Lesson Plan Title: The Four Friends

Grade Level: 1st – 2nd Grades

Subject: Social Studies

Concept/Topic to Teach: When we work together the result is good; other cultures have good stories we can learn from.

General Goal: To discover through an interactive experience how working with different kinds of people can lead to better results and be more fun.

Specific Objectives: When students finish this lesson they should be able to
• Understand that people are different
• Understand that people who are different can still work together
• Understand that when people who are different work together the result is good
• Locate Asia on the world map

Required Materials: Smartboard Classroom Computer, pull down world map, animal coloring pages completed during art time, (Elephant, Rabbit, Peacock, Monkey). These pictures will have been colored, cut out and glued onto popsicle sticks. 7 students will have the elephant, 7 the rabbit, etc. (coloring pages are linked at the bottom of the plan)
Anticipatory Set (Lead In): Have students push the desks to the back of the room and hold their animal picture. Place 4 coloring pages on the floor to denote where each group is to gather. Explain: When I ring this bell go to the picture that matches the animal you colored, sit down quietly and face the front. (ring bell)

Step-By-Step Procedures:
1. When students are seated direct their attention to the large world map. Point to Asia and tell them the name of this continent. Find Bhutan on the map. Explain that today we will read a story that comes from the tiny country of Bhutan on the continent of Asia and see what we can learn from it. (Reviewing their locations by pointing to them)
2. Explain that there are many animals in Asia but today we are going to read a story about 4 of them, the peacock, the rabbit, the elephant and the monkey. Ask: Are these 4 animals the same? Ask each group what sound their animal makes and allow them to answer as a group, (peacocks make a kind of coo-warble noise). Ask: Do you think that these 4 animals can work together? Why or Why not?
3. Invite the groups of students to wave their animal pictures and make their animal noise each time their animal is mentioned.
4. Read The Four Friends ½ way through using the Smartboard Classroom Computer - http://www.starfall.com/n/folk-tales/four-friends/load.htm?f –stop at page 8. Review what each animal did. Ask: Are they the same? Did they do exactly the same thing? Did they work together? What happened?

5. Read the last ½ of the story. Review what each animal did. Ask: Did the animals work together? What happened? Was it a good thing that happened, or a bad thing? Did the peacock work alone? What would have happened if the rabbit had worked alone? (Can go through each animal, or divide them up, 2 for each of those questions).
6. Would the story have been more fun to read together if you had all been the same animal? If everyone was an elephant and made elephant noises, would that have been better or worse? Why?
7. Ask: What if the animals were different people? Could they have worked together? Can we work with people who are different than us? What do you think will happen if we work with people that are different from us?
Plan for Independent Practice: At the end of the day students will write in their journal/scrapbook using this prompt: The world would be better if we all worked together because…
Closure: Review: Where does this story come from? (Map) What does this story teach us? What noises do our animals make? (Just for fun)
Assessment Based on Objectives: Students will be asked to show Asia on the world map. Assessment will be based on student response in class and in their journal.
Rubric
Identify Asia on Map 25%
Activity participation/Answers 25%
Journal response
Name 1 thing “better” 25%
Name 2+ things “better” 25%

Adaptations for Special Needs Students: Students with IEP’s that disallow journal writing will be allowed to verbally answer the prompt, (to me, not the entire class).
Extensions (Gifted Students): None needed as the gifted student can just write more detail in the journal. Gifted students will be allowed to point out Bhutan as well as Asia if desired.
Possible Connections to Other Subjects: The subject of this lesson is social studies, but these animals will be in use all day since we will be discussing fractions up to ¼ in math, making them was part of art, locating Asia and Bhutan can be part of geography, the journal is part of writing, the story can be printed out and given as a handout for reading, and if it’s a science day we can either discuss our animal’s habitats or we can plant a seed as they did in the story and use our animals-on-sticks as pot decorations by sticking the stick into the dirt as opposed to putting them in the journal, depending on the science unit currently being studied. Multipurpose handouts and entire days built around a central theme are my favorites.

Handouts
http://www.first-school.ws/t/cpelephant2.htm
http://www.first-school.ws/t/cpmonkey_spider.htm
http://www.first-school.ws/t/cppeacock.htm
http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.coloring.ws/animals/rabbit2.gif