Last updated: August 31, 2021
Lesson Plan
Mississippi River Vocabulary
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 30 Minutes
- State Standards:
- Missouri
Social Studies
Grades 1-5
Standard 5: B, C, D, F, G - Thinking Skills:
- Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles.
Essential Question
What are the features of a river?
Objective
Students will identify river fundamental river structures.
Students will explain how river structures interact with each other.
Students will explain how river features contribute to the planning of human settlements.
Background
This lesson is self-contained and does not require additional material. This lesson is designed as preparation for the Settling the Mississippi unit so familiarity with later lessons may help educators steer this lesson toward uniform terms and repeatable examples throughout the unit.
Preparation
This lesson can be projected on a classroom screen, handed out on paper or be used as an online lesson. Once the teacher chooses the format appropriate copies can be made and distributed.
Materials
Vocabulary worksheet with terms and space to fill in definitions.
A list of vocabulary definitions with space for students to fill in the corresponding word.
Download River Vocab - Definitions
A list of vocabulary definitions with a word bank and space for students to fill in the corresponding word.
Download River Vocab - Definitions and Wordbank
A slideshow presentation with river vocabulary terms, definitions, and images. This slideshow can be reviewed in class or distributed to students.
Download River Vocab - Presentation
Procedure
- Identify which students would benefit from scaffolded formative and summative assessments.
- Play river ambience audio. An example video is found on YouTube.
- Ask the class about any experiences they have with rivers? Ask them about what impressions fictional depictions of rivers have left them with? Allow yourself to be guided by their answers, and attempt to facilitate a dialogue.
- Distribute paper copies of River Vocab Presentation or project it for the class.
- Students work through presentation and complete appropriate documentation.
- Once appropriately tiered formative assessment is completed students may then complete the next level assignment as a summative assessment.
Vocabulary
River, Riverbank, Channel, Meander, Source, River mouth, Downstream, Flood, Floodplain, Sediments, Agriculture
Assessment Materials
Most students will use NPS River Vocab - Terms as a summative assessment. NPS River Vocab - Terms can be used with notes as a formative and then again without notes as a summative.
Supports for Struggling Learners
The terms activities are tiered so that several ability levels within the same class can be reached successfully by tailoring the activity to the student or one of the alternate versions may be used as a summative assessment. See: River Vocab - Terms, Definitions, Definitions Word Bank.