Topic:
Introduction to Port CitiesTopic:
Introduction to Port Cities
Grade Level: 6,7,8
Goals:
*The students will be introduced to the topic of port cities.
*The students will learn what role port cities have played in history.
*The students will be able to identify the significance that port cities play in the world today.
Materials:
*Overhead projector/transparencies
*Research materials for student use
Content Area:
*Language Arts
*Social Studies
Concepts:
*Intuitive thinking
*Research skills
*Economy
*Environmental issues
Procedure:
1. The teacher will ask the students if they know what a port city is. The students will then brainstorm ideas as to what a port city is, what significance port cities have in the spectrum of the world, etc.
2. The teacher will introduce the concept of a word web to the students and how it is useful. The students will work as a class to create a word web. This word web will be done on an overhead or the chalkboard and the students will orally contribute what they know or think they know about port cities. The word at the center of the word web will be port city. The students will express everything they know about port cities and organize and categorize the information into a word web. This word web should be saved so that students may add or take things off of it as they learn more about port cities throughout the course of this curriculum.
3. After the word web is completed, allow the students 20 minutes to look through resource books and other articles about port cities (see resources listed at the end of the lessons). The information that the students find will aid them in the discussion to follow.
4. Then the teacher will then describe his/her idea of what a port city is. The teacher will also talk about how a port city differs from other cities and the special and distinguishing features of a port city. The students are encouraged to add any information that they found that the teacher did not mention. These features may include economy, transportation, culture, commerce and weather.
5. The teacher will then talk about the historical significance of port cities. Such issues that the teacher might choose to discuss are the role of military in some port cities, the role that port cities have played in immigration, etc. The students are also encouraged to give their input on this topic using the information they found in the beginning of this lesson.
6. The teacher can then ask the students what factors they think might differ within different port cities and what similarities might exist between port cities. The teacher can then add to what the students have mentioned regarding these similarities and differences.
7. Finally, ask the students what role they think port cities play on modern society. The teacher will contribute specific ideas and issues to the students ideas such as the effects of commerce, economy, environmental concerns, etc.
8. The students will then write a brief paragraph summarizing what they learned during this lesson and also what they may want to learn or what questions they might still have. This paragraph can help the teacher to plan the following lessons because he/she will learn what it is that the students want to learn and what they already know.
Evaluation: The students will be assessed on the paragraph that they turn in. This will be given a pass/fail grade. The students will be hand writing the paragraph in class that day. Therefore, the paragraph will basically be looked strictly on completion and non-completion. If the student does not turn a paragraph in, they will receive a fail grade until they turn one in.
Approximate Time: 1.5 hours
Resources:
**The following are books that the students will be using in the next lesson but are also appropriate to use in this lesson. ~Allison, Robert J. Australia. Texas: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1996.
~Bornoff, Nicholas. Japan. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1997.
~Dahl, Michael S. Australia. Mankato, MN: Bridgestone Book, 1997.
~Dahl, Michael S. Japan. Mankato, MN: Bridgestone Book, 1997.
~Flake, Carol. New Orleans: Behind the Masks of America_' Most Exotic City. New York: Grove Press, 1994.
~Fox, Geoffrey. The Land and People of Argentina. New York: Lippincott, 1990.
~Hargrove, Jim. Belgium. Chicago: Children's Press, 1988.
~Heinrichs, Ann. Japan. New York: Children's Press, 1997.
~Hintz, Martin. Argentina. Chicago: Children's Press, 1985.
~Kalman, Bobbie. Japan, the Culture. Toronto: Crabtree Publishing Company, 1989.
~Kuklin, Susan. Kodomo: Children of Japan. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995.
~Kuwait in Pictures (prepared by the Geography Dept). Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1989.
~Moore, Robert. Living in Sydney. Morristown, N.J.: Silver Burdett, 1987.
~Morris, Jan. Sydney. New York: Random House, 1992.
~Morrison, Marion. Argentina. Englewood Cliffs: N.J.: Silver Burdett Press, 1989.
~Pateman, Robert. Belgium. New York: M. Cavendish, 1995.
Internet Sites:
Extensions:
-The teacher may choose to have the students spend more time researching and actually present the information that they found.
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