Introduction to Academic Disciplines

Introduction to Academic Disciplines GRADES 4-6

FOLLOWING are lists of Activities, and the Concepts they are planned to promote, for grades 4-6. These run across several different content areas, as indicated by headings
in the left columns.
As in the case of grades 1-3, these Activities and Con-cepts are all intended to provide content-area integration and, at the same time, intensify the acquisition of English. It shouId be remembered, however, that the Whole Language philosophy mandates an evolutionary, student-friendly ap-proach to the curriculum. There are many more Activities here than any teacher can utilize. Teachers should therefore feel free to select the Activities and Concepts that are most relevant to the needs, interests and English aptitude levels of their students, while working with a particular theme.
Teachers may also wish to modify Activities to suit the themes they select, even to the extent of applying the most successful Activity to a sequence of themes.

CURRICULUM AREA CONCEPTS ACTIVITIES

SOCIAL STUDIES Journals are good records of our learnings. Keep a journal and read journals in published form.

The Quakers were a Colonial American people who worshipped in special ways. Study how Quakers lived and dressed.

Mill power has been a source of energy for several centuries. Discuss mill power and how modern technology has changed mills.

A hornbook was an early kind of book among the Pilgrims. Make your own hornbook. Write about Pilgrims.

The American West was settled for different reasons. Collect 5 facts about settling the American West.

Early trade routes had to go around Africa to reach Asia from Europe. Point out trade routes before the Suez Canal.

Japanese culture is influenced the fact that people live on islands. Locate Japanese islands on a map. Label. Discuss how it is like Puerto Rico.

Scientists are trying to solve water pollution problems. Write a letter to Woods Hole Oceanic Institute in MA to find out what kind of research they are doing.

India has several kinds of topographical regions, which are similar and different from our own. Label the different kinds of topographical regions of India. Compare them with those in Puerto, Rico.

Each town has public services to help the people who five and work there. Find out what public services our town has. List them and tell what they do.

Classical and modern musician/composers are similar and different. Research classical composers. Research modern musician/composers.

A time-line is a good way to show when important events happen in a person’s life. Make a time-line depicting a character’s life in a story.

Early goals often start people on the road to great success.
Write about a famous person. Tell how his/her early goals influenced achievement.

Robots are machines that perform important tasks in industry. Discuss which industries use robots.

Holidays often haye interesting beginnings or histories.
Make a “Surprising Facts” book about Thanksgiving or any other holiday we celebrate.

Maps help us to estimate the distances between different places.

Find the setting of the story on the map. Discuss how far it is from Puerto Rico, and how far it is from places we have visited in the States.

The setting of a selection he1ps us to understand when and where it takes place. Prepare a project that will give background on the setting of the selection.

A time-line shows when important events happened in the history of a subject. Make a time-fine depicting the history of movie making.

Travel brochures help readers to become aware of the most interesting features of an area.
Make a 'Why I Love New York" travel brochure. Then make a 'Why 1 Love (any town or city in Puerto Rico)" brochure.

Making a "card catalog" helps us to understand how real card catalogs enable us to find resources in a library. Make a “card catalog" of categories of fact about Eskimos.

A frontier day involved much hard work and danger for early settlers. Plan a frontier day.

Advertisements should attract people and give them the information they need. Write advertisements for lost objects or pets. Check for sufficient information.

Many everyday objects of long ago are no longer used. Compare objects in the story that were used long ago, but are not in use now.

A desert is a hot, dry place with very little water, vegetables, or plant or animal life. Study a real desert. Ask students to list questions they would like answered. Use a K W L organizer.

Puerto Rico and the States have many kinds of beautiful flowers. Celebrate flowers of Puerto Rico and the States. Create maps showing the flowers.

The mountains of the world are of different heights and are very picturesque. Find out about mountains around the world. Discuss the mountains of Puerto Rico.

Inventing a new language helps us to understand how real languages work. Invent a new language.

A relief map shows different kinds and heights of terrain. Make a topographical relief map in a story.

Sweden is a country in the northern part of Europe. Find the setting of the story, Sweden, on a map.

Maps show us how to locate places that interest us.
Working in groups, find interesting local places on a map. Find out more about them.

Japan is an interesting country in Asia that has become an industrial power. Brainstorm questions to be answered about Japan. Give a short talk.

A time-line shows important events in the development of a story. Make a time-line to correspond to the story.

Puerto Rican and American individuals made fife better for people in many ways. Discuss Americans who made fife better for people. Discuss Puerto Ricans who did the same.

There are community resources for the elderly that can be located through print. Use newspapers, phone directories, brochures to identify community resources for the elderly.

Brazil is a large country on be eastern side of South America, stretching deep into the interior. Locale Brazil on a map. Locate where Pele played soccer.

A diary or letter from a famous person can give reasons why she/he succeeded.
Read a diary or letter written by a famous person. Tell what you can learn from it.

Writing letters helps us learn and use English vocabulary y for our own purposes. Write a letter to an English-language newspaper or magazine editor.

Many famous Chinese dynasties existed centuries ago. Discuss Chinese dynasties.

Living on an island affects a people and its culture.
Create a “What Island Am I?” riddle. Discuss the effects being an island has on Puerto Rico.

There are nearly 3,000 languages in the world. English and Spanish are among the top four in number of Speakers. Make a bar graph showing the number of people who speak the major world languages.

Jobs for students today are unlike available 50 years ago. Compare jobs; for students today to jobs that were available 50 years ago.

Travel posters illustrate famous landmarks for people who are interested in an area. In groups, design travel posters of New York City landmarks and San Juan landmarks. List facts about each poster.

Bridges were needed in the l9th century to connect settlements that would otherwise have been isolated.
Discuss l9th century life. Tell why it was so important to build bridges. Discuss bridges in Puerto Rico and their importance.

The Dakotas and the Tainos were similar and different.
Chart the Dakota tribe of Native Americans. Compare them with the Taino tribe.

The White House is the residence of the President of the U. S. Learn about the White House and what it looks like-inside and out.

Plimoth Plantation is a reconstruction of the first settlement of the Pilgrims.
Write to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA, for brochures about Pilgrim life.

Schools of the 1800's were unlike schools of today in many ways. Compare schools in the 1800's with schools today.

Maps help us to estimate mileage between places. Using a map, estimate mileage.

Maps help us to locate places that can he the setting of a story. Locate the setting of the story on a map.

The Inca civilization is a very old one. Discuss the Inca civilization.

Snow climates require special kinds of transportation. Discuss the types of transportation used in snow climates. Make a mural.

Painting the scene of a story helps us to understand its setting and events. Paint snow scenes that are depicted in the story.

Charting an imaginary journey helps us to locate places on a map. Chart a ten-year journey that, you would like to take.

Ancient Greece was one of the sources of our modern civilization. Write and illustrate a group paragraph about ancient Greece.

GEOGRAPHY Relief maps show us terrains and elevations. Make relief maps of Nantucket. Compare with Puerto Rico.

The Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean to arrive in New England. Map the path the Mayflower took from England to Plymouth.

A map helps us to visualize locations, routes and distances.
Map the story character's journey around the world, beginning with the slave ship from Africa.

A map helps us to visualize locations, routes and distances. Follow the path pioneers took on a map.

A map helps us to visualize locations, routes and distances.
Locate on a map the countries where the 10 foreign words in the selection originated.

A large map or Alias helps us to locate places, distances and means of travel. Use a large map or Atlas to trace the land route of the family in the story.

Having to use certain words helps us to use our English vocabulary. Describe a community where everything begins with the same letter. Draw a map and/or mural.

BACK TABLE OF CONTENTS NEXT

CURRICULUM AREA	CONCEPTS	ACTIVITIES
SOCIAL STUDIES	Journals are good records of our learnings.	Keep a journal and read journals in published form.
	The Quakers were a Colonial American people who worshipped in special ways.	Study how Quakers lived and dressed.
	Mill power has been a source of energy for several centuries.	Discuss mill power and how modern technology has changed mills.
	A hornbook was an early kind of book among the Pilgrims.	Make your own hornbook. Write about Pilgrims.
	The American West was settled for different reasons.	Collect 5 facts about settling the American West.
	Early trade routes had to go around Africa to reach Asia from Europe.	Point out trade routes before the Suez Canal.
	Japanese culture is influenced the fact that people live on islands.	Locate Japanese islands on a map. Label. Discuss how it is like Puerto Rico.
	Scientists are trying to solve water pollution problems.	Write a letter to Woods Hole Oceanic Institute in MA to find out what kind of research they are doing.
	India has several kinds of topographical regions, which are similar and different from our own.	Label the different kinds of topographical regions of India. Compare them with those in Puerto, Rico.
	Each town has public services to help the people who five and work there.	Find out what public services our town has. List them and tell what they do.
	Classical and modern musician/composers are similar and different.	Research classical composers. Research modern musician/composers.
	A time-line is a good way to show when important events happen in a person’s life.	Make a time-line depicting a character’s life in a story.
	Early goals often start people on the road to great success.	Write about a famous person. Tell how his/her early goals influenced achievement.
	Robots are machines that perform important tasks in industry.	Discuss which industries use robots.
	Holidays often haye interesting beginnings or histories.	Make a “Surprising Facts” book about Thanksgiving or any other holiday we celebrate.
	Maps help us to estimate the distances between different places.	Find the setting of the story on the map. Discuss how far it is from Puerto Rico, and how far it is from places we have visited in the States.
	The setting of a selection he1ps us to understand when and where it takes place.	Prepare a project that will give background on the setting of the selection.
	A time-line shows when important events happened in the history of a subject.	Make a time-fine depicting the history of movie making.
	Travel brochures help readers to become aware of the most interesting features of an area.	Make a 'Why I Love New York" travel brochure. Then make a 'Why 1 Love (any town or city in Puerto Rico)" brochure.
	Making a "card catalog" helps us to understand how real card catalogs enable us to find resources in a library.	Make a “card catalog" of categories of fact about Eskimos.
	A frontier day involved much hard work and danger for early settlers.	Plan a frontier day.
	Advertisements should attract people and give them the information they need.	Write advertisements for lost objects or pets. Check for sufficient information.
	Many everyday objects of long ago are no longer used.	Compare objects in the story that were used long ago, but are not in use now.
	A desert is a hot, dry place with very little water, vegetables, or plant or animal life.	Study a real desert. Ask students to list questions they would like answered. Use a K W L organizer.
	Puerto Rico and the States have many kinds of beautiful flowers.	Celebrate flowers of Puerto Rico and the States. Create maps showing the flowers.
	The mountains of the world are of different heights and are very picturesque.	Find out about mountains around the world. Discuss the mountains of Puerto Rico.
	Inventing a new language helps us to understand how real languages work.	Invent a new language.
	A relief map shows different kinds and heights of terrain.	Make a topographical relief map in a story.
	Sweden is a country in the northern part of Europe.	Find the setting of the story, Sweden, on a map.
	Maps show us how to locate places that interest us.	Working in groups, find interesting local places on a map. Find out more about them.
	Japan is an interesting country in Asia that has become an industrial power.	Brainstorm questions to be answered about Japan. Give a short talk.
	A time-line shows important events in the development of a story.	Make a time-line to correspond to the story.
	Puerto Rican and American individuals made fife better for people in many ways.	Discuss Americans who made fife better for people. Discuss Puerto Ricans who did the same.
	There are community resources for the elderly that can be located through print.	Use newspapers, phone directories, brochures to identify community resources for the elderly.
	Brazil is a large country on be eastern side of South America, stretching deep into the interior.	Locale Brazil on a map. Locate where Pele played soccer.
	A diary or letter from a famous person can give reasons why she/he succeeded.	Read a diary or letter written by a famous person. Tell what you can learn from it.
	Writing letters helps us learn and use English vocabulary y for our own purposes.	Write a letter to an English-language newspaper or magazine editor.
	Many famous Chinese dynasties existed centuries ago.	Discuss Chinese dynasties.
	Living on an island affects a people and its culture.	Create a “What Island Am I?” riddle. Discuss the effects being an island has on Puerto Rico.
	There are nearly 3,000 languages in the world. English and Spanish are among the top four in number of Speakers.	Make a bar graph showing the number of people who speak the major world languages.
	Jobs for students today are unlike available 50 years ago.	Compare jobs; for students today to jobs that were available 50 years ago.
	Travel posters illustrate famous landmarks for people who are interested in an area.	In groups, design travel posters of New York City landmarks and San Juan landmarks. List facts about each poster.
	Bridges were needed in the l9th century to connect settlements that would otherwise have been isolated.	Discuss l9th century life. Tell why it was so important to build bridges. Discuss bridges in Puerto Rico and their importance.
	The Dakotas and the Tainos were similar and different.	Chart the Dakota tribe of Native Americans. Compare them with the Taino tribe.
	The White House is the residence of the President of the U. S.	Learn about the White House and what it looks like-inside and out.
	Plimoth Plantation is a reconstruction of the first settlement of the Pilgrims.	Write to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA, for brochures about Pilgrim life.
	Schools of the 1800's were unlike schools of today in many ways.	Compare schools in the 1800's with schools today.
	Maps help us to estimate mileage between places.	Using a map, estimate mileage.
	Maps help us to locate places that can he the setting of a story.	Locate the setting of the story on a map.
	The Inca civilization is a very old one.	Discuss the Inca civilization.
	Snow climates require special kinds of transportation.	Discuss the types of transportation used in snow climates. Make a mural.
	Painting the scene of a story helps us to understand its setting and events.	Paint snow scenes that are depicted in the story.
	Charting an imaginary journey helps us to locate places on a map.	Chart a ten-year journey that, you would like to take.
	Ancient Greece was one of the sources of our modern civilization.	Write and illustrate a group paragraph about ancient Greece.
GEOGRAPHY	Relief maps show us terrains and elevations.	Make relief maps of Nantucket. Compare with Puerto Rico.
	The Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean to arrive in New England.	Map the path the Mayflower took from England to Plymouth.
	A map helps us to visualize locations, routes and distances.	Map the story character's journey around the world, beginning with the slave ship from Africa.
	A map helps us to visualize locations, routes and distances.	Follow the path pioneers took on a map.
	A map helps us to visualize locations, routes and distances.	Locate on a map the countries where the 10 foreign words in the selection originated.
	A large map or Alias helps us to locate places, distances and means of travel.	Use a large map or Atlas to trace the land route of the family in the story.
	Having to use certain words helps us to use our English vocabulary.	Describe a community where everything begins with the same letter. Draw a map and/or mural.