Project Name: Choose your own Adventure Teacher(s): Miss Quezada Grade Level: 4th Grade Subject: Idaho History/ELA Duration:Approximately twenty, 60-minute periods-each broken up into two 30 minute sessions Driving Question: What makes people take a risk and immigrate to a different place? Sub Questions:
What is an immigrant?
Why do people all over the world immigrate to different places?
Who were the first immigrants to come to Idaho?
What were the industries and jobs available in Idaho in the past?
Why did people come to Idaho in the past?
What were the risks people faced when immigrating to Idaho in the past?
Who are the immigrants coming to Idaho now?
What are the industries and jobs available in Idaho now?
Why do people come to Idaho now?
What are the risks people face when immigrating to Idaho now?
Why did my ancestors (family) come to Idaho?
Why do some people take risks why others choose not to?
What is probability?
What is the connection between probability and risk taking?
Project Idea: In the Choose Your Own Adventure project, students explore Idaho History and their family history by answering the Driving Question, “What makes people take a risk and migrate to a different place?” Using examples of risk taking from personal stories of their family and Idaho history, taken from a variety of literary contexts, including fourth-grade novels, Idaho Adventure textbook, and other short stories, students create their own Choose Your Own Adventure interactive stories. They combine their family's histories with those of one other student and develop outcomes based on historical probability. Student teams present their adventures in an interactive presentation with an audience of parents and other students.
This project is designed to teach Idaho history to 4th graders in a manner authentic to their own lives and experiences. The aim of this project is"for students to learn more about the motives that brought settlers to Idaho, and to explore decisions that were made and risks that were taken in the process. In teaching this project, there should also be an intentional connection to the students themselves and the risks that have been taken for them and also the risks they have taken and would like to take in the future.
4.RI.3: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text
4.RI.6: Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
4.RI.9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably
4.RL.10: By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
4.W.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
4.W.6: With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.
4.W.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
4.W.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
4.SL.4: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
4.SL.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
4.SL.1.b: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
413.08: Identify where the ancestors of Native Americans and immigrants originated.
413.08-1: Identify origin of own ancestors giving a description of their food, clothing styles, and shelters.
413.08-3: Create personal family trees. Label on a map and discuss possible reasons for mass migrations.
413.11: Identify and verbalize the motivations of some of the early explorers to Idaho.
413.18: Identify the major groups and significant individuals and their motives in the western expansion and settlement in Idaho.
413.18-1:Through an oral presentation explain the motives of a group and their leader for coming west.
413.18-2: Analyze and describe the immigrant experience in Idaho.
413.18-3::Research a major ethnic group that settled in Idaho.
413.18-4: Compare the roles and relationships of diverse groups of people from other parts of the world who have contributed to Idaho’s cultural heritage and impacted the state’s history.
413.18-5: Explore the contributions and challenges experienced by people from various groups that settled in Idaho from different parts of the world.
413.18-7: Summarize immigrant groups’ motives for settling in Idaho. Place summaries in chronological order.
21st Century Skills:
Critical Thinking: Students must think critically as they consider the reasons why people take risks and how this behavior is influenced by factors such as personality, probability, and cost/benefit analysis.
Problem Solving: Students will employ problem-solving strategies when creating their own unique adventure story and upon creation of their presentation/artifact.
Collaboration: Students must collaborate as a team to draw from each member’s family history to create a unique adventure story.
Communication: Students must use communication skills to interview family members, share ideas with teammates, negotiate compromises, conduct meetings, and present their stories to an audience.
Creativity: Students will employ creativity when creating their adventure story and when deciding how to present their stories to their audience and in creating their presentation/artifact.
Entry Event
Please click HERE to visit the Entry Event page with details on the activity to hook students into the Choose Your Own Adventure PBL Unit.