This document outlines a 10-14 day unit plan for a 3rd grade social studies class where students will create the front page of a newspaper from Benicia, California in the 1800s. Students will research important events and people from Benicia's history and write articles, illustrations, and captions to include on their newspaper front page, which they will design using Microsoft Word. The unit integrates standards in history-social science, language arts, and technology.

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Technology Integration Unit Outline
Type only in the gray areas
Name: Brandy Shelton
Project Title: Benicia’s History Front Page News
Project Subject: Social Studies, Community History, Media Literacy
Grade Level(s): 3rd Grade
Email address: brandyshelton@gmail.com
Essential Question: What types of things would you find on the front page of a
newspaper from Benicia in the 1800’s?
Scaffolding What events occurred in Benicia’s history that helped make it
Questions: the city it is today?
Who helped Benicia develop and grow?
What illustrations are key to the main events or people?
What are the best ways to describe each illustration?
Approximate Length of Unit (days, weeks)
10-14 days
Goals & Objectives:
Students will be able to:
• Locate different facts about important people and events that occurred in
Benicia’s history.
• Identify non-fiction text features including titles, illustrations, captions,
definitions, topics, and details.
• Illustrate important people or events and include a caption for each.
• Format a Word document into columns.
• Format text into different fonts or sizes.
Unit Summary and Sequence of Events – give details:
Summary: Students will use research and information we have talked about in class and
they will find on the internet or in books to put together the front page of a newspaper.
Newspapers will need to include text features commonly found in non-fiction writing
especially titles, illustrations with captions, definitions, and main topics with details.
Students will have limited access to computers so they will type their articles in two-
column format using Microsoft Word and then print them out. They will then put
together their front pages by cutting and pasting their articles into place and then
illustrating them with detailed captions.
Day 1: Classroom- Review the information that you have collected and discussed for
different events that led up to Benicia’s growth and expansion into the city we know it as
today. Talk about the people and what they did that helped our city grow as well.
Review different parts of the “Benicia Book” that have already been put together,
highlighting important details in the city’s history.
Days 2-4: Classroom- Students should choose one event that they feel was important to
Benicia’s history and one person that helped our community grow in the 1800’s. They
will then write two rough draft articles: one article explaining the important event as if it
were happening today, and one article highlighting an influential person in Benicia’s
history. They will need to have their rough drafts completed before doing a “First Edit”
with a peer, checking for grammatical errors and complete thoughts, ideas, and correct
details. After completing a “First Edit” students then rewrite their articles for a “Second

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Edit” which is completed with the teacher.
Days 5-9: Classroom and Computer Lab- Students will need to be taught how to open
Microsoft Word and then change the page format in “Columns” from one column to two
columns. This will set their writing up so that they will already have a newspaper article
format. Students can also change the font they are using and adjust the font size so that
their text fits the front page with illustrations. Each student will need to type their articles
in the two-column format, print them, and then save their document as “Name-Benicia
Front Page.”
Days 10-14: Classroom- Students will then put together their newspaper’s front page by
creating and writing a title at the top of the page, cutting and pasting their articles into the
appropriate spaces, and then creating a colored illustration for each article with a detailed
caption. Students can “age” their newspapers by giving them an antique color and
crumpling them after completion.
Software and Hardware needed:
• Computers with internet connection.
• Microsoft Word or another word processing program.
• Printer.
Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction
Resource Student: The teacher can write out the articles while the student tells them
what they want to say, and/or type out the article for the student
as well. Another student can also help them type their article up
if help is needed. The student can then put the newspaper
together on their own.
Gifted Student: Students will also need to include a classified section showing
their understanding of what might have been valued by early
settlers in Benicia. They will also complete research on
neighboring cities and write an article on what would have been
happening in one of them while Benicia was growing.
IDENTIFY STANDARDS – Select two or three standards from each category
and copy/paste them into this document
Specific Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs):

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Teaching History-Social Science in a Multiple Subject Assignment
Candidates for a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential demonstrate the ability to teach the
state-adopted academic content standards for students in history-social science
(K-8).They enable students to learn and use basic analytic thinking skills in history and
social science while attaining the state-adopted academic content standards for students.
They use timelines and maps to give students a sense of temporal and spatial scale.
Candidates teach students how social science concepts and themes provide insights into
historical periods and cultures. They help students understand events and periods from
multiple perspectives by using simulations, case studies, cultural artifacts, works of art
and literature, cooperative projects, and student research activities.
TPE2:
Monitori
ng
Student
Learning
During
Learning
Use progress monitoring at key points during instruction to determine whether students
are progressing adequately toward achieving the state-adopted academic content
standards for students.
Pace instruction and re-teach content based on evidence gathered using assessment
strategies such as questioning students and examining student work and products.
Anticipate, check for, and address common student misconceptions and
misunderstandings.
Specific CA Content Standards:
3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables,
graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and
environments in a spatial context.
1. Identify geographical features in their local region (e.g., deserts, mountains, valleys,
hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes).
2. Trace the ways in which people have used the resources of the local region and
modified the physical environment (e.g., a dam constructed upstream changed a river or
coastline).
3.3 Students draw from historical and community resources to organize the
sequence of local historical events and describe how each period of settlement left
its mark on the land.
1. Research the explorers who visited here, the newcomers who settled here, and the
people who continue to come to the region, including their cultural and religious

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traditions and contributions.
2. Describe the economies established by settlers and their influence on the present-day
economy, with emphasis on the importance of private property and entrepreneurship.
3. Trace why their community was established, how individuals and families
contributed to its founding and development, and how the community has changed
over time, drawing on maps, photographs, oral histories, letters, newspapers, and other
primary sources.
Specific ISTE Tech Standards for Teachers:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and
technology to facilitate experiences that advance student
learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.
Teachers:
a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems
using digital tools and resources
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’
conceptual understanding and thinking, planning,
and creative processes
d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students,
colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual
environments
3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an
innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers:
a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge
to new technologies and situations
b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital
tools and resources to support student success
and innovation
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and
peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats
d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate,
analyze, evaluate, and use information
resources to support research and learning
Specific ISTE Tech Standards for Students:
1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and
develop innovative products and processes
using technology. Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or
processes.
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and
issues.
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

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3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
Students:
a. plan strategies to guide inquiry.
b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use
information from a variety of sources and
media.
c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on
the appropriateness to specific tasks.
d. process data and report results.
REFERENCES – List websites, books, magazines, and other resources
used to collect content information for this unit
http://www.beniciahistoricalmuseum.org/
http://www.militarymuseum.org/Benicia.html
http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B9AA16CE0-
F37D-4D59-8BF7-98443ADCB3A7%7D&DE=%7B318AF9B3-58CB-4F3E-9DF4-
E2BF4166A365%7D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benicia,_California