The lesson plan aimed to teach 5th grade students about major bodies of water in the United States. Activities included identifying bodies of water on maps, playing an interactive online game, reading from the textbook, and creating a labeled map of their own. The objectives were for students to be able to locate bodies of water on a map, name and describe them, and identify the Continental Divide. Students seemed engaged in the varied activities and most completed the map assignment, though some struggled with specific landforms like the Mississippi River.

1. Lesson Plan for Social Studies
5th
Grade
Title: Bodies of Water Date: September 20, 2010
Core Standards:
5.3.3 Places and Regions: Name and locate states, regions, major cities and capitals, major
rivers, and mountain ranges in the United States.
5.3.5 Physical Systems: Locate the continental divide and the major drainage basins in the
United States
Materials/Resources:
Indiana Social Studies: The United States Making a New Nation by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishers, Website: www.mrnussbaum.com/circumcode.htm, paper maps that students have
been working on, crayons or coloring pencils, promethean board
Objectives:
• After instruction, students will l will be able to locate the major bodies of water found
through the United States on a map of the United States as evidenced by students
correctly illustrating their maps.
• After instruction, students will be able describe and name various bodies of water both
verbally and in written form.
• After instruction, students will be able to identify the Continental Divide and place it’s
location on a map.
Introduction/Motivation/Springboard:
Procedures/Activities:
1. Introduce vocabulary for this unit.
2. Show map at http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/usstates/usland.htm
and ask students to locate the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Ohio River, and Rio Grande.
3. Use the interactive map to show the various landforms that will be presented this week.
4. Read pages 30-32 of the text book and discuss with students the information contained
within these pages.
5. Play interactive game at http://www.mrnussbaum.com/world/wformid.htm with students.
6. Give students a printed paper map of the United States with labels and pictures of
landforms from www.worksheets4theteacher.com.
7. Have students locate the Great Lakes on the Map.
8. Tell students that they are going to color and label this map with the major landforms that
they study this week. Students will need crayons, coloring pencils, etc. glue and scissors
for this activity.
9. Students begin by lightly labeling the maps with the major landforms in pencil.
10. Remind students to create a key to their map.
11. Encourage students to use the maps in the back of their textbooks to help them locate
bodies of water, mountains, and the continental divide.
12. Give students 20 minutes to work on this activity.
Closure Activity/Extensions/Homework: Have students discuss where they put each of the
bodies of water on their maps and what symbols they used to create their maps. Tell students
that they will continue to work on the map activity tomorrow. Give them envelopes to store their

2. small pieces in for tomorrow’s activity.
Reflection:
Students seemed to enjoy this activity. They were eager to read the pages in the textbook.
They also willingly participated in showing the various landforms on the interactive map online.
The various activities helped students with different learning styles relate to the material being
taught. The locating of landforms addressed those students who learn visually and logically,
while the paper map activity allowed those students with creative and bodily kinesthetic learning
styles to participate.
Students seemed overwhelmed in the beginning of the map making activity because the labeled
page that contained the landforms had landforms that they had not encountered. Landforms
such as the Mojave Desert and the Colorado River caused some confusion. I discovered if I put
a copy of the activity sheet on the document camera and circled only the landforms that they
had studied, they were able to cut out only those forms and do the activity. Most students
stayed on task and worked throughout the entire activity.
I realized that I have to be extremely specific in directions with the students. They easily
become overwhelmed when given global instructions. They seem to have limited abilities to
think and analyze the information presented and then sort through the steps to accomplish the
goal. When they become overwhelmed, they complain that it’s too hard. They then stop trying
and begin talking and getting out of their seats.
Analysis of Teaching

3. Students were to learn where various bodies of water are located in the United States.
They were also supposed to learn where the Continental Divide is and what it’s purpose is.
Also, the students had to learn new vocabulary for this chapter so that they would understand
the reading. No differentiation was needed for this assignment. Students in this class are on
target for learning. Those students who have special needs are generally not in this room
during this instructional time.
Instructional strategies used:
• Use of map for reference—students viewed map of the United States and identified the
bodies of water located on the map.
• Interactive game—students played an interactive game as a class. The game required
that students click on different areas to try to locate major bodies of water. They came
to the board to do this activity.
• Create a project—students illustrate a map and label it for major landforms. This is an
extension of a regions map they did earlier in this unit.
Activities included:
• Game-interactive internet game that helped students to determine their knowledge of
the landforms.
• Reading of instructional textbook—students read about the landforms in their school
selected textbook.
• Project—map—students create a landform map that showed various landforms such
as mountains, bodies of water, and deserts.

4. The criteria for student success included the ability to identify and locate various
landforms on individual maps. Students were to create their own map and accurately
display not only the landforms but also label those landforms. They also had to create
a key to the map. The map must be neat and easy to read. Colors on the map must be
appropriate to the landforms associated with them. For example, bodies of water should
be blue; deserts should be brown, etc. Students were told verbally how to create this
map. They have had past experience with this, so they are able to complete these types
of tasks with a minimum of instruction on the actual project.
Students’ learning was monitored through observation, questioning, and their
illustrated maps. Students were encouraged verbally when they correctly identified
landforms. They were praised for doing their work quietly at their seats. Questions were
addressed on a individual basis. Students who were off-task were redirected.
Different points of view were not needed during this lesson period. Students were
responsible for reading their text, viewing the online resources, and listening to the
classroom discussion about landforms then individually illustrating their maps.
Based on their performance, students appeared to understand the assignment.
They had little difficulty with the concept of creating a map. They did have some
difficulty with locating the Mississippi River. I will re-address this issue in the next
lesson.