Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

Contributed by Beginning Teachers in the Faculty of Education, Brock University to the Social Studies Activity Database, 1999-2008

Edited by David Hutchison

Copyright ? 2010 Pearson Education Canada, a division of Pearson Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. This work is protected by Canadian copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of any part of this work (including on the Internet) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The copyright holder grants permission to instructors who have adopted Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition by Wright/Hutchison to post this material online only if the use of the website is restricted by access codes to students in the instructor's class that is using the textbook and provided the reproduced material bears this copyright notice.

Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

Introduction

Since 1999, hundreds of beginning teachers in the teacher education program at Brock University (Ontario, Canada) have each year contributed an original or adapted social studies activity idea to a searchable database that is publicly available at this website:

This year marks the 10th anniversary of this initiative and to celebrate the milestone we are pleased to be working in cooperation with Pearson Education Canada to bring this free electronic book of beginning teacher-contributed activity ideas to an even wider readership.

With well over 1500 activities in the social studies activity database ? and even more being added every year ? it was not possible to include every contributed activity in the book. I hope this selection of activities, covering the full breadth of the elementary years, will inspire readers to try out and adapt, as appropriate, the lesson ideas they find inside this book.

For the most part, the activities are presented "as is," as they were submitted to the electronic database. Occasionally, a few character symbols did not translate over and each activity is formatted slightly differently (as each was contributed by a different author). The reader may also come across the occasional spelling or sentence structure error, but, on the whole, this should not diminish the pedagogical value of the activities and their merit as lesson ideas for social studies teachers across Canada. (Keep in mind, however, that the activities in the book are presented with the Ontario curriculum in mind. Teachers in other provinces and territories will need to adapt the activities to suit their own particular teaching contexts.)

To make best use of this book, I don't recommend reading it from cover to cover. Instead use the search function that is built into your PDF reader to search for the grade, topic, or keywords that most interest you.

Happy reading and happy teaching... And thanks to the hundreds of beginning teachers at Brock University who have contributed to the social studies activity database over the last ten years.

David Hutchison, Ph.D. Associate Professor Faculty of Education Brock University david.hutchison@brocku.ca

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Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

Acknowledgements The activity plans that the editor (David Hutchison) has submitted for incorporation into this free downloadable PDF document at the Text Enrichment Website for Elementary Social Studies, 7th edition, were submitted between 1999 and 2008 to a social studies activity database by teacher candidates in the teacher education program at Brock University using an online submission form. Used with permission.

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Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

Table of Contents

Grade 1 Relationships, Rules, and Responsibilities ............................................................ 5 The Local Community ......................................................................................... 59

Grade 2 Features of Communities Around the World..................................................... 131 Traditions and Celebrations ............................................................................... 174

Grade 3 Early Settlements in Upper Canada ................................................................... 239 Urban and Rural Communities .......................................................................... 280

Grade 4 Canada's Provinces, Territories, and Regions ................................................... 308 Medieval Times ................................................................................................. 394

Grade 5 Aspects of Citizenship and Government in Canada .......................................... 469 Early Civilizations ............................................................................................. 527

Grade 6 Canada's Links to the World ............................................................................. 586 First Nation Peoples and European Explorers ................................................... 615

Grade 7 British North America........................................................................................ 665 Conflict and Change .......................................................................................... 675 Natural Resources .............................................................................................. 678 New France ........................................................................................................ 688 Patterns in Physical Geography ......................................................................... 694 The Themes of Geographic Inquiry................................................................... 703

Grade 8 Canada: A Changing Society .............................................................................. n/a Confederation..................................................................................................... 711 Economic Systems ............................................................................................. 722 Migration............................................................................................................ 726 Patterns in Human Geography ........................................................................... 729 The Development of Western Canada ............................................................... 748

Additional Activity Ideas............................................................................................... 754

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Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

Contributor: M. Arlia

Grade: 1 Topic: Relationships, Rules, and Responsibilities Keywords: Community Study, Drama, Personal Growth

Time: Over 60 Minutes Student Grouping: Small Group

Expectations:

1. Students will identify and describe the rights and responsibilities of people in the community. 2. Students will identify rules in the home, at school and the community. 3. Students will work cooperatively within their groups. 4. Students will respect the responses of their peers. 5. Students will show creativity in their role playing.

Teacher Materials:

3 flash cards of pictures of people from the neighbourhood (for example, fireman, policeman, priest, etc.) 3 flash cards of the people's names (the words: fireman, policeman, priest, etc.) 3 flash cards of places in the community where the people could be found (for example, fire station, police station, church, etc.) 3 flash cards of the people's responsibilities (for example, "Who helps to put out fires?" etc.) 3 flash cards of rules for the places (for example, "Listen to the firemen!" etc.) list of prearranged groups

Student Materials:

30 flash cards of pictures of people from the neighbourhood (for example, fireman, policeman, priest, etc.) 30 flash cards of the people's names (the words: fireman, policeman, priest, etc.) 30 flash cards of places in the community where the people could be found (for example, fire station, police station, church, etc.) 30 flash cards of the people's responsibilities (for example, "Who helps to put out fires?" etc.) 30 flash cards of rules for the places (for example, "Listen to the firemen!" etc.)

Sequence:

Preparation:

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Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

1. Choose 33 people and places from our neighbourhood that the children will learn about. 2. Make 33 flash cards with a picture of the people chosen. 3. Make 33 flash cards with the names of the people chosen. 4. Make 33 flash cards with the names of the places chosen. 5. Choose one responsibility for each of the people chosen. 6. Make 33 flash cards of the responsibilities. 7. Choose one rule for each place chosen. 8. Make 33 flash cards for the rules.

Activity: 1. Move to the carpet area of our classroom. 2. Ask the children what a responsibility is and talk about it. 3. Have the children give a few examples of responsibilities that they have in their lives. 4. Show one of the people flash cards and ask what one responsibility is that that person has. 5. Have one student match the person card with the responsibility flash card. 6. Do two additional examples of responsibilities with the class. 7. Ask the children what a rule is and talk about it. 8. Have the children give a few examples of rules that they follow in their lives. 9. Show one of the place cards that was chosen and ask what one rule is that the children need to follow when they are in that place. 10. Have one student match the place card to the rule flash card. 11. Do two more examples of rules with the class. 12. The students will be put into prearranged groups of 3. 13. They will be given 3 people flash cards, 3 people's names flash cards, 3 place flash cards, 3 responsibility flash cards and 3 rule flash cards that they will match. 14. We will gather again on the carpet and discuss the matches that the children made. 15. The students will go back to their groups and create a skit with the people and places that they have. They will focus on the responsibilities and rules that they have on their flash cards. 16. The students will present their skits in front of the class. 17. We will review all of the responsibilities and rules that we discussed. 18. After we finish, we will put all of the people, responsibilities, places and rules up on the bulletin board.

Application:

This activity can be integrated into the wider curriculum by generalizing and expanding upon the rules and responsibilities that were discussed. It is useful to teach children about rules and responsibilities because they are important life skills which are used in many different aspects of the children's lives (at home, at school, etc.). This activity could be adapted for older children by changing the people. The activity could include important people from history and

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Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

various parts of the world. More rules and responsibilities could be incorporated into the activity (for example, more complex rules for older children). The children's skits could be combined to form a class play of people in the community. The play could either be videotaped or performed for other classrooms and parents. Notes:

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Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and Learning, Seventh Edition Wright/Hutchison

Activity Ideas for Elementary Social Studies

Contributor: J. Biagi

Grade: 1 Topic: Relationships, Rules, and Responsibilities Keywords: Community Study, Controversy, Environmental Education, Feelings, Inquiry Skills, Language Arts, Personal Growth, Social Action

Time: 45 Minutes Student Grouping: Full Class

Expectations:

CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS: 1. Students will create simple timelines to describe changes over time. 2. Students will describe the roles and responsibilites of various people in their neighbourhood.

RELEVANT COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE, SKILL OBJECTIVES: 1. Students will identify all four seasons. 2. Students will articulate the differences between each season. 3. Students will display organizational skills.

Teacher Materials:

* Homemade spinning wheel * Flash cards (containing pictures and few words pertaining to each season) * Tape * Chalk board * Pre-made timeline banner

Student Materials:

Sequence:

Preparation: 1. The teacher will create a homemade spinning wheel that contains an arrow in the middle and each of the four seasons listed on the outer part of the wheel. (This wheel should be taped onto the chalk board prior to the beginning of the lesson). 2. The teacher will pre-select specific pictures pertaining to each season. The teacher will affix each picture onto a flash card. (These pictures will be mixed around and taped onto a designated area on the chalk board). 3. The teacher will create a timeline banner which will contain each of the seasons in sequential order. (The timeline should be taped on the chalk board prior to the beginning of the lesson).

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