This was my last lesson with the third grade at Fisher.

1. LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
Your name: Caitlin Bergan Cooperating teacher-librarian:
Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 School & City: Fisher Grade School
Lesson Title: Atlas
Grade level: 3rd Length of lesson: 30 mins
Purpose: (“why” of the lesson; where and how does it fit in the curriculum?)
Students will be exposed to atlases and what kind of information can be found there.
Learning Outcome(s): (what will students be able to do/know by the end of the lesson?)
Students will…
Be able to find the key to maps, and understand some of the things that can be found in an
atlas
Illinois Learning Standard(s) Addressed:
5.B.1a Select and organize information from various sources for a specific purpose
5.A.1a Identify questions and gather information
5.A.1b Locate information using a variety of resources
Standards for 21st Century Learner Addressed:
English
1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions.
Social Studies
17.A.2b Use maps and other geographic representations and instruments to gather information about people, places
and environments
Materials:
Needed by you: Needed by students:
Atlases
Questions
Instructional procedures:
Focusing event: (how will you get the students’ attention?)
How many of you have used a map? Anyone used an atlas before? Can everyone find Illinois on a
map? Check in your atlas and try to find Illinois.
Input from you: (what are you teaching & how are you delivering the content?)
How do we know which direction is which? Compass rose or other indication of direction
Do all the maps use the same symbols? What kinds of symbols are we seeing? How do we know what
the symbols mean? Find different symbols and look them up on the map’s legend.
Are all the maps the same color? What meanings are the different colors?
1/20/09
G. Burch

2. Can we find maps that show mountains? Terrain map – topological map
Can we find maps that show states or countries in different colors? Political maps
Can we wind maps that show specific kinds of information? Population density, rainfall, climate
maps
What if we’re looking for a particular city? Is there a way to figure out what page to look on? Hint:
remember the parts of the book we looked at earlier!
Guided practice: (application of knowledge by students)
For each question students will have time to look at the atlas and discuss at their table. Then we
will discuss their findings as a group.
Closure (how will you end the lesson?)
What kinds of information can you find in an atlas?
What’s next? (another related lesson, review, end of unit?)
End of the unit.
1/20/09
G. Burch