Thoughts on Second Lesson: Coastal Plain & Piedmont

In today’s lesson we created a PowerPoint on the Coastal Plain & Piedmont and we were able to jump right into things. The students were much more focused and willing to stay on task offering up occasional examples related to our discussion. As a homework assignment the class was to design and assemble their Virginia Journal for our unit, when we arrived all of the students were excited about showing us their designs. We had a Regions handout prepared as the first attachment for their Virginia Journal. The sheet has a designated area for physical features of the various region as well as location. We figured that this would be an easy way for students to have something that they could take home to review after the PowerPoint presentation. The students filled out the handout as we went through the PowerPoint. We also had them complete a “summing it up” handout for homework so that we would be able to assess the comprehension of the material along the way. The questions are basic and related to today’s lesson (i.e.: what is the fall line?). One of the most difficult components of this lesson were getting students to pick-up the important info from the PowerPoint and transferring it to the handouts, but I think it is expected and necessary for 4^th graders to need a little guidance. At least we’ve given them a brief intro to note taking. They seem excited to learn more about the Virginia Regions and our unit, this introduction to unit planning has given me a taste of what to expect next year.