Differentiation in 1st Grade Social Studies Lesson Plan

This assignment presents a detailed lesson plan for 1st-grade social studies, integrating arts and differentiation strategies. The lesson focuses on describing individuals and groups who have shaped historical change, as well as identifying and classifying uses of everyday objects through visual means. The learning activity involves students creating individual projects on a specific time period's culture, incorporating drawings, paintings, and photos. Formative assessment includes journaling, and differentiation strategies are provided for students with varying needs, including shy students, students below grade level, and students above grade level. The reflection section highlights the use of questioning techniques to encourage critical thinking and engagement with the subject matter. The lesson plan also incorporates a survey component to involve families and professionals in the learning process, promoting a deeper understanding of the subject and preparing students for examinations.

Social Studies Differentiation
Part 1:Lesson Plan
Grade level: 1st Grade
Social studies standard: SS.H.2.1: Describe individuals and groups who have
shaped a significant historical change.
Arts standard: State ofIllinois, Visual Art Standard, Cr2.3.1:
Identify and classify uses of everyday objects through drawings, diagrams,
sculpture, or other visual means.
Learning objective:
SWBAT Describe individuals and groups who have shaped a significant
historical change.
SWABT Identify and classify uses of everyday objects through drawings,
diagrams, sculpture, or other visual means.
1-2 learning objectives: Social studies instructional strategies
Social studies instructional strategies can help the people to develop cooperative learning and
can also help in developing themselves into graphic organizers, so that they can make use of
their skills.
Description of the learning activity that integrates social studies and the arts (100-150
words):
The learning activity can include the making of individual projects ion the culture of a specific
time period. Their projects can address to the various questions such as what was the economic
condition of the period when the crafts were made, what was the social condition of the place
and the time period, how did they protect their local culture and tradition, and was there any
intervention from the government in safeguarding the cultural art crafts? The students can

make use of various drawings, paintings as well as picture and photos of the crafts and the
social culture of the time.
This kind of learning activity will not only help the students to learn about the social time
period, but also they would find interest in it.
Formative Assessment: The formative assessment that can be performed with the
students incorporating the subject of social science and arts involve journaling. The
students can come to class everyday with their journal and can summarize the everyday
topics and what they have learnt. This can then be reviewed by the teachers occasionally
so that it is easier for the teachers to understand whether the students have grasped in
the knowledge of the subject.
Differentiation for three students on the "Class Profile" (i.e., How will the following three
students meet the designed objective? What additional choices or options can be offered to
address the needs of these students?) At least one student must be below and one must be
above grade level.
Student name: Student of personal choice: On e of the assessments for this student can be
classroom polls, which would help the shy students of the class to respond quickly, and can be
beneficial for them who have the fear of public speaking. This assessment technique will be
different from the other students because they are the students who score less due to their less
understanding skills. - explanation of differentiation:
Student name: Student of lower grade level: This student can be assessed using multiple
evaluative questions based on a weekly basis, so that he can learn and understand the subject
properly. The weekly test will keep them focused in their studies and help them to score well
in the final examinations. - explanation of differentiation:

Student name: student of high grade level: This student can be given extension projects such
as creating posters or collages which would illustrate their understanding of the subject matter.
The technique for this student is different because he scores well in the class and creative work
would enable him to be more interested in the topic. - explanation of differentiation:
Part 2: Reflection
The learning activity which involves the project work concentrating on a culture of a
specific time period, can be very useful for the students, because it would involve different
questioning strategies. The questions such as which culture is the project talking about, how did
the women of the society help in portraying their tradition and culture, or how did the
government play a role in safeguarding the culture , will help the student think critically about
the topic and in much depth (Jackman, Beaver & Wyatt, 2014). The project would also include
the open ended and close ended questions, along with loaded questions and rhetorical questions.
Thus the general questions as well as the questions to improve their critical learning skills are
incorporated into the learning activity that has been designed. These questioning techniques
would allow the student to get acquainted with the subject of culture and know more about the
people and the society of the time period that he has chosen. Moreover according to Fitchett,
Heafner & VanFossen (2014), the questions would also improve their knowledge about the
subject and being an interesting learning activities with visual representations can help the
students build interest in the same. They are also asked to submit a survey, which would involve
the participation of their families, their friends and other professionals. This would further
improve the discussion about the same, and they can incorporate their ideas and input in the

project work. Since the project work involves different techniques of knowledge, it can not only
help the students to get prepared for their examinations, but also develop their interest in the
subject (Brophy, Alleman & Halvorsen, 2016).

References:
Brophy, J., Alleman, J., & Halvorsen, A. L. (2016). Powerful social studies for elementary
students. Cengage Learning.
Fitchett, P. G., Heafner, T. L., & VanFossen, P. (2014). An analysis of time prioritization for
social studies in elementary school classrooms. Journal of Curriculum and
Instruction, 8(2), 7-35.
Jackman, H., Beaver, N., & Wyatt, S. (2014). Early education curriculum: A child's connection
to the world. Cengage Learning.