone. Let the children give the play for
parents, for other classes, or just for themselves.
13. Teach the children your state song. Let the children have fun singing
the song for guests visiting the school, parents, and other classes.
14. Practice and present a "50 States" program for parents
and grandparents. Everyone will enjoy hearing the children tell about the
states, watching them point the states out on maps, and exploring state
sites on the Internet. One Grade 3 teacher has students identify the states
in the colonies first and then go on to tell parents about the rest of
the states. Then the parent tell interesting facts about the states.
15. Teach the children about the crops grown in your state. Find out
what foods they enjoy that are made with these crops. Plan a day when your
class enjoys state foods at lunch time. Maybe the parents will help you
plan a "State Foods Lunch"?
16. To use some of the state information for science and environmental
studies, take your children to Illinois
EPA's Envirofun. There are a number of valuable science activities
you and your children will appreciate.
Sample Student Activities Grades Kindergarten through Three
(Adapt these to Grade & Ability of Students)
Activity #1: Database of States
Grades 3
(Teachers will need to set up the database ahead of time and show the
children how to fill in the catagories. Help will also be needed when it
is printout time.)
Using a form on the computer that your teacher gives you, create your
own database information about 10 states of your choice. If you are really
ambitious, you can do all the states! What you'll need to do is to fill
in the categories in the database. For example, you might find state names,
state nicknames, state population, name of state song (be careful-some
states have more than one), location in our nation, governor's name, etc.
Print your list of state information and share it with your class. Did
others select the same states you did?
Bookmarks:
A Brief Guide
to State Facts
The Internet
Public Library's Stately Knowledge Chart
State Knowledge
50 states of the
United States
Activity #2 Tour the Governor's Mansion & Where He Works, Too
Grades K-3
Have you ever heard of the Spirit of Nevada? This is friendly ghost
that will take you on tours of the the governor's home and his office.
The First Lady of the State of Nevada made sure the Spirit of Nevada created
these tours for you. You'll find Flashlight the pony, an alligator, a girl
who really made the biggest mess, Tweetie Bird, and more fun at the mansion.
Then head on over to the Governor's office-perhaps on Flashlight.
Draw pictures of your visit and of the Spirit of Nevada.
Bookmark:
Tour of the Governor's Mansion
with the Spirit of Nevada
Tour of the Governor's
Office for Kids
Activity #3 Meet the Governor
Grades K-3
When you travel to this site, you'll meet the Edgars of Illinois who
are the First Family of the state. Mr. Edgar is the governor, and you can
spend the day with him.
If you don't live in Illinois, find out who your Governor is. With your
teacher's or parents' help, go to your state's web page. That should give
you the answer. Where does your Governor live?
Bookmark:
Illinois Governor and Family
Activity #4 Birds, Birds, and More Birds-and one Chicken!
Grades K-3 (K-1 and remedial readers will need guidance and help from adults)
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? Can you find it? 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, and what
it likes to eat.
Bookmark:
State Birds
Activity # 5 My Favorite Things
Grades K-3
What is your favorite place to go in your state? Draw a picture on the
computer of this favorite place and print it.Your teacher can put it together
with your classmates' favorite places to make a class booklet of wonderful
places to visit in your state.
