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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Digging up discoveries

The students will study archaeology, practicing their knowledge of spelling patterns and capitalization and punctuation skills along the way. The students will go to a teacher-created excavation and discover a surprise in a “rock” from the excavation. The students will then write about their experience.

A lesson plan for grade 1 English Language Arts and Science

By Alyssa Slater

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Learning outcomes

After discovery experiences, the students will practice knowledge of spelling patterns, capitalization and punctuation, and respond in a written composition, using a writing rubric as a guide.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3 days

Materials/resources

  • a surprise “rock” for each child
  • surprise “rock” recipe:
    • two cups sand
    • two cups flour
    • one cup coffee grains
    • two cups water
  • I Can Be An Archaeologist by Robert B. Pickering (Since this book is out of print, you may need to read one of the following instead: Everybody Needs A Rock by Byrd Baylor or Stone Wall Secrets by Kristine Thorson, et al.)
  • paper
  • pencils
  • chalk and chalkboard

Technology resources

A computer with internet access.

Pre-activities

  • The teacher will need to prepare the surprise “rocks”at least one day in advance:
  • Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine the ingredients (see materials). Knead until the ingredients become a dough. If the dough is too liquidy, add more flour and/or sand.
  • Create your surprise “rocks.” Take some dough about the size of a tennis ball and place a small, plastic object inside. (Plastic rings and dinosaurs work great and are excellent rock unit tie-ins). Shape the dough into a “rock-like” formation around the object. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat the process until the cookie sheet is filled. Bake twenty minutes, turning after ten minutes.
  • Depending upon the number of students in your class, you may need to make more than one recipe of the dough. For twenty-five students, I make two recipes.

Activities

Day 1

  • On the internet: look at the ThinkQuest website and define what an archaeologist is.
  • In the Classroom: after exploring the site, the students will practice their knowledge of spelling patterns by completing a “Have a Go Spelling” activity. (See Thinking and Learning Together by Bobbi Fisher for a more detailed explanation.) In this activity, the teacher will call out archaeological related words, and the students will write down the letters they hear. Then, the teacher will let individual students share their answers and if necessary, show the correct spelling on the chalkboard. The teacher will compare individual responses to conventional spelling, pointing out the elements that are correct. For example, writing the beginning and ending sounds or writing beginning and ending sounds and some short vowels.

Day 2

  • On the internet: be a virtual archaeologist and explore a 9,000 year old site in Turkey using the internet.
  • In the Classroom: after the virtual archaeologist experience, the students and teacher will complete an interactive writing activity on their experience. The teacher will focus on correct use of capitals and punctuation.

Day 3

  • In the Classroom: the teacher will review the previous activities through class discussion and read I Can Be An Archaeologist by Robert B. Pickering.
  • Outside: the teacher will take the students to the teacher-created archaeological site. Here the students will become archaeologists. The teacher will allow the students to take a “rock” from the site. The students will observe the rock first. The students will describe what they see to their neighbor. The teacher will ask various individuals to tell the whole class what they see. Then the students will handle the rock. They will describe to their neighbors what they find. The teacher will allow various individuals to share with the class what they found. The students will go back inside with their artifacts.
  • In the Classroom: once inside the students will place their artifacts on their desks and come to the carpet. On the carpet the teacher will ask the students to describe to their neighbor how they felt when they found their artifact.
  • The teacher will introduce the writing rubric, explaining that it is a way to set goals with their writing by earning points for different things they do. Their goal is to have 10 points. If they get ten points, they can get in the “Top Ten Club” and have their name posted outside the door.
  • The teacher and class will build a writing rubric together. The teacher will make certain the rubric includes a description of the artifact and how they felt when they found it. Here is an example:
    • 4 points = 4 sentences
    • 4 points = capital letters and punctuation
    • 1 point = how you felt when you found your artifact
    • 1 point = using beginning and ending sounds to write
    • 10 points total
  • The teacher will model a story describing an artifact the students did not find. The teacher will check it using the writing rubric.
  • The teacher will review the elements that the students need to focus on in their writing. The students will go to their seats and write their stories. When they have finished, they will read their stories to a partner at their table.

Assessment

The teacher will assess the students understanding and development through teacher observation and the rubric score.

Supplemental information

  • Thinking and Learning Together by Bobbi Fisher, a resource book for further explanation of “Have a Go Spelling”
  • Stone Wall Secrets by Kristine Thorson, et al.
  • 3-D Eyewitness: Rocks and Minerals by Cally Oldershaw
  • Rocks and Minerals by Illa Podendorf
  • I Am A Rock by Jean Marzollo
  • Everybody Needs A Rock by Byrd Baylor
  • The ThinkQuest website contains information students can use to define what an archaeologist is
  • Virtual exploration of an archaeological site in Turkey

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 1

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.06: Compose a variety of products (e.g., stories, journal entries, letters, response logs, simple poems, oral retellings).
  • Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective 5.01: Use phonic knowledge and basic patterns (e.g., an, ee, ake) to spell correctly three-and four-letter words.
    • Objective 5.02: Apply phonics to write independently, using temporary and/or conventional spelling.
    • Objective 5.05: Use basic capitalization and punctuation
      • first word in a sentence.
      • proper names.
      • period to end declarative sentence.
      • question mark to end interrogative sentence.

Science (2005)

Grade 1

  • Goal 3: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding of the properties and relationship of objects.
    • Objective 3.03: Classify solids according to their properties:
      • Color.
      • Texture.
      • Shape (ability to roll or stack).
      • Ability to float or sink in water.

  • Common Core State Standards

    • English Language Arts (2010)

      • Reading: Foundational Skills

        • Grade 1
          • 1.RFS.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. 1.RFS.1.1 Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

        • Writing

          • 1.W.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

  • North Carolina Essential Standards

    • Science (2010)

      • Grade 1

        • 1.E.2 Understand the physical properties of Earth materials that make them useful in different ways. 1.E.2.1 Summarize the physical properties of Earth materials, including rocks, minerals, soils and water that make them useful in different ways. 1.E.2.2 Compare...