NEBRASKA HISTORY
These lessons all pertain to Nebraska History. These lessons were created for a class of nine and ten year olds with low to above average achievement. The school is located in a middle class neighborhood.
Lesson Topic/Title: Do You Know Me?
Author: Jacquie O’Neill
Introduction: This lesson is a review of the many
people who have influenced Nebraska history.
Each student will write one question about a prominent individual in
Nebraska history, and create a Power Point slide. The students have the information needed to perform these tasks.
Content Area(s) and Grade Level: Social Studies – Grade 4
Standards: 4.2 Students will identify and describe
the past and present contributions of people, such as the Native Americans,
Hispanic Americans, African Americans, European Americans, and Asian Americans
in Nebraska. 4.6 Students will trace
Nebraska’s 20th century by identifying the accomplishments of prominent
Nebraskans, such as Suzanne LaFlech, George W. Norris, Black Elk, William
Jennings Bryan, Malcolm X, and John Neihardt.
4.11 Students will identify significant individuals and historical
events in their community and in Nebraska and explain their importance.
Integrated Disciplines: Reading, Technology
Skills, Language Arts.
Objectives:
To identify historical personalities in Nebraska.
To identify the importance of each individual.
To formulate questions of a very specific nature.
To create a Power Point quiz for review.
Materials/Technologies:
Computers with Power Point (one computer to every
four students)
Nebraska History Notes
Procedures:
Springboard: Show pictures of famous Nebraska
personalities. Discuss various
individuals who have played an important role in the history of Nebraska.
What the teacher is to do:
Write, copy, and distribute list of Nebraska
personalities.
Assign each student one personality.
Be a source of informational and technological
support to each student.
Show Power Point presentation to the class.
What the student is to do:
Using the notes taken in class on the history of
Nebraska, the student will formulate one question pertaining to the Nebraska
individual assigned to them.
The question will be written with proper spelling
and punctuation.
The teacher will approve the question.
The student will make one Power Point slide with
his/her question on it.
The student will take the Power Point quiz.
Closure:
The Power Point presentation will be shown to the
class. Each child will read his/her
question out loud. Each child will
write answers to the questions on a clean sheet of paper. When the presentation is complete, children
will hand their answers in to the teacher.
Assessment:
Knowledge of Nebraska personalities will be
determined by the number of correct answers to the questions.
Accuracy of factual information will be determined
by the question each child writes.
Creation of the Power Point slide will demonstrate
the child’s ability in terms of technological skills.
Explanation:
This lesson is to be used as a review to previous
lessons in which students acquired information about Nebraska
personalities. They were told prior to
this lesson what it would entail. Students were to study the notes and be
prepared to answer questions about famous Nebraskans. This activity gives the students the opportunity to be the
teacher, as well as the student.
Lesson Topic/Title: Nebraska’s Unicameral – It’s
the One!
Author: Jacquie O’Neill
Introduction:
www.unicam.state.ne.us/kids/law.htm
will be used as an introduction to Nebraska’s unicameral.
Content Area(s) and Grade Level: Social Studies –
Grade 4
Standards: 4.27 Students will compare and contrast
Nebraska’s Unicameral system with other state governments.
Integrated Disciplines: Technology Skills,
Language Arts.
Objectives:
To find out the meaning of Unicameral.
To explore the website for information on how the
Unicameral of Nebraska works.
Materials/Technologies:
Computers (one computer for every four students)
Internet access
Graphic Organizer
Procedure:
Springboard: Ask children if they can name an
elected official. Continue discussion
until a Nebraska State elected official is named. Proceed into the activity of exploring the Unicameral.
What the teacher is to do:
Distribute and explain the Graphic Organizer.
Introduce the website – present vocabulary.
Unicameral Senator
Governor Representatives
Divide students into groups of four each and place
each group around one computer.
Guide students through the website, helping them
to gather the necessary information needed to complete the Graphic Organizer.
What the student will do:
Read through and discuss the information on the
website with the group.
Fill in the Graphic Organizer with information
found on the website.
Participate in the class discussion.
Closure:
Discuss the Graphic Organizer and the information
recorded on it.
Assessment:
Students completed the Graphic Organizer by
searching the website for specific information.
Students participated in classroom discussion.
Explanation:
This lesson is intended to be a
stepping-stone. It is to introduce the
Unicameral to the students. Using the
information gathered, students could take this one step further and
compare/contrast the Unicameral of Nebraska with other state governments.
Lesson Topic/Title: Somewhere in the Middle
Author: Jacquie O’Neill
Introduction: The State of Nebraska is only a
small part of the United States. It is
part of the Midwest region. Students
will play a game to test their knowledge of the location of all of the states.
http://www.funbrain.com/where/index2.html
Content Area(s) and Grade Level: Social Studies –
Grade 4
Standards: 4.20 Students will describe our nation
as composed of states and locate the following on a map of the United States:
Washington, D.C.; the states of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, South Dakota,
and Wyoming; major rivers, mountain ranges, and lakes in the United States.
Integrated Disciplines: Spelling, Technology
Skills.
Objectives:
To demonstrate knowledge of the location of each
of the fifty states.
To spell correctly the names of the fifty states.
To work cooperatively with a partner in completing
the game.
Materials/Technologies:
Computers (one computer for every four students)
Maps for each student of the United States with
names of the states omitted.
One larger map of the United States to hang on
wall/chalkboard.
Procedure:
Springboard: Hold up a picture of the map of the
United States. Discuss how many states
the students think they know.
What the teacher is to do:
Facilitate discussion of the names of the states.
Pass out blank maps.
Divide students into pairs.
Each pair is a team – place two teams at each
computer.
Provide instruction on how to complete the task
(game).
What the student is to do:
Work cooperatively in pairs at the computer.
Test their knowledge by playing the game and recording correct answers on their blank maps.
Closure:
Have students share which states they knew. Shade in each state on the large map that
was named correctly. Write on the
shaded state the number of students who knew the name of that particular state.
Assessment:
Large map will reveal student knowledge of state
locations.
Individual maps will be collected and spelling of
state names will be checked for accuracy.
Explanation:
This activity can be used to test knowledge prior
to beginning of a unit on the states of the United States, as well as at the
end of the unit. For those students who
have access to this site, the URL could be provided so further study could take
place at home. Those not having
Internet access could be provided a map with state names listed so further
study could take place at home.
Lesson Topic/Title: Finding Out About the Good
Life
Author: Jacquie O’Neill
Introduction:
The students will be introduced to a Treasure Hunt. They will be searching the World Wide Web
for information about the state of Nebraska.
The students will work in groups of three or four for this activity.
Content Area(s) and Grade Level: Social Studies –
Grade 4
Standards: 4.9 Students will make a historical map
of Nebraska and the surrounding region, including locations, such as: Early
Forts. Missions. Settlements. Trails. Cities. Transportation routes. Migration patterns.
Integrated Disciplines: Art, Language Arts,
Technology Skills.
Objectives:
To identify forts, settlements, trails, cities,
transportation routes, and migration patterns in Nebraska.
To create a historical map of Nebraska.
Materials/Technologies:
Computers (3-4 students to each computer)
White construction paper (11x17) cut into the
shape of Nebraska
Magic Markers and Crayons
Treasure Hunt Questions and List of Websites
Procedures:
Springboard: Lead a discussion on searching for
something. Relate discussion to the
search for information. Talk about what
students can do with new information they find on the Internet.
What the teacher is to do:
Provide the Treasure Hunt questions and websites
for students.
Explain Filamentality’s “Treasure Hunt”.
Present new vocabulary:
Migration
patterns Settlements
Divide students into groups.
Provide and distribute state maps.
Guide the students through the Treasure Hunt.
What the student is to do:
Work cooperatively in groups to locate answers to
the Treasure Hunt questions.
Apply information gathered to the creation of a
map of Nebraska.
Write three paragraphs describing their maps.
Closure:
Discuss each of the questions in the Treasure
Hunt.
Share maps with the entire class.
Turn paragraph writing into teacher.
Assessment:
Construction of map will determine knowledge of
locations of various historical markers in the state of Nebraska.
Paragraph will demonstrate a clear understanding
of important historical markers as well as demonstrate the ability to write in
a clear, concise manner.
Explanation:
The ability to use a map is an important skill in
life. This exercise is to be used to
help students get a better understanding of how various locations are related
to each other, as well as to place these various locations in perspective to
the whole state.
Lesson Topic/Title: Vote For Me!
Author: Jacquie O’Neill
Introduction: This lesson is designed to help
children understand what an elected official is, and be able to identify
elected officials from the local to the national level.
Content Area(s) and Grade Level: Social Studies –
Grade 4
Standards: 4.28 Students will identify
representative leaders at government levels, such as mayor, governor, and
president.
Integrated Disciplines: Technology Skills,
Language Arts, Writing.
Objectives:
To identify government leaders for the City of
Omaha, State of Nebraska, and the United States.
To develop an awareness of what it means to
campaign.
To write and verbally present information.
To help build self-esteem.
Materials and Technologies:
Computers with Internet Access
Index Cards (3x5) – Three per student
Procedure:
Springboard: Discuss the campaign trail – what it
means and how one goes about campaigning.
(Ideal use would be during the months in which elections are to be held
in the state in which you teach.)
What the teacher is to:
Provide new vocabulary:
Campaign
Elected Officials
Governor Mayor
President
Provide index cards for students.
Lead discussion of campaigning and elected
officials.
Guide the students through the “Virtual Field
Trip”.
What the students are to do:
Participate in discussion.
Take a “Virtual Field Trip” to the White House, Governor’s
Mansion, and the local City websites.
Decide which office they would like to campaign
for.
Write approximately three paragraphs about what
they would use for their campaign platform.
Present a short speech to the class as if they
were campaigning for a position as an elected official.
Closure:
Each student will present their campaign speech to
the class.
A mock election is to be held in each of the
categories selected by the students.
Assessment:
Students will be able to name elected officials in
various levels of government through class discussion.
Through the presentation of their campaign speech,
student will demonstrate an understanding of what it means to present
information in a positive way in order to get people to believe in and support
you, as well as give the student practice in speaking to a group.
The index cards will be collected after the
presentation of the speech to be reviewed for spelling and grammatical
accuracy.
Explanation:
Use of this lesson would be most effective if it
was done during an election year. The
format could be changed in terms of the mock election if the classroom chose to
elected officials for their homeroom.
More time would need to be spent on this, in such a case, to allow for
campaigning, poster making, and the creation of ballots and ballot box.