Famous Georgians

Created By: Rhonda Elton in collaboration with 5th grade team

Organization: Elementary School
Location: Georgia
Grade Level: 5
Type of Lesson: Lesson in a Unit
Type of Schedule: Fixed
Collaboration Continuum: Intensive
Content Area: Social Studies
Content Topic: People who have Influenced Georgia

Standards for the 21st Century Learner

Skills Indicators:
1.1.1 Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and make realworld connection for using this process in own life.
1.1.3. Develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding.
1.1.6. Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (textual, visual, media, digital)
in order to make inferences and gather meaning.
Dispositions Indicators:
1.2.2. Demonstrate confidence and self-direction by making independent choices in the selection of
resources and information.
3.2.1. Demonstrate leadership ad confidence by presenting ideas to others in both formal and informal
settings.
Responsibilities Indicators:
1.3.1. Respect copyright/intellectual property rights of creators and producers.
1.3.3. Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information.
1.3.5. Use information technology responsibly.
Self-Assessment Indicators:
1.4.3. Monitor gathered information, and assess for gaps or weaknesses.
1.4.4. Seek appropriate help when it is needed.
2.4.3. Recognize new knowledge and understanding.

Scenario:
The Georgia Standards in both fourth and fifth grades focus on the study of United States History. As a part of
this study, many teachers often complete a study on the Founding of Georgia. This year, the fifth grade
teachers designed a Georgia Day Unit. By this time in an elementary students career, they are tired of dressing
up like colonists and Indians and making homemade butter and candles. As a result, our fifth grade teachers
and the MS collaborated to create a more advanced hands-on unit for our 5th grade students. The classroom
teachers and the MS will work together to introduce students to many famous Georgians both past and
present. The teachers will help students with note-taking, and the MS will direct students to books and websites
available for their use. Research skills, note-taking skills and paraphrasing skills are lessons that have already
been addressed with the classes throughout the year. The classes have also already been introduced to the
technology tools they are able to use to create their projects.
Overview:
This lesson is designed to teach research skills. During a fifth grade mini unit on famous Georgians, students
will apply the research process to read about their person, learn about their characteristics and their
accomplishments, and evaluate what made them famous. The students will use the reading comprehension
strategy of questioning to guide them in conducting effective research. Their objective will be to formulate
questions in order to construct meaning from the facts that they find, analyze the information, and then use the
information to design and create a mini-museum that focuses on their famous Georgian. The essential question
that the students will explore is Why is my hero famous and how did he or she affect Georgia history?
5th Grade Reading CCGPS Standards:
ELACC5W7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through
investigation of different aspects of a topic
ELACC5W8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and
digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
ELACC5W9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
ELACC5SL4: Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate
facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
ELACC5SL5: Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations
when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
ELACC5SL6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task
and situation.
Final Product: Each student will use Museum Box, Glosgter, or Thinglink to create a project about their
famous Georgian. The information displayed should be information and artifacts that fully represent the
students famous Georgian.
Library Lesson: The fifth graders will work with the MS to learn about the famous Georgian that they have
chosen to explore. They will use books and online resources that have already been set aside by the Media
Specialist to accomplish this research project and complete the steps of the research process. The classroom
teacher and the Media Specialist will assist the students with note taking and determining if the information that
they are finding is relevant to their project. They will also assist the students with putting the relevant
information in their own words and citing their sources correctly.
Estimated Lesson Time: 120 minutes

Assessment
Product: Each student will create a Museum Box, Glogster or Thinglink that may include artifacts,
multimedia, photographs, or articles pertaining to their famous Georgian. Each project will demonstrate the
students knowledge of the research that was conducted. The Media Specialist and the classroom teacher will
grade the projects based on a collaborative rubric.
Process: Each student will complete the questioning graphic organizers to help take adequate and sufficient
notes, as well as record citation information. They will work individually. The classroom teacher and the MS
will assist students in completing the graphic organizers and assist with any questions or issues as needed.
Student self - questioning: During this research process, the students will be considering and asking: Which
sources have the best information? Which ones have the most reliable information? Which ones have the most
accurate information? Based on my notes, do I have enough information to paint a well rounded picture of my
famous Georgian? Do I know how my hero affected Georgia history and what legacy he or she left behind? Did
I give credit to my sources?

Instructional Plan
Resources students will use:
Books, websites, graphic organizers, Museum Box, Thinglink, Glogster, Internet, BYOD
Resources instructor will use:
SmartBoard, Internet, laptop, Todays Meet

Instruction/Activities
Direct Instruction: The fifth grade teachers follow the Georgia State Standards and students have already
learned at length during fourth and fifth grade about United States History. Additionally, each year in February,
most elementary schools conduct a Georgia Day Unit. The fifth grade classes are brought to the Media Center.
The MS has a list of names projected on the SmartBoard. In order to ascertain what background knowledge the
students already possess, the MS uses Todays Meet to ask students what each of the names have in common.
The students are allowed to reply using their BYOD. After the connection is made that each name is a famous
person from Georgia History, the classroom teacher will provide students with a list of famous Georgians to
choose from for their research project. The MS will use the Smartboard to show students the curated list of
resources on Symbaloo featuring famous Georgians, the kid friendly websites, and the books that are available
in the Media Center. The classroom teacher will discuss the note taking graphic organizer that should guide
their research, the citation checklist, and the scoring rubric.
Modeling and guided practice: The classroom teacher and the MS will choose a famous person who is not
from Georgia in order to model how to formulate questions to guide research. This activity will show students
that although they need to know background information about their person in order to be able to tell their story
(such as where were they born and where did they go to school), they also need to know how to ask higher level
questions and more engaging questions such as what did he or she contribute to society? How did he or she
change peoples lives? What type of legacy did he leave behind? Why is he or she considered a hero? The
teacher and the MS will also review again how to properly cite sources.
Independent Practice: Students formulate their own questions using their research questions graphic organizer.
They use the resources in the Media Center including the Symbaloo curated resources and the available books.
They brainstorm their own set of questions and then search for the answers. They write the answers in their own
words and they cite their sources properly.