Patriotic Tour

Summary

The students will be able to make and interpret representations, graphs, and models. They will be able to apply prior knowledge and processes to construct new knowledge. They will be able to estimate and measure length by iterations a nonstandard or standard unit of measure.

Materials

• Book: Arthur Meets the President, by Marc Brown.
• Map of Washington, DC sites and downtown Washington, DC
• Research letter to home (pdf)
• Site material letter home (pdf)
• Nonfiction books on and pictures (pdf) of the following sites:
  1. The White House
  2. The Capitol Building
  3. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
  4. The Jefferson Memorial
  5. Arlington National Cemetery
  6. The Lincoln Memorial
  7. The Smithsonian Institution
  8. The Washington Monument
• Large post it notes of lined paper
• Plain chart paper, one sheet per participant

Background for Teachers

Exposure to national symbols helps children develop a sense of patriotism and belonging in their communities and country. Participation and civic involvement are important democratic values that can be enhanced and encouraged.

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate a positive learning attitude.
5. Understand and use basic concepts and skills.

Instructional Procedures

Invitation to Learn:

1. As a class, discuss how many steps it would take to get to the door from the front of your classroom. Have the students write down their guesses.
2. Line the students up in the front of the class and count off the number of steps from the door to the front of the classroom together.
3. Instruct the student return to their seats and compare the actual results to their original predictions. Introduce the type of measurement just used as a nonstandard form of measurement.
4. Ask: "What else could we use to measure to the back of the room?" Discuss and list ideas on the board. Have the students re‐measure the distance using a few of the listed ideas.
5. Discuss how the measurement has changed.

Instructional Procedures:

Downtown DC:

1. Read Arthur Meets the President. Have the students think of sites that Arthur and his classmates may have seen on their way to meet the President.
2. Show them a map of downtown Washington, DC sites, including:
   • The White House
   • The Capitol Building
   • The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
   • The Jefferson Memorial
   • Arlington National Cemetery
   • The Lincoln Memorial
   • The Smithsonian Institution
   • The Washington Monument
     Show them pictures and provide them with a little information about each site.
3. Instruct students to predict how far the sites are from each other.
4. Introduce how the key is used to measure the distance in miles, and teach the students that maps are used to show a larger area on a smaller scale.

Researching DC Sites:

1. List the eight sites mentioned above on the board.
2. Provide each student with a small Post‐it note, and have him/her write his/her name on it.
3. Instruct the students to think of three of their favorite sites listed. Tell the students there may only be 3‐4 Post‐it notes (depending on your class size) by each site. Encourage the students to have a second or possibly a third choice if their first choice is full.
4. Allow the students, in smaller groups or individually, to place their Post‐it notes next to a site.
5. Provide the students with a note to take home explaining the activity to parents.
6. On the note, instruct them to record the site they have chosen to research on the space provided. Possible homework note:

   Dear Parents, We have been studying the sites of our capital in Washington, DC. Your student has selected (students write in their choice here) for his/her favorite site. Please help him/her research and become an expert on their site, including 4‐5 facts he/she has learned about it, and bring that information back to class on (date due).
   
   

7. When all of the research is returned, group the students according to their selected sites.
8. Allow groups time to share gathered information on their sites with each other. For example, all the students who chose the White House would compare what they learned.
9. Instruct the students in their groups to read through their facts and decide what they would like to share with the class.
10. Using the information selected, instruct groups to create a poster about their site to share with the class at a later time.

Your Class' Blue Plans of Our Nation's Capital:

1. Introduce the idea of building a replica of our nation's capital.
2. Return the students to their research groups to discuss how they would create a small replica of their site. If you have limited space for the city, you may need to remind them that the replica cannot be bigger than a shoe box. If you have a larger area to create the replica, allow them to build what they decide.
3. Have the students create a list of materials needed to build their site and decide who in their group will bring the needed materials.
4. Provide a note for each student to take home to their parents asking for materials needed. Instruct the student to fill out the note with the material he/she has volunteered to bring.

   A sample note could include:

   Dear parents, We have been working in teams to build a small replica of our nation's capital. Your student's group has decided on all of the material needed to build their site. Your student has volunteered to bring the following item(s): (have the student fill in the supplies needed). Please return these items to the school with your student by (date due). They are very excited to get going on this project, and have worked hard as a team to come up with the supplies needed. Thank you for your help with this, Your student's teacher.

Building Our Nation's Capital:

1. As building materials are collected, allow time for the groups to build their projects.
2. When all are replica sites are built, ask: "What nonstandard unit of measurement could we use to ensure all sites are placed on our map where they belong?"
3. Invite the students to help you compile a list of possible nonstandard units of measurement found in the classroom.
4. As a class, vote on a nonstandard unit of measurement listed by the class for use as they place their sites on the map. For example, the students might vote to use a rubbing of one of their shoes as the unit of measurement to build their city.
5. Invite the White House group of experts to place their White House site at the center of the city.
6. Place signs indicating north, south, east, and west around the room, as indicated by the map provided of the sites.
7. Allow the nonstandard unit of measurement voted on by the class to equal one‐half of a mile.
8. Invite one site group at a time to measure using the class nonstandard unit of measurement to place their site out from the White House as follows:
   • The Capitol Building 16 units of measurement south‐west.
   • The Vietnam Veterans Memorial 2 units of measurement south‐west.
   • The Jefferson Memorial 3 units of measurement south.
   • Arlington National Cemetery 5 units of measurement south‐west.
   • The Lincoln Memorial 3 units of measurement south‐west.
   • The Smithsonian Institution 2 units of measurement south‐east.
   • The Washington Monument 1 unit of measurement south.
9. As the groups place their sites on the map, instruct them to share posters created earlier to tell information researched about their site. Ask groups to include individually why each member chose to build their site.
10. Celebrate their findings.

Lesson and Activity Time Schedule:

• Each lesson is 55 minutes.
• Each activity is 30 minutes.
• Total lesson and activity time is 85 minutes.

Activity Connected to Lesson:

Following the "Downtown DC" activity:

1. Put the participants into small groups and have them become experts on the eight sites listed in the lesson.
2. Using the books provided or brought by the participants, divide them into groups, no more than four in a group.
3. As a group, they will create a poster listing facts learned, along with things they may have already known about their site, to share with the group.

After building Downtown DC:

1. Using groups created for the above activity, provide pictures of the sites and instruct participants to build the city.
2. Use a unit of measurement voted on by the group to place the pictures of the buildings where they belong.
3. Instruct participants who were the experts on each site to share the posters they made and what they learned about their site with the group.
4. Discuss the importance of this lesson with the participants, and allow them time to share their ideas.

Extensions

• Use the same idea to map out Disneyland sites, school sites, and places around your own city.
• Invite other classes to come into your class and "tour" your city. Have each group become the "tour guide" for their sites. Instruct your "tour guides" to share information learned on their posters, and to answer any questions the other classes may have as they visit their site.

Family Connections:

Have the students make a map of their neighborhood, showing where they live compared to how far it is to their friend's house, the nearest gas station, or the grocery store. Have them bring it back to show the class. Have them use a non‐standard form of measurement to show the distance between the buildings.

Assessment Plan

• Have students go around to various "sites" in the school and see how far away they are using non‐standard units of measurement. Have them list and then predict which will be the closest and which will be the furthest and the closest, then measure for accuracy. Check their predictions.
• Rebuild the city using a different unit of measurement voted on by the class, and discuss how it changed and why.

Bibliography

Caine, R.N., and Caine, G. (1994). Making connections: Teaching and the human brain. Menlo Park, CA: Addison‐Wesley.

Classroom activities with application to real world situations are the lessons students seem to learn from and appreciate the most. Brain research shows that the more senses are used in instruction, the better learners will be able to remember, retrieve, and connect the information in their memories. "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Students learn best when doing. By incorporating realistic, integrated, or interdisciplinary activities that build on established knowledge and skills and use more than one sense, memory pathways become more accessible and cross‐referenced for future use. As teachers discover the most effective strategies for better student achievement, they can adapt their lesson accordingly.