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Dakota State University 

College of Education   
Social Studies: Sisseton, SD - Day 1 
Name: ​Faye Schmidt 
Grade Level: ​4th Grade 
School: ​Sioux Valley Elementary 
Date:  Thursday​, ​March 28th, 2019 
Time: ​1:45-2:25 PM 
 
Reflection from prior lesson:  
● Previously, this class has been working on their research for their upcoming Wax 
Museum Presentation that will take place in May. Before beginning their Wax 
Museum research, they were working on an interactive South Dakota Road Trip, 
found at ​https://www.sdroadtrip.org/​. This website allows students to learn more 
about various cities in South Dakota from their own classrooms. Since our 
research part of the Wax Museum is now finished, we will begin using this website 
once again to continue our virtual road trip. This week’s South Dakota city is 
Sisseton, and the students will learn more about how this town came to be and 
some additional information describing the area. The section that I will be teaching 
today has 27 students. Although it is a rather large class, this group does a good 
job of staying on task and paying attention during instruction time. Many are eager 
to answer questions when asked and are willing to follow along with the readings.  
 
Lesson Goal(s) / Standards:   
● K-12.H.1 ​- Students will analyze how major events are chronologically connected 
and evaluate their impact on one another. 
○ ​4.H.1.1​ - Analyze the impact of significant historical events on the 
development of cultures in South Dakota. 
● K-12.H.2​ - Students will analyze and evaluate the impact of people, events, ideas 
and symbols upon history using multiple sources. 
○ 4.H.2.3​ - Describe the influence of notable South Dakotans of the 
development of our state. 
● K-12.H.4​ - Students will identify and evaluate the causes and effects of past, 
current and potential events, issues and problems.  
○ 4.H.4.1 ​- Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments 
in South Dakota.  

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Social Studies - Sisseton Day 1
Observation #3
○ 4.H.4.2​ - Explain factors affecting the growth and expansion of South 
Dakota.  
● K-12.G.3​ - Students will recognize the characteristics of the processes that shape 
places and regions.  
○ 4.G.3.1​ - Describe how natural and human conditions shape places and 
regions  
  
Lesson Objectives: 
● By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to identify two key 
characteristics about the city of Sisseton, South Dakota.  
 
Materials Needed: 
● ​Each Student will need their: 
○ Laptops 
● Teacher will need:  
○ Promethean Interactive Board 
○ Laptop 
○ Websites/Videos: 
■ South Dakota Road Trip: ​www.sdroadtrip.org 
■ City of Sisseton: ​https://www.sisseton.com/ 
■ Fort Sisseton: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqFJ2SuRAPw 
■ Pow Wows - Meaning: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aEeKVXzYlc 
  
Contextual Factors/ Learner Characteristics: 
● This classroom is made up of 27 total 4th-graders, aged 9-11. All 27 of these 
students will be in the classroom to complete this Social Studies lesson as a 
large-group, teacher-led learning experience. I, the student teacher, will be 
leading this lesson, and my cooperating teacher, who is the classroom’s primary 
teacher, will be observing and assisting students. This diverse classroom is made 
up of students from a various backgrounds and learning levels, which have been 
considered when planning this lesson. 
● This lesson will be taught at about 1:45 PM, which is the last content class before 
study hall at the end of the day. Also, this class ends at approximately 2:45, when 
the students will transition into a study hall until the end of the school day. Flexible 
seating is also utilized in this classroom, with several different options available 
each week for the students to choose. In this classroom, there is a strict seating 

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Social Studies - Sisseton Day 1
Observation #3
chart, and students are expected to find their seats and remain in their assigned 
seats for the lesson. Because of the size of the group and the arrangements of the 
desks, the teacher is to remain mindful of unnecessary behaviors, such as 
irrelevant conversations that do not pertain to the lesson. These situations should 
be approached immediately if any issues arise during the lesson.   
 
A. The Lesson  
1. Introduction (5 min)   
● First the teacher will introduce the lesson, and state that we will be revisiting our 
South Dakota Road Trip. The students have previously used this website earlier in 
the year, but have taken a break from it to work on the research process for their 
upcoming Wax Museum presentation.  
● The teacher may then announce the town that they will be “travelling” to this 
week: Sisseton.  
● To activate prior knowledge, the teacher may ask who in the class has been to 
this city in South Dakota, and what they remember about it. Students will raise 
their hands to volunteer to share this information.  
● After a number of students have gotten the opportunity to share, the teacher will 
discuss a few of the things that they will be covering about Sisseton over the next 
few days. They will be learning about the city of Sisseton, Fort Sisseton, 
reservations, sacred Native American symbols, pow wows, hoop dances, and the 
Nicollet Tower. The teacher will also this lesson’s objectives with the group before 
beginning.  
○ “By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to identify two key 
characteristics about the city of Sisseton, South Dakota.”  
 
2. Content Delivery (45 min)   
● At this time, the teacher will ask the students to take out their computers and open 
up to their South Dakota Road Trip Website, with should be bookmarked. On the 
Promethean, the teacher should also bring up this website to guide the students 
and help them follow along. 
○ https://www.sdroadtrip.org/students  
● On the Promethean, the teacher will bring up the City of Sisseton website for the 
students to see and discuss together. They should discuss observations and 
brainstorm questions about this particular South Dakota town.  
○ https://www.sisseton.com/  

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Social Studies - Sisseton Day 1
Observation #3
● The students will then be instructed to click on Sisseton on their South Dakota 
Road Trip website, which is located in the northeast corner of South Dakota. This 
page will give them more information about the city. 
● Once everyone is on the Sisseton page, the teacher will draw sticks or ask for 
volunteers to read each paragraph, beginning at the top of the page. The 
following questions may be used to comprehension: 
○ What was Sisseton named after? Why? 
○ What reservation is Sisseton located on? What is a reservation? 
○ Why was the city of Sisseton founded so quickly? 
○ What were forts? Where and why were they built? 
○ Was Fort Sisseton always called that name? What other name did it go by? 
● The class will then watch an informational video together that will be displayed on 
the Promethean. This video is about a gatling gun demonstration at Fort Sisseton 
from 2009. The students should watch and listen to this video to learn more about 
military weapons at Fort Sisseton. 
○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqFJ2SuRAPw 
● Then, the students will move on to the next section of reading, which is back on 
their South Dakota Road Trip website for Sisseton. This section provides more 
information about important symbols and practices of Native American culture. 
The teacher will choose a student to read the brief description of a Sacred Pipe, 
and the following questions could be asked to ensure student comprehension: 
○ When is a Sacred Pipe used? 
○ What does it represent? 
● Then, the class will watch another brief video created by a Native American man 
from the Pine Ridge Reservation that explains a Sacred Pipe from his perspective. 
○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDiPtT4vY-M  
● After the video is discussed together, the students will finish reading the section 
from the South Dakota Road Trip website regarding Native American symbols. 
Together the class will discuss pow wows and drums. 
● After reading this section, the class will watch a video that shows and explains a 
variety of Native American dances performed at a pow wow. In the beginning of 
this video, there is some information displayed across the screen to explain pow 
wows and their meaning. Call on students to read each of these short paragraphs 
and discuss the information together. Once the information is discussed, continue 
with the video. 
○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aEeKVXzYlc 
 

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Social Studies - Sisseton Day 1
Observation #3
3. Closure (10 min)   
● At this time, the teacher will ask the students if they have any questions about the 
city of Sisseton that they are still wondering about. The teacher can use this 
information to plan the lesson for the next day when the class continues to learn 
about Sisseton.  
● The teacher will then instruct the students to take out a piece of paper and write 
down at least two things that they discussed in today’s lesson. Then, they can 
hand them in and return to their desks. These will be used as an informal exit 
ticket.  
● Then, the teacher will ask the class to discuss these two things they learned in 
today's lesson about Sisseton with their elbow partners. Students will then 
volunteer when asked to share their answers that they have discussed. Since this 
is a partner discussion, the doorbell sound in the front of the room may be used to 
collect the students attention when finished.  
● To end the class, the teacher should explain that they will be continuing their 
discussion on Sisseton the next day, and will learn even more about the town.  
 
B. Assessments Used 
● Informal Assessment: Observations  
○ Observations were gathered when discussing with students about the city 
of Sisseton, and also while walking around during the partner discussion at 
the end of the class period.  
● Informal Assessment: Exit Ticket 
○ Exit tickets (list of two or more things that students learned today) will be 
collected upon completion at the end of the lesson. These will be analyzed 
by the teacher to identify which students may need more assistance or any 
common problem areas that could use more explanation the following day.  
  
C. Differentiated Instruction   
● For those needing additional support: 
○ Work one-on-one with students needing more help to ensure that they are 
learning foundational skills to help them with with social studies 
comprehension later on. When reading aloud, assist them with unknown 
words and provide detailed explanations for each unknown term.  
● For those in need of enrichment/challenging: 
○ Encourage these students to provide more detail or additional pieces of 
information to their exit ticket.  
○ Also, have them work with those who may need more support. Pair them 
with struggling students so that both parties may benefit from this 
interaction.  
● For those in need of specific language support: 
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Social Studies - Sisseton Day 1
Observation #3
○ Provide additional wait time for students who take a bit longer to answer 
each question. Make sure to speak slowly and articulate vocabulary and 
new information, and use multiple phrases to describe and explain the 
same idea.  
 
D. Resources 
 
South Dakota Road Trip, Sisseton (2019). Retrieved from: 
https://www.sdroadtrip.org/towns/sisseton 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Social Studies - Sisseton Day 1
Observation #3

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