Learning Unit:
The Mighty Great Lakes and
St. Lawrence Seaway System

Overview of Unit:

This unit is a real life experience studying the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System. It is written for a third grade class but it could be taught through the eighth grade. It is a yearlong unit designed so teachers can pick and choose activities they wish to pursue and are more comfortable with. There are activities that are linked to Social Studies, Math, Science, Technology, and Language Arts Standards. The unit begins with a real life experience to be observed over the summer by incoming third graders. The details of this are described under the title of "Initiating activity" of this unit. After the completion of this beginning experience the students will then be introduced to the Caldecott Honor book, Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling. "Paddle-to-the-Sea" is a small canoe carved by an Indian boy that makes a journey from Lake Superior, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Each chapter is one page of the book and describes a particular location and environment that Paddle has found himself in. Approximately once a week a chapter will be read to the class. The students will take notes within a graphic organizer. One side of the organizer will be "Environment and Surroundings of Paddle". The other is "What happens to Paddle?" After the notes have been taken the students will organize a short summary from their notes of the one page chapter that was read to them. They will illustrate their summaries after their rough drafts have been edited and final copy completed. Each illustrated page will be saved in a folder and collected by the teacher. When the book is completed there should be 27 pages representing the 27 chapters of the book. The students will then design a cover for their booklets. For each chapter there are several possible activities the teacher may use throughout the week. They are listed below under," Additional Experiences for Each Chapter of Paddle-to-the-Sea".

1. CONTENT KNOWLEDGE:

Declarative:

The student will:

1. Name the five Great Lakes.
2. Identify the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway on a map of the U.S., North America, Western Hemisphere and a map of the world.
3. Identify the appropriate resources for research in writing a report.
4. Identify the parts of a friendly letter.
5. Recognize the outline of each Great Lake as a picture representing the Lake. (Ex. The outline of Lake Superior is shaped like a wolf's head.)
6. Identify the International line that crosses Lake Superior.
7. List the natural resources that are shipped via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.
8. List the components of a marsh ecosystem.
9. Recognize the terms import and export.
10. Recognize vocabulary from Sunken Treasure, a book by Gail Gibbon.
11. Recognize "figures of speech", similes and metaphors in the book, Paddle to the Sea, by Holling Clancy Holling.
12. Recognize the life cycle of an insect especially related to the "shadflies" of Ogdensburg, New York on the St. Lawrence River.

Procedural:

The student will:

1. Create a "Paddle to the Sea" booklet by taking notes using a graphic organizer and writing a summary of each chapter of Paddle- to- the- Sea as it is read to them."
2. Trace Paddle's voyage on a map as Paddle travels the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.
3. Construct a three dimensional Great Lakes System.
4. Work in collaborative groups to research and write reports on pond animals, natural resources shipped on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, industries, physical features of the system, plotting the path of a particular ship, and local shipwrecks found in the St. Lawrence River using appropriate reference resources including encyclopedias (standard and electronic), atlases, internet , and people.
5. Write a letter to "Save the River" and the Shipping Association to acquire information about their particular group's position on Winter Navigation of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.
6. Make a booklet of the shapes of the five Great Lakes.
7. Use an international map of North America to locate the international line that runs through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.
8. Use an atlas to locate areas where natural resources are found that are shipped on the Seaway.
9. Draw and create a marsh ecosystem or create a diorama.
10. Locate Apostle Islands on a map.
11. Take notes from a class presentation of a local scuba diver and write a summary of the presentation.
12. Locate on a local shipwreck map the various ships that have gone down off the coast of Ogdensburg in the St. Lawrence River.

Essential Questions:

1. How are the natural resources from all of North America shared with the rest of the world?
2. Why is the Great Lakes/ St. Lawrence Seaway System not only important locally but also for the rest of the world?

Initiating Activity:

This project will begin at the end of second grade. The third grade teacher will spend one half hour in the second grade classroom during the last week of school. The second grade students will be given a chart to keep up during the summer along with a letter to their parents explaining the project. The students are being asked to watch the ships on the St. Lawrence River during the summer and if possible keep track if the ship appears to be empty or full, and if it is traveling east or west. (The ship is empty if the red line around the sides of the ship is above water. The ship is full of cargo if there is no red line showing.) The same information will be given to the parents in the form of a letter along with a recording sheet with columns for the date, time of day and direction the ship is traveling in. In addition they are welcome to photograph the ships and send in pictures.

During the first week of school the student's data will be collected through the end of the week and shared with the rest of the class. The teacher will access the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System site on the Internet with the class. They will look up the ships they spotted over the summer and find out where they were going; where they were coming from; what cargo they have been transporting and where they will dock for the winter. This will be recorded on a chart. This will complete the initiating activity.

Connection to State Learning Standards:

Content Area: Social Studies

Level: Elementary

1. New York State Learning Standards Being Assessed

Standard 3

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live-local, national, and global-including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the earth's surface.

Key Idea number 1:

Geography can be divided into six essential elements, which can be used to analyze important historic, geographic, economic and environmental questions and issues. These six elements include the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical settings including natural resources, human systems environment and society, and the use of geography.

Performance Indicators:

• Students study about how people live, work, and utilize natural resources.
• Students draw maps and diagrams that serve as representations of places, physical features, and objects.
• Locate places within the local community, state, and nation.
• Investigate how people depend on and modify the physical environment.

Content: English/ Language Arts

Level: Elementary

Standard 1

Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding.

1. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; use knowledge generated from oral, written and electronic sources.
2. As speakers and writers students will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply and transmit information.

Performance Indicators: The students should be able to:

• Gather and interpret information from:

Children's reference books

Textbooks

Electronic bulletin boards

Audio visual presentations

• Gather and interpret information from:

maps

Diagrams

Encyclopedia

• Select and use strategies:

Note taking

Organizing

• Present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms such as:

Summaries

Demonstrations

Posters

Brief reports

• Observe basic writing conventions

Spelling

Punctuation

Capitalization

Grammar

Sentence and paragraph structure

• Use the computer for word processing

Final draft

Published work

Standard 4:

Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction.

1. Students will use oral communication in formal and informal settings with a wide variety of people of different ages, genders and cultures. They will adapt presentations to different audiences, and will reflect on how talk varies in different situations.
2. As readers and writers, the student will use social communication with others to establish, maintain, and enhance personal relationships with others.

Performance Indicators: The students should be able to:

• Listen attentively to others.
• Recognize when it is appropriate to speak in group discussions.
• Understand how to take turns in discussions and respond to others ideas in conversations on familiar topics.
• Recognize the kind of interaction appropriate for different circumstances such as cooperative learning activities
• Exchange friendly letters; address and envelope correctly.
• Take responsibility for participation in cooperative learning activities.

Content Area: Math, Science, and Technology

Standard 2:

Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies. (Information technology is used to retrieve, process and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.)

Performance Indicators:

• Use a variety of equipment and software packages to enter, process, display, and communicate information in different forms using pictures, text and sound.

Performance Tasks: The student will:

1. Use word processing and desktop publishing programs to create a finished product.
2. Use multimedia programs to communicate information as developmentally appropriate.
3. Demonstrate ability to load in programs; handle disks and CD-ROM's.

Performance Indicators: The student will:

• Understand computers can be used to communicate with others beyond the classroom.
• Understand that electronic mail is a link to the entire world and also to many sources of information.
• Access needed information from printed media, electronic databases, and community resources.

Performance Tasks: The student will:

1. Send messages to other students using electronic mail with teacher supervision.
2. Retrieve messages from other classes and schools with the assistance of the teacher.
3. Recognize that we are part of a global society.
4. Access national and international websites.
5. Access information from age appropriate Internet sites with teacher supervision.
6. Access information from electronic sources for use in project presentations. Examples: encyclopedias, atlas and other specialized CD- ROM's.
7. Write a short report using two or more electronic resources. Combine the research with printed material.
8. Refer to a community resource person or business for added information.

Learning Experiences:

Declarative Knowledge: The students will:

1. Locate places within the local community, state, nation and world.

• The student will name and identify the five Great Lakes.
• The student will identify the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway on a map of the U.S., North America, Western Hemisphere, and a map of the world and note the international line that run through the Lakes.

1. What experiences to acquire and integrate?

• A wall map of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System will be made by the class and placed on a wall to be shared by the school.
• The students will color the Great Lakes/ St. Lawrence Seaway on maps of the U.S., North America, Western Hemisphere, and map of the world. These will be placed in their "Project Folder" and saved.

1. Strategies to construct, organize, or store knowledge.

• The student will use a teacher created Geosafari card on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway to memorize the system.
• The students will visualize images in their mind associating certain physical pictures representing each of the lakes.
• The students will memorize the location of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System by recognizing it pictorially.

1. What will be done?

• The class will be divided into groups of four.

GROUP ONE- Trace a large map of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System on a large sheet of paper using an opaque projector.

GROUP TWO- Color the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System blue using crayons markers or paint.

GROUP THREE- Make labels for the five Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Port of Ogdensburg, and Atlantic Ocean. Other labels will be added as the year progresses.

GROUP FOUR- Place the labels on the correct location on the map.

• The students will identify the system on each map in their textbooks noting the International Line. Color the system blue on maps of the U.S., North America, Western Hemisphere and a map of the world. These maps will be placed in a "save" folder for their yearlong project.
• The students will make booklets of the system. The diagrams are found in the book, Paddle-to-the-Sea, by Holling Clancy Holling.
• The students will visualize mental images associating certain physical pictures representing the outline of each lake. Each page will depict the shape of each lake as the following shapes:

1.Lake Superior- wolf's head

2.Lake Michigan- A squash with leaves

3.Lake Huron- shaped like a trapper with a pack of furs

4.Lake Erie- its outline makes a lump of coal.

5.Lake Ontario- its outline is a carrot

On the top of the page will be a map of the System (Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System). The student will color the specific lake on the map. On the bottom will be an outline of the lake. The student will color and transform it into the appropriate picture listed above.

Declarative Knowledge: The student will:

1. Identify the following terms and vocabulary: import, export, freighter, laker, port, trade, manufacture, raw material natural resources, transportation, grain elevator, lake, river, gulf, island, trawler, mineral, mining, ocean, peninsula, pollute, renewable resource, lumber, lumberjack.

• The student will design a "Project Word Book". There will be a page entitled Transportation, another Land and Water, and Industries (fishing, mining, factory, lumber and materials). The student will classify each new word under the above divisions under the guidance of the teacher. Each new vocabulary word will be looked up in the social studies book glossary or a dictionary. Each new definition will be written on the appropriate page. This collection of classified vocabulary words will also be placed in the student's project folder and expanded as the year continues.

(Other Declarative knowledge experiences are mentioned in the "Weekly Plan" section of this unit.)

Procedural Knowledge:

1. What procedural knowledge?
   • The student will listen carefully as the teacher reads a selection.
   • The students will take notes using a graphic organizer.
   • The students will write a summary from the notes of the selection that was read.
2. What will be done to help students construct models, shape and internalize the knowledge?
   • The students will organize the chapter that is read to them using a graphic organizer. The selection will be read a second time allowing students to focus on organizing their thoughts and remembering details.
   • Then students will organize a well-developed paragraph summarizing the selection read.

What will be done?

The teacher will read one chapter at a time of the Caldecott Honor Book, Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling. The students will take notes using a graphic organizer. The organizer consists of Paddle, which is circled pointing below to two thought organizers that divide the page in half: "Environment and Surroundings of Paddle". The other is "What Happens to Paddle." After the notes have been taken the teacher will discuss the figures of speech and clarify any vocabulary not understood, creating a mental picture of what the author is describing. The one page chapter will be read one more time allowing the students to develop their notes a little more before writing their summaries. They will then write a one-paragraph summary on the back of their notes. The teacher will then work with each student in practicing editing. After the first five chapters, peer editing could be begun where the students will work with a writing checklist editing one another's work. Later in the week students will write a final copy of their work. This can be done in long hand or published using word processing on the computer. The student will illustrate each page. When all the chapters have been completed, the students will design a cover for their "Paddle-to-the-Sea" booklets. These booklets will be put together and saved for part of the culminating experience- a "Meet the Mighty Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway" night. The booklets will be part of several projects completed throughout the year that will be shared with the local community.

(Other Declarative and Procedural knowledge experiences are listed below.)

Additional Experiences For Each Chapter of Paddle-to-the-Sea

The following are experiences that go with each chapter. The teacher may choose to do all or some of the activities. The unit is very flexible.

WEEK ONE- CHAPTER ONE, "HOW PADDLE-TO-THE-SEA CAME TO BE"

This chapter describes how an Indian boy whittled Paddle out of wood to create him.

(Day one, one hour)

• The students will listen as the teacher reads chapter one to the class. They will take notes arranging them in a graphic organizer.
• The students will then write a short summary of the chapter using their organized notes.
• The students will identify the figures of speech, metaphors and similes after the chapter is read. The teacher will guide them in this activity.

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(One hour)

The "Day one" activity will be the same for all 27 chapters. Towards the end of the week the students will write the final draft of the chapter and illustrate it. They will save each completed page that will be compiled as their own booklet of "Paddle-to-The-Sea."

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(Day two, one hour)

• Have a local whittler, possibly a relative of someone in the class, show the students how wood can be whittle into shapes.
• The class could even whittle shapes out of soap with supervision.

MATERIALS: a bar of soap and a potato peeler for each child.

(Day three)

• The students will create a wall mural of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System. The mural could be placed in the hall so the whole school could follow the adventures of Paddle as his path is traced on the map. This is described in detail under "Declarative knowledge-What will be done?"(page 10 of unit) Materials listed on next page.

MATERIALS: opaque or overhead projector; a picture of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System; pencil to trace; large black markers to outline; markers, crayons, or paints to color the system;

(one half hour)

• The four groups will meet and learn their assigned roles for the project.

(Day four, one hour)

• Group one sketch. Group three make labels of the lakes, river and ports on the computer using large type and bold printing in Microsoft Works.

(Day five, one hour)

• Group two color the map.

***PLEASE NOTE***

There are 27 chapters of Paddle to the Sea. The cross-curricular activities for chapter 1 are listed above. If you are interested in implementing this unit with the additional 26 chapters and learning experiences, please contact:

Mrs. Celina Burns

St. Marguerite D’Youville Academy

315 Gates Street

Ogdensburg, New York 13669

Extending and Refining Activities:

1. CLASSIFICATION

The students will create four sections of vocabulary words under the following classifications:

• Transportation
• Land and water
• Industries
• Materials

As the unit progresses the students will be adding vocabulary to each of the above sections. They will have to select under which section to put each new vocabulary word. Their performance in arranging their vocabulary notebooks will be evaluated using the "Rubric for Vocabulary Notebooks," listed in this unit.

1. INDUCTION

The students will take notes as the teacher reads a chapter of Paddle-to-the-Sea and arrange them in a graphic organizer. The notes will be placed under the following appropriate columns:

PADDLE

WHAT ENVIRONMENT WHAT HAPPENS TO

SURROUNDS PADDLE ? PADDLE?

The students will then take their notes and write a brief summary of each chapter as it is read to the class. They will edit the paragraph and write a final copy, which they will illustrate. The students will keep a page for every chapter of Paddle-to-the-Sea, which will be compiled into their own booklets. The student's work will be assessed using the "Rubric for Taking Notes in a Graphic Organizer" and "Summary" found under ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES.

• DEDUCTION

The students have learned about the Balance of nature, in particular river life. They have also learned about the life cycle of insects, especially the shadily. The students will investigate the shadfly populations before and after the introduction of mussels to the St. Lawrence River. Given the results of their research what can they deduce about the effects of the mussels on the shadfly populations. The students will write a report describing what they found out as part of their research and what reasons they can give for the connection between the introduction of the mussels and the decrease in shadfly populations. They will also include facts about the relationship of mussels on all river life and human life activities. They are to decide if the introduction of mussels was a good thing for the river community. They must support their views with facts. They will be evaluated using the "Rubric for Rating Student's Reports and Presentations."

• CONSTRUCTING SUPPORT

The students will write letters to "Save the River" and the "Shipping Companies" requesting information on their position on winter navigation of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The class will use a graphic organizer breaking the information into "pros" and "cons" of winter navigation. They will then write an essay and choose their own opinion on winter navigation. They need to include details that will support their decision. The essay will be evaluated using the "Rubric for Rating Student's Reports and Presentations."

• ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES- RUBRICS
• RUBRIC FOR TAKING NOTES IN A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER:

  YES / NO

  • The student places notes under correct headings.
  • The student notes the important surroundings.
  • The student notes what happened to Paddle.

  • SUMMARY:

  • The student writes all sentences as complete thoughts.
  • The student avoids the use of repetition of words and phrases.
  • The student indents the first word of a paragraph.
  • The students capitalizes first words in sentences and
  • The student ends each sentence with correct punctuation.
  • The student includes his notes in the summary.
  • The student's final copy is neat.
  • The writing is neat and legible.
  • The paper has no folds, tears, or smudges.
  • The student uses left and right margins.
  • The illustration goes with the summary.
  • The illustration is and colored nicely.

   

  RUBRIC FOR VOCABULARY NOTEBOOKS.

  LEVEL 4 - EXCELLENT

  • All the vocabulary words studied are included in the vocabulary notebook.
  • All entry words are underlined and are followed by the correct definition.
  • All entries are written under the correct division: Transportation, Land and Water, Industries, or Materials.
  • A line is skipped after each complete entry. All pages of the booklet are done neatly.
  • All pages are free of any folds, tears, creases, or smudges.

  LEVEL 3 - GOOD

  • Most of the vocabulary words studied are included in the vocabulary notebook.
  • Most of the entry words are underlined and are followed by the correct definition.
  • Most of the entries are written under the correct division.
  • A line is skipped after almost all of the complete entries.
  • Most of the pages are done neatly.
  • Most of the pages are free of any folds, tears, creases, or smudges.

  LEVEL 2 - FAIR

  • Some of the vocabulary words studied are included in the vocabulary notebook.
  • Some of the entry words are underlined and followed by the correct definition.
  • Some of the entries are written under the correct definition.
  • A line is skipped after some of the entries.
  • Some of the pages are done neatly.
  • Some of the pages are free of any folds, tears, creases, or smudges.

  LEVEL 1 - NOT YET

  • Most of the vocabulary words studied are NOT included in the vocabulary notebook.
  • Most of the entry words are NOT underlined and followed by the correct definition.
  • Most of the entries are not written under the correct divisions.
  • A line is NOT skipped under most of the entries.
  • Most of the pages are messy.
  • Most of the pages have folds, tears, creases or smudges.

   

  RUBRIC FOR RATING STUDENTS REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS, ORAL AND WRITTEN.

  LEVEL 4 - EXCELLENT

  The student develops the topic in an interesting and imaginative way.

  • The student demonstrates a logical plan of organization and coherence in the development of ideas.
  • The student develops ideas fully through the use of support material.
  • The student shows skillful use of support material.
  • The student uses specific, vivid language.
  • The student makes few or no errors in mechanics.
  • The student writes, orally reads, and discusses topic for social interaction/ is able to clearly answer all students questions related to required research.
  • The student makes good eye contact with his audience and responds appropriately.

  LEVEL 3 - GOOD

  • The student develops the assigned topic using an acceptable plan of organization.
  • The student demonstrates satisfactory development of ideas through the use of adequate support material.
  • The student uses some sentence variety.
  • The student uses appropriate language.
  • The student makes errors in mechanics that do not interfere with communication.
  • The student makes eye contact with his audience most of the time and responds appropriately some of the time.

   

  LEVEL 2 - FAIR

  • The student attempts to develop the assigned topic but demonstrates weakness in organization and may include digressions.
  • The student demonstrates weakness in the development of ideas with little use of support material.
  • The student demonstrates sentence sense but has little sentence variety.
  • The student occasionally uses inappropriate or incorrect language.
  • The student makes errors in mechanics that interfere with communication.
  • The student has difficulty writing, reading, and/or discussing the topic for social interaction.
  • The student is able to answer very few questions pertaining to required research.
  • The student rarely makes eye contact with his audience and almost never responds to cues from his audience.

  LEVEL 1 - NOT YET

  • The student minimally addresses the assigned topic but lacks a plan of organization.
  • The student does not use support material in the development of ideas or uses irrelevant material.
  • The student demonstrates a lack of sentence sense.
  • The student frequently uses inappropriate or incorrect language.
  • The student makes errors in mechanics that seriously interfere with communication.
  • The student is unable to write, read, and/or discuss the topic for social interaction.
  • The student is unable to answer questions pertaining to required research.
  • The student does not make eye contact with his audience and does not respond to cues from his audience.

   

  RUBRIC FOR MODELS, POSTERS OR DIORAMAS

  4. EXCELLENT
     • Model, poster or diorama is done neatly.
     • Coloring is well planned and is pleasing to the viewer.
     • Sections of the poster or project are labeled.
     • The poster or project contains very important material that supports the written report.
  5. GOOD
  6. • Model, poster, or diorama is done fairly neatly.
     • Coloring/drawing is not as well planned and appears unorganized to the viewer.
     • Most of the sections of the poster or project are labeled.
     • The poster or project contains some of the important material that supports the written report.
  7. FAIR
     • Poster/diorama is messy.
     • Coloring/drawing is unplanned and confusing to the viewer.
     • Some of the sections of the poster/or project are labeled.
     • The poster or project has very little support material for the written report.
  8. NOT YET
     • Poster/diorama is messy.
     • Shows lack of fine motor skills and/or
     • Inaccurate display.
     • The poster or project has very little or no support for the written report.

   

  RUBRIC FOR GREAT LAKES BOOKLETS (SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD 3)

  4 EXCELLENT

  • All pages of booklet are done neatly.
  • Pages are free of any folds, tears, creases or smudges.
  • Illustrations are done neatly; drawing and coloring are well planned.
  • The drawing looks like the outline of the lake.
  • All appropriate lakes on each page are colored on the map of the entire Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.
  • All important information about the lake is included such as the size of the lake, depth, industries and ports.

  3 GOOD

  • Most of the pages of the booklet are done neatly,(writing, drawing, and coloring)
  • Pages are fairly free of any folds, tears, creases or smudges.
  • Most illustrations are done neatly; drawing and coloring are well planned.
  • The drawing resembles the outline of the lake.
  • Most of the appropriate lakes are colored in the map of the entire Great Lakes.
  • Most of the important information about the lake is included such as the size of the lake, depth, industries and ports.

  2 FAIR

  • Some of the pages of the booklet are done neatly, (writing, drawing, and coloring).
  • Pages show folds, tears, creases and/or smudges.
  • Few illustrations are done neatly; drawing and coloring show poor planning.
  • The drawings barely show a resemblance to an outline of a lake.
  • Few of the appropriate lakes are correctly colored in on the map of the entire Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.
  • The report barely includes any of the important information about each lake.

  1 NOT YET

  • Most of the pages of the booklet are messy,(writing, drawing, coloring)
  • The pages show folds, tears, creases and/or smudges.
  • Illustrations are messy and show little or no effort.
  • The drawings do not resemble the outline of the lake or are omitted.
  • Few or none of the appropriate lakes are colored in on the map.
  • The report includes little or no important information about the lake.

   

  RUBRIC FOR "PHYSICAL LOCATION" PROJECTS. ( SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD 3)

  • The student explains his project and is able to locate it on a map.
  • The student explains what was done to this part of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.
  • The student explains what it is like now.
  • The student explains why it was necessary to modify the natural environment.
  • The student will explain whom in the world benefits from this change in environment.

  RUBRIC FOR COOPERATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

  INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT:

  Name______________________

  Task:___________________________(Coach, Recorder, Materials handler, Reader, Reporter)

  Always almost always sometimes not observed

  Performed task _______________________________________________________

  The student explained His ideas clearly to Others in the group._____________________________________________________

  The student listened to And was supportive of Others._________________________________________________________________

   

  GROUP ASSESSMENT:

  Group members:_________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

  Always almost always sometimes not observed

  The group agreed On a plan.______________________________________________________________

  All members of The group participated In solving the problem.____________________________________________________

  The group used their Time productively._______________________________________________________

  The group respectedThe opinions of all The members.___________________________________________________________

  The group engaged In constructive

  Criticism._______________________________________________________________

  *This form was used to assess individual students in their roles in the group projects.

   

  The following is a list of observable behaviors for the students to use as a guide for recognizing their performance in cooperative learning activities:

  GOOD LISTENING:

  Looks like	Sounds like
  Heads together	One voice at a time
  Eyes on the speaker	No extra sounds
  One mouth moving at a time	Asking questions
  Nodding	Quiet voices
  Taking turns	No interruptions
  Waiting	Waiting

   

  ENCOURAGING OTHERS:

  Looks Like	Sounds like
  Smiles	"That's good!"
  Nodding	"Good idea!"
  Eyes on the speaker	"Way to go!"
  Pat on the back	"You've got it!"
  Thumbs up	"What do you think?"

   

  DISCUSSING AND AGREEING:

  Looks like	Sounds like
  People talking in turn	Sharing opinions
  All members contributing	One voice at a time
  Eyes on the speaker	"What do you mean by…"
  	"I don't understand…"
  	"Let's keep trying…"
  	"OK, I agree…"
  	Compromising

   

  ON-TASK BEHAVIOR

  Looks like	Sounds like
  Heads together	Each voice is heard sometime
  All members together	People asking questions
  All eyes looking at materials	People telling ideas
  Eyes on the speaker	Talk is about the topic
  Everyone is busy	No extra talking is going on

   

  CULMINATING EXPERIENCE:

  During the year the class will be plotting ships coming from foreign countries and from ports along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway System. The students will send pictures of our port and communicate with another classroom in a port city that has a ship destined for Ogdensburg, New York. The ship coming to Ogdensburg will be bringing a product that is needed in the Ogdensburg area. The children will take pictures of the ship unloading and explain to the children at the other port why the import was needed and what it is used for. If the ship is going to export a product back to the foreign country, the Ogdensburg class will find how the product is obtained and try to send pictures of the export being loaded on the ship. This will be done via the Internet. All correspondences will be recorded.

  A "Meet the Mighty Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway Night" will be planned for the first week of June. All City of Ogdensburg and City of Prescott, Ontario officials, the Board of Directors of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority, and parents and community alike, will be invited to this special night. The students will share what they have learned throughout the year and demonstrate their projects. In particular they'll share their communications with the class in a foreign country.

  Group oral presentations include projects describing industries that are found on or utilize the Great Lakes or St. Lawrence Seaway Systems such as the lumber industry, copper mining, car manufacturing and farming. Other presentations include the physical sections of the system such as the five Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, Welland Canal, Niagara Falls, Sault Ste. Marie Locks, and the Eisenhower Locks. The final group of oral presentations will be a short report about a sunken ship off the shoreline of Ogdensburg. Their presentations will be videotaped and shared on local TV.

  On display will be a three-dimensional Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway model, which will be demonstrated. When water is poured on top of a mountain above Lake Superior it will fill up the lake, which will overflow into Lake Michigan until it flows into the St. Lawrence River and out to sea. Their "Paddle-to-the Sea" booklets will be on display along with the Great Lakes booklets containing each lake depicted as a certain picture with a short narrative describing the lake. The students will be assessed on their presentations and work for the unit using the rubrics stated in this unit under,

  ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES.

  MODIFICATIONS:

  ENVIRONMENTAL:

  1. During group work the students need to arrange desks together with other members of their group.
  2. During the research sections of the plan the class may work in the library.
  3. During Internet searches the class would also need to work in the library. If other classrooms have Internet in their rooms then the move would not be necessary.
  4. When the class needs to use word processing to publish their work, they would need to work in the computer lab.
  5. Visits to the Port of Ogdensburg, Eisenhower Locks and the sawmill at "Upper Canada Village", would obviously be at different environmental settings.

   

  INSTRUCTIONAL MODIFICATIONS:

  1. The teacher should audiotape the reading of each chapter of Paddle-to-the-Sea. The cassette tape can be used if a student is absent that day or a child needs to read it and hear it at the same time.
  2. If a child has a hard time "keeping up" assign another child to be an "encourager". This needs to be supervised by the teacher.
  3. If a class does not live near the Great Lakes or St. Lawrence River, the initiating activity would not be possible. In that case the teacher could ask the class to bring in a piece of clothing or an object that was made in another country. Each child's name could be placed on a chart along with the name of the article and the country it came from. They could then locate these areas on a world map. This would be an alternative initiating activity for this unit.

  REFLECTION:

  This unit lends itself to connections to many of the New York State standards that are not listed in this unit. It is very flexible, allowing the individual teacher to use any activities that they feel comfortable implementing. Depending on the personality or skill level of a class, the teacher is able to use this unit as a springboard into any content area. For example: New York State Standard 3, Key idea #4 involves students analyzing and constructing tables, charts, and graphs to display and analyze real-world data. There is a magazine called SEAWAY REVIEW, which displays charts and graphs of products shipped on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The teacher could use this as part of a unit on interpreting and analyzing data.

  I found the students loved writing their summaries of Paddle-to-the-Sea. They especially enjoyed the scuba diver's presentation and the shipwrecks located off the City of Ogdensburg's docks.

  This unit is particularly important locally because St. Marguerite D'Youville Academy is located in the Port of Ogdensburg, New York. But I feel it is of great importance to all schools because it has great global implications and it involves the students in worldwide economics. We are interdependent and sharers of our wealth (natural resources).

   

  NOTES:

  1. ASSESSMENTS: The assessments are clearly indicated under ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES. In addition there will be written assessments to evaluate the declarative knowledge learned in this unit.
  2. MATERIALS: The materials needed for major projects are listed at that particular place in the unit. The following are general materials needed by the teacher and student for this unit.

  Teacher: TV; VCR; computer with Microsoft Works or Word; printer; camcorder; blank video tapes; cassette tape recorder; blank cassette tapes; letter to parents about initiating activity; Ship watching chart; videos about marsh life, sawmills, dogsledding, and Niagara Falls; the book Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling; and Sunken Treasure by Gail Gibbon.

  Students: Project folder; pencils; loose-leaf paper; colored pencils; and markers.