Entry Points: find a way to engage your students and hook them from the beginning. Find out what they know and what they are curious about!
Something Cool:
- Check out these videos about how distorted the traditional Mercator map of the world is and why it’s impossible to represent the Earth accurately on a two dimensional map. The explanations in the first video are a bit complex but give great visuals and begin to introduce the complexities of mapping:
- Check out this list of the Most Impressive Thing about Each State. There are some pretty fascinating facts in there that relate to all of the social studies strands. Start with the one from Ohio–it was new to me and worthy of big conversations. Note: Colorado and Kentucky’s impressive facts have to do with alcohol.
Something Funny Use one of these funny, punny, and educational comics to start conversation. Display a comic and discuss. What background knowledge do your students have? What experiences do they have? What vocabulary do they know? What do they wonder? What issues are referenced? What point of view is the comic expressing?
- Something Important Happening in the News: There are always interesting stories about differences between regions of the U. S. Check out these fascinating stories:
- “Life expectancy gap between rich and poor U.S. regions is ‘more than 20 years'” (Note: there is a word in the article that may be problematic for your students and that you may want to skip if reading aloud together)
- “New reports explore how a shifting climate may impact eight U.S. regions”
- As the census in 2020 approaches, check out the WorldPopulationReview site that allows to interactively investigate population trends in the world, by looking at continents, countries, U.S. states, and U.S. cities. Users can see data via maps and interesting charts and graphs. Have Ohio students look at the state level data and compare it to other states in the region and around the country.
- Research the importance of the census and its history. For example, read this opinion piece together “Answering the U.S. Census is your civic –and legal– duty” or listen to this reporter answer questions about the history of the census. You may want to investigate the current controversy over whether the census should begin to include a citizenship question by reading local news stories, such as “Akron Considers Protesting Census Citizenship Question.”
Essential Questions: use these big picture wonderings to guide your students to deep understandings as you research, experiment, read, and create.
- What can maps teach us about land and people?
- How do land and its resources change the people who live there?
- How have land and resources impact the economics of our state and the regions of our country?
- How have people impacted the land in Ohio and the U.S. over time?
- How has the population of Ohio and the U.S. changed over time?
- How have Ohio’s location and resources been important to the people who live here?
- How have different transportation systems in Ohio impacted the state and the country?
The Integrated Curriculum Classroom 