MINI LESSON: Fun Geography Research Writing

Fun Geography Research Writing

Overview: In this activity, students will be assigned a state to research. With the information they find, they will challenge their classmates to identify that state based on clues they give in their Posts. Here is an example Post. Students should include an image that pertains to the state, and clues in the text field. They can record the name of their state with the audio feature (if they’d like).

Objectives:

• I can use my research skills to gather information about a specific state.
• I can use the information I find to teach my classmates about my state in the form of a trivia game.

Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.7

Vocabulary:

• Post

Materials:

• One to one devices
• Individual student posts

Lesson Outline:

• Part One: Explain the Activity and Assign the States (or let them choose)

• Explain what the students will be doing and assign each student/group of students a state to research (or let them choose, but everyone needs a different state)
• Give students an allotted amount of time to research their state to gather interesting facts and choose an appropriate photo for their Post.
• Part Two: Write the Posts
• Have students create Posts from scratch using their photo and facts. Have them reference the example Post if they need additional guidance.

• Part Three: Share!

• When everyone has written their Post, have students publish them to your class group or district (or to the world). Then, allow students time to read the Posts of their classmates and try to guess the states based on the information provided.

Enrichment/Extensions:

• Have students research more than one state.
• Have students assist their classmates in guessing the states of their other classmates.

Accommodations:

• Use the Description area when creating an Idea to provide step-by-step instructions or links to instructional references (ie skill videos, visual aids, etc).
• Use the audio tool to record instructions when creating an Idea. You can read the Idea and Idea Description text out loud so students can listen and replay them as needed.
• Modify the lesson to include small groups and be sure to follow provided personalized accommodations based upon any student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP).