Learning the 50 States By Katie Schonhoff and

Learning the 50 States! By Katie Schonhoff and Abbey Pokorny

Welcome to the United States of America! Welcome kids to the most exciting country that we call home! Today we are going to learn all 50 of the United States of America from the smallest to the largest and all the interesting characteristics that they have.

• Today’s Agenda Your job for today is to research the two states that are assigned to you and give a full report on them, answering the questions given. At the end of the assignment the whole class will come together and each student will present their two states.

• Step One First you will need to research the States: 1. Name 2. State Abbreviation 3. Capital 4. The date it became a State 5. Population 6. Professional Sports teams 7. Bird 8. Flower 9. Tree 10. Picture of the Flag 11. State Nickname

• For Example… 1. Sate: Missouri 2. Abbreviation: MO 3. Capital: Jefferson City 4. Date it became a state: August 10, 1821 5. Population: 6, 044, 171 (18 th most populous state in the USA) 6. Professional sports teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Rams, Blues; Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. 7. State bird: Eastern Bluebird 8. State flower: Dogwood 9. State tree: Flowering Dogwood 10. State nickname: The Show-Me State

• Step Two • Next, you will transfer the information you discovered about your state onto paper in a neat and organized way. • Make it original, and make sure all facts are listed. • Sketch the flag, and feel free to sketch anything else that relates to your state (the bird, tree, etc. ) • When all states are completed, we will come together as a class and combine our states to create our own atlas.

• Step Three On a piece of notebook paper, complete the following questions: • What characteristics do you find most interesting about your state? Explain • Where does the motto for your state come from? Ex. “Show Me State” Why do you think it is relevant? • Why would you think someone would like to live here?

• Resources • http: //www. 50 states. com/ • http: //www. infoplease. com/states. html • http: //www. factmonster. com/states. html • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=w 6 TGa. Ztxq 4 c • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=96 m. Hc. Sz. X-10 • http: //www. netstate. com/

• Further Activities • Write a letter to the Mayor of your state telling him all the wonderful things you like about his state and why. • Once your peers are finished presenting find four states you found most interesting and in a paragraph reflect on them and tell why you picked those states. • From your state find out a famous person that is from there and write a paragraph on their impact on society (why they are well-known). • Create your dream state and give it interesting facts just like you learned for your assigned state, also create its own flag.

• Resources for further activities http: //www. famousbirthdays. com/birthplace/states. html http: //www. 50 states. com/bio/nickname 4. htm

Very Well Done 4 Creativity Organization Information Completion Good 3 Okay 2 Needs Work 1 Total

Common Core Standards RH. 6 -8. 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources. RH. 6 -8. 2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary source or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinion. RH. 6 -8. 5. Describe how a text presents information. RH. 6 -8. 8 Distinguish among fact, opinion, and respond judgment in a text. WHST. 6 -8. Use technology, including the internet, to produce writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently. WHST. 6 -8. 9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and research.