Category Archives: fourth grade

Scrambled states: Ag in math

📖 Standard

NGSS 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.4 Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot,

⏰ Time

3-4 hours over 4-5 sessions. The data collection will need to be completed at least two weeks after the seeds are planted.

📲 Technology Required

No technology is required. Students may use Jamboard for line plots and Google docs for word journals, but both of these activities can also be done on paper.

📃 Summary

Teachers read an age appropriate book about plants and record new vocabulary in their personal dictionary. The teacher or student selects an agriculture activity from the booklet More Scrambled States of Agriculture. Garden in a glove is one recommended activity. Students collect and record data on the number of days until germination, showing the results in one more more line plots.

📚 Lesson

It is recommended that this lesson follow the Scrambled States: Ag in Language Arts unit.

Read an age appropriate book about plants.

Both the lesson plan for Garden in a Glove and More Scrambled States of Agriculture booklet have several recommendations for age appropriate books on plants in general or specific plants, like wheat. Teachers may wish to read the book aloud to the class, have students take turns reading aloud, either in groups or as a whole class, or assign to students to read on their own. I recommend 2-3 sessions of 15 minutes of read aloud or 20 minutes of independent reading.

Update Word Journals

Students should update their word journals, what some teachers refer to as a “personal dictionary”, with any new words from the book. If this is your students’ first experience using a word journal, you may wish to give them this Google doc to read or read it together as a class, “Creating your personal dictionary.“

Select an Agriculture Activity (1 hour)

Garden in a glove lesson plan, found here, is my favorite and it could relate to almost any book on the list. You need:

Food prep gloves – 1 for each student – that you can probably get from your school cafeteria,
A bag of cotton balls
5 different packs of seeds
A marker

Soak the cotton balls in water, put 3-5 seeds in each one and put five cotton balls, each with different seeds, in the five fingers of the glove. Don’t forget to write on each finger what is in it. Create a chart of the germination time for each type of seed. Read the lesson plan for more detail.

If Garden in a Glove doesn’t suit your needs, check More Scrambled States of Agriculture for ideas you might like better.

Ask students to generate hypotheses about how long it will take for the seeds to germinate, whether all the seeds will take the same amount of time (assuming you did Garden in a Glove).

Record your measurements

Students create either :

Create 5 line plot showing the number of seeds that germinated for each number of days, one plot for each type of seed, OR
Create one line plot with a different color used for each type of seed.

Ask the students whether their hypotheses were supported.

OPTIONAL: WATCH THIS VIDEO ON CREATING A LINE PLOT

If your students are not familiar with line plots, you may want to have them watch this seven-minute video which explains line plots step by step.

Now that students have watched the video and collected the data, their final task is to create two line plots of their results. Feel free to copy and paste the text below into your Google classroom or other assignment.

LINE PLOT ASSIGNMENT

OPTIONAL: IF STUDENTS ARE LEARNING ONLINE, THEY CAN USE JAMBOARD TO CREATE A LINE PLOT, AS SHOWN IN THE VIDEO BELOW.

Assessment

Three forms of assessment are included in this assignment.

In the personal dictionary or word journal, students are required to include a minimum of five words with definitions for 50 points. Each word, spelled correctly is 2 points and a correct definition is another 8 points. I deduct a point for grammar or spelling errors in the definition, but only one.
For the agriculture activity, this is simply pass/ fail marked as completed or not.
The line plots are scored based on accuracy. I give 10 points for each plot/ type of seed for a total of 50 points possible and another 10 points each for stating a hypothesis and answering whether or not it has been supported.

Scrambled States: Ag in Language Arts

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📖 Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

⏰ Time

Three to five hours total. We recommend spreading this lesson over 3 to 5 days.

📲 Technology Required

None required. Students may used a computer or mobile device to access the states’ page or to watch a video on the Scrambled States but these resources are also available in print.

📃 Summary

Teachers read The Scrambled States of America book, or have students read book or watch video. Students select a state from National Ag in the Classroom site and take notes on their state, including new vocabulary. Students read a book related to their state – link to a list is provided. Students complete a notes page and then use this page to write an informational essay.

📚 Lesson

Begin with The Scrambled States of America – book, audio book or video

Begin the lesson by reading the book The Scrambled States of America aloud to the class or you may play the audiobook in class along with the book (which I recommend). It’s very likely your public library has the audiobook available for free download. Students learning at home can download the audio book on to a phone or tablet. If you prefer, you can have students watch the video, in class or at home.

Students Select a State and Learn about its Agriculture

National Ag in the Classroom site has an agricultural facts sheet for every state. You can add this link to their assignment in Google classroom (or write it on the chalkboard – https://www.agclassroom.org/teacher/agfacts/ )

If your students don’t have access to devices or Internet, you can print out the 51 sheets (including the District of Columbia) here.

Update their Word Journals

As some of the words in the fact sheets may be new to fourth-graders, this is a great opportunity to update their word journals, what some teachers refer to as a “personal dictionary”. If this is your students’ first experience using a word journal, you may wish to give them this Google doc to read or read it together as a class, “Creating your personal dictionary.“

Read a Book Related to Agriculture in the State

Time required for this activity will vary depending on your students’ reading speed and choice of books. I recommend allotting 20 minutes per day over 2-3 days. If your school library does not have these available, you may be able to get from your public library. Also, remember, many public libraries have ebooks your students can read on any computer, tablet or phone. If you have not taken advantage of these services, now might be a great time to introduce them,

The Illinois Ag in the Classroom program has produced More Scrambled States of Agriculture a combination of agricultural fact sheets. reading list, agriculture science and art activities. Recognizing that students at a range of reading levels, books included range from Pre-K to grade 5-9 reading level, with reading levels listed next to each book. My favorite quote, from the book, “A Hog Ate My Homework.”

I would like to be a farmer when I grow up, because farming is easy!
They don’t need to go to school, because they just play in the dirt and ride around on ATVs. When it rains, they can just stay inside and play video games. When the sun comes back out, the corn just grows out of the ground by itself. In the fall, someone comes by, cuts it down, and gives the farmer a bunch of money. They use that money to buy candy and video games. The end.
– Willie

Take Notes

Since this is likely your students first experience with research, I recommend the “foldable notes” to help them prepare. All they need to do is fold a piece of paper in half, then fold it again and a third time so now they have eight boxes. You can also have them use a Google slide with 8 boxes but often students like the physical activity of creating their notes.

Next, label each of the 8 boxes.

Crops Livestock Farms Climate

Soil Interesting Book Quote

You can use the foldable notes example here since students almost always ask for an example. I recommend having students go back to the state agricultural fact sheet and the book and take notes after having done the reading. It’s not a bad habit to learn to re-read something for information you may have missed the first time.

Write a State of Agriculture Report

As this is likely to be the first informational essay students have written, I recommend providing students an example and sentence stems as prompts. You can find an example in this Google doc that uses the foldable notes from above to write an essay. The first page of the Google doc gives an outline, with sentence stems. The second page shows a completed informational essay.

Assessment

Three forms of assessment are included in this assignment.

In the personal dictionary or word journal, students are required to include a minimum of five words with definitions for 50 points. Each word, spelled correctly is 2 points and a correct definition is another 8 points. I deduct a point for grammar or spelling errors in the definition, but only one.
For the foldable notes assignment, each note is 10 points for a total of 80 points. I do not grade grammar or spelling in the notes because these are for the student, however, I do highlight errors and tell students there will be a deduction if the error is in their essay.
The essay is on a 0- 100 scale. I give 5 points each for title and author and 10 points for each of the prompts completed with one or more grammatically correct sentences. If a student does not respond to one of the prompts but instead includes other relevant information, for example, the number of people working in agriculture, that would be acceptable, too.

Related Lesson

It’s recommended that this lesson be followed by Scrambled States: Ag in Math Class.

Breaking Down Division with Remainders

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Lesson by James Gumela

📖 STANDARD

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.6 Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

⏰ LESSON TIME

30-45 minutes

📃 SUMMARY

This lesson plan will explore how students interpret remainders in the context of a problem. They will learn how to divide and have a number leftover. Students will be using the concept of division and remainders. An instructional video will be presented as well as a PowerPoint presentation and an educational game that can be used to reinforce the concept of remainders with assessment data.

📲 TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

Device with web-browser (Chromebook, laptop or desktop computer); or iOS (iPhone/iPad) with access to Google apps.

📚 Lesson

Watch Video

In division, remainders occur when a number can’t be evenly divided. This video will help the students understand the concept of remainders.

Also available in spanish:

Break Down Long Division in a Presentation

This Google slides presentation: Division with remainders reviews the parts of a division problem; quotient, division and divisor, then works a sample problem step by step. The presentation ends with a practical question in a word problem- when you have a remainder, what do you do with the amount that remains?

Play a Game – Making Camp Dakota

Making Camp Dakota follows a family at a pow-wow as the children learn about Dakota culture through stories from their elders and apply their long division skills along the way.

Differentiated Instruction

GAME: Making Camp Premium

Have students play Making Camp Premium using these icons. Students who struggle with this standard will receive individual instruction within the game to teach and reinforce this concept.

Man standing in front of trees, a game icon

ASSESSMENT: Making Camp Premium Reports

You can view your students’ progress on mastering these standards by viewing your Making Camp Dakota and Making Camp Premium teacher reports. You can access the teacher reports here.

STATE STANDARDS:

Minnesota Math Standard 5.1.1.2 Consider the context in which a problem is situated to select the most useful form of the quotient for the solution and use the context to interpret the quotient appropriately.

Ojibwe Clans and Migration

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📖STANDARDS

NCSS theme – The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.

Minnesota State Standard – History Sub-strand 4, Standard 15 “North America was populated by indigenous nations that had developed a wide range of social structures, political systems, and economic activities, and whose expansive trade networks extended across the continent.”

⏰ Time

40 minutes

📲 Technology needed

Internet connection on a PC or Chromebook laptop, tablet, or phone.

📃 Summary

This Ojibwe clan lesson for Grade 3 is focused on Ojibwe culture. Students learn where people and places are located and why they are there. They will become familiar with the causes, patterns and effects of Ojibwe settlement and migration. They will learn of the different population centers in Ojibwe society and investigate the impact of human activities on the environment.

📚 Lesson

The downloadable Google Slides presentation is available here. This has a digestible summary of the Ojibwe migration, and why and how it happened. The Ojibwe clans are introduced as well as the new lifestyles that the Ojibwe adopted after they migrated to the Great Lakes area and Ontario, Canada.

Game

Making Camp Premium can reinforce clans and culture studies using the Life section.

Select the LIFE button from the main choice screen.
From the LIFE choices, click on the box in the middle of the bottom row, the one with the four people, and watch the video about Ojibwe social structure. Answer the questions that follow the video.
Next, select the box on the bottom right. Watch the overview video on clans and totems. Answer the questions.
Students can also click on each individual clan totem icon to learn more about each Ojibwe clan and answer a question about each of them to earn points.
Return to the wigwam and trade with the points earned in this lesson.

Choices page for Ojibwe history in Making Camp

Alternatively, students may also play Forgotten Trail, which is an adventure game that homes in on the Ojibwe migration. Two kids in the game retrace the Ojibwe migration on their own and learn more about Ojibwe history along the way.

Assessment

Teachers will be able to view student reports for Making Camp Premium to view how many modules students completed in the LIFE section and their scores for each one.

Related Lesson

“Ojibwe Clans and Migration (Bilingual English & Spanish)” – The Bilingual version of the lesson plan above featuring Making Camp Bilingual.

Problem-solving with pigs: Start at the end

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📖Standard

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with mathematics.

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

⏰ Time

60-75 minutes

📃 Summary

This cross-curricular lesson includes activities and instruction in agricultural science and math. Students begin by watching a video and learning about pig farms. After making their own pig barn, they watch two short videos about solving math problems. This information is then applied to solve problems during a presentation on math around the pig farm. Students end playing one of the Making Camp games to reinforce skills and knowledge.

📲 Technology Required

If teaching in person, the teacher will need a computer and projector or smart board to show the videos, or students can be given the links to watch on their own devices. Students will need a PC, Mac or Chromebook or tablet. Making Camp Premium, Making Camp Lakota and Making Dakota are all playable on any web browser on those devices.

📚 Lesson

This lesson starts with resources from National Ag in the Classroom

Virtual tour of pig farms

Virtual Field Trip to Ohio Pig Farms

Make a Pig Barn

This activity requires a few supplies but it is probably things you have lying around and your students will probably enjoy it.

Business-size envelopes, 4 per group
Paper towel, 1 per group
Scissors
Scotch tape

OPTIONAL

Markers
Toilet paper rolls, 2 per group
Drinking straws, 2 per group (cut into 8 equal pieces)
8.5″ x 11″ white paper, 1 per group (cut in half)
Extra paper for making fencing, pipes, feed troughs, etc. (optional)

Instructions

Use the following instructions to model for the students how to create the barn:

Barn: Cut an oval hole in one envelope, making a large side window for the barn. This window provides the proper ventilation for the pigs.
Cut the paper towel in half and tape it onto the top of the window for the curtain.
Cut another envelope in half for the ends of the barn.
Tape the ends of the barn to the “sides of the barn” envelopes, one of which has the hole for the window and paper towel curtain, so that you have four sides, or a rectangle.
Use the final envelope to create a roof by creasing it in half lengthwise and attaching it with tape to the top of the rectangle.
Food Storage: Tape four straws, or legs, to each toilet paper roll so that the structures will stand on the legs.
Use a half piece of paper, and make a cone shape by twisting and taping the ends. Tape the cone shape on the end of the toilet paper roll without the straw legs.
Use the other half piece of paper to make another smaller cone shape and tape it between the straw legs on the other end of the toilet paper roll.

If you’d like, you or your students can watch the instructions here. You can also assign this video for students learning at home to watch so they know how to make the barn. The plus is that just about every house will have every single one of these items except possibly the straws.

Optional additional science and language arts content

This link to the National Ag in the Classroom lesson has more information on pigs and pig farming, including some of the vocabulary used in the math lesson as well as a discussion of the ways farmers care for animals. I highly recommend checking it out.

Watch a video on operations key words

Trust me, this does come back to pig farming!

Students watch this video on operations keywords. This two-minute video has been watched over 14,000 times, which gives some indication of how useful students and teacher find the concept of looking at the words in a problem to decide which operation to use.

Watch a video on problem-solving – Start at the end

This 3 1/2 minute video explains that the end of the word problem is where you usually will find the question you are expected to solve. It includes one easy and one harder example, as well as a couple of useful tips.

Start at the End

Give a presentation

This 34-slide deck on problem-solving reinforces the information in the two math videos and gives students three problems of increasing difficulty where they have to start at the end, all centered around Laura’s pig farm.

Play a game

Now that students have been introduced to problem-solving with multiplication and division word problems, it’s time to play a game and reinforce those skills. Which game depends on what you feel your students need most. There is overlap among the games as each includes some review.

Making Camp Premium – focuses primarily on multiplication of one- and two-digit numbers. Also includes division with one-digit divisors. The content is taught in the context of Ojibwe history and culture.

Making Camp Lakota – focuses primarily on division with one-digit divisors. Also includes multiplication of one- and two-digit numbers. The content is taught in the context of Lakota history and culture.

Making Camp Dakota – focuses primarily on division of three-digit numbers with one- and two-digit divisors. Also includes multiplication of one- and two-digit numbers and division with one-digit divisors. The content is taught in the context of Lakota history and culture.

Assessment

Assessments are built into the presentation, as teachers can have students submit their answers in writing or in a Google chat prior to giving the answers during the presentation. Teachers can also see which standards students have attempted and how many problems they have answered correctly in the Making Camp teacher reports.

Related lesson : Problem-solving Two ways

As the title suggests, this lesson introduces students to two other problme-solving strategies. They watch a video on visualization, then solve a problem that asks them to visualize. After watching a video on building a model, students build and/or draw their own model of a multiplication problem or property.

Animal Idioms

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.5.B Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

⏰ Time Required

45 minutes

📲 Technology Required

Students must have access to laptops, desktop computers, or tablets with an internet connection if they are playing Making Camp Premium in a web browser. Teachers need a projector with a laptop to present the slideshow.

📃 Summary

This idioms lesson for Grades 3-4 begins with a presentation, popular song about idioms, a list of animal idioms, two video games, and an idioms matching activity. Also enclosed is a book list for Grades 1-4 about idioms.

Note: This lesson can include the Idioms Book Activity (which needs paper, coloring tools, and some preparation time for booklet assembly).

📚 Lesson

The lesson slideshow, Animal Idioms, begins with a song video about idioms and then a short warm-up using three idioms. The answers to the warm-up are provided. Students will gain more understanding of how some idioms can have the same meaning.
Match the Idioms: Students can work together in groups, pairs, or individually for the Match the Idioms formative assessment activity with manipulatives. The answer key for the two sets (20 in all) is provided here. Distribute a copy of the Slides file and review the answers with them later, using the answer key.
Use idioms in a creative writing activity: If you are remote or in class, students can pick some animal idioms from the Match the Idioms answer key to use in sentences, a short story, or a poem using their chosen idioms.

Assessment

Students can choose their favorite idioms to illustrate in their Idiom Book, which they can make themselves, for assessment. This activity is great for in-class activity as the materials are easily accessible, but can be done remotely as well.
For formative/summative assessment, have students play Making Camp Premium idioms mini games so their game progress will be recorded and accessed from your teacher reports dashboard.

Game

Students will play the Words section of the Making Camp Premium from our selection of Growing Math games. The Words section features four minigames that focus only on idioms. If they are remote, students may use their phone or tablet app or play using the web browser game link on a desktop computer. You will be able to monitor the student answers from your teacher reports account. This will also inform you if the students have participated in practicing using the video games.

Enclosed in the slides is another link to a web browser game about idioms offered from a standards-aligned website. You won’t be able to monitor the students on it, but it can be used as another potential resource for idioms practice.

Fractions Equal to 1

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📖STANDARD

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NF.A.2 Understand a fraction as a number on the number line; represent fractions on a number line diagram.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NF.A.2.A Represent a fraction 1/b on a number line diagram by defining the interval from 0 to 1 as the whole and partitioning it into b equal parts. Recognize that each part has size 1/b and that the endpoint of the part based at 0 locates the number 1/b on the number line.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NF.A.2.B Represent a fraction a/b on a number line diagram by marking off a lengths 1/b from 0. Recognize that the resulting interval has size a/b and that its endpoint locates the number a/b on the number line.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.B.3.D Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole and having like denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem.

⏰ LESSON TIME

45 minutes

📃 SUMMARY

This lesson plan will build upon the already introduced concepts and key terms of fractions in our “Introducing Fractions” lesson plan. Students will learn that a fraction N/N =1 and be able to solve problems with fractions equal to 1 in various contexts, including number lines, time and pizza.

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

Students will need a PC, Mac or iPad. Fish Lake is playable on PC and Mac through an online download and installation as well as on iPad through an App Store download. Students will also need access to the games.

📚 LESSON

Start the lesson by having your students watch the “Fractions Equivalent to 1” video. In this video, students are introduced to the concept of when fractions equal 1 and shown different examples. (This video is 3 minutes and 32 seconds.)

Fractions Equivalent to 1

Students will take the information from the video and use it to complete the “A Fraction Can Equal 1” activity in this Google slides deck. In this activity, students practice grasping the concept of a fraction, N/N, equaling 1 through different real-world situations. (20 minutes)
To end the lesson, students can play Fish Lake to further practice fractions. (20 minutes)

ASSESSMENT

Assessment is built into the conclusion of the activity where students break apart the number line into N parts, label the number line, and state what fraction equals 1. The last activity problem will show if students have understood the concept of N/N = 1. Fish Lake data reports are also available for teachers to access after students have finished playing.

STATE STANDARDS

Minnesota State Standards

3.1.3.1 – Read and write fractions with words and symbols. Recognize that fractions can be used to represent parts of a whole, parts of a set, points on a number line, or distances on a number line.

3.1.3.2 – Understand that the size of a fractional part is relative to the size of the whole.

Dividing 3-Digit Dividends

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📖STANDARD

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.B.6

Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

⏰ LESSON TIME

30-45 minutes

📃 SUMMARY

This lesson will build upon the already introduced concepts and vocabulary of division in our “Introducing Division” lesson. Students will learn and be able to practice dividing 3 digit dividends by 1 digit divisors through a short review, activity, and game play.

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

Students will need a PC, Mac or Chromebook or tablet. Making Camp Premium and Dakota are both playable on any web browser on those devices. Students will also need access to the games.

📚 LESSON

Start the lesson by reviewing the important division basics. This Division Review Google Slides reviews “what we know.” The presentation goes over the definition of division, key terms, division symbols, and examples.

Have students work through the On Your Way Home division activity where they take what they know and practice dividing 3 digit dividends by 1 digit divisors. The activity takes division problems and puts them into real-world context, visiting stores on your way home from the park.

Have students play Making Camp Premium and/or Making Camp Dakota using our Games Portal for Kids. The division magnets game in Making Camp Premium can be used as review before moving on to Making Camp Dakota. The division in Making Camp Dakota will be more practice for problems with 3 digit dividends divided by 1 digit divisors.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment is built into the “On Your Way Home” activity through the creation of their own division problem after repeated practice of 3 digit dividends divided by 1 digit divisors.

Making Camp Dakota Teacher Reports

You can view your students’ progress on mastering these standards by viewing your Making Camp Dakota teacher reports. You can access the Making Camp Dakota reports here.

STATE STANDARDS

Minnesota State Standards

4.1.1.6 – Use strategies and algorithms based on knowledge of place value, equality and properties of operations to divide multi-digit whole numbers by one- or two-digit numbers. Strategies may include mental strategies, partial quotients, the commutative, associative, and distributive properties and repeated subtraction.

5.1.1.1 – Divide multi-digit numbers, using efficient and generalizable procedures, based on knowledge of place value, including standard algorithms. Recognize that quotients can be represented in a variety of ways, including a whole number with a remainder, a fraction or mixed number, or a decimal.

Related Lesson: Build Your Own Division Problem

The “Build Your Own Division Problem” lesson plan will build upon the introduction to division with 3-digit dividends from this lesson. Students will be able to continue practicing dividing 3-digit dividends by 1-digit divisors through a short review, an activity where students build their own division problems, and game play.

Medicine Ways

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9
Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

⏰ Time Required

40 minutes

📲Technology Required

Students must have laptops, desktop computers, or tablets with an internet connection. Make time to transition from doing a slides presentation to having students log into Making Camp Premium.

📃 Summary

This social studies lesson for Grades 3-5 explores the history and application of plants as both medicine and food in the every day lives of indigenous people of North America.

This 40-minute lesson begins with a 20-minute presentation on how indigenous people used plants for medicine and a plant-based diet to insure their health. It ends with 20 minutes of gameplay in Making Camp Premium to help reinforce how plants were used by the Ojibwe, indigenous people living on the Great Plains. Here’s an overview of the bite-sized minigame you can use to reinforce this slideshow lesson.

Making Camp Premium’s wild rice game features a two-minute long passage that is read aloud. and then playing a mini survival game. Players collect wild rice in a canoe. They must avoid a hungry, pursuant bear and hazardous logs.

📚 Lesson

Introduce the Lesson
In the Medicine Ways Google Slides presentation, students learn a brief history of Native American herb gathering and how indigenous people are pursuing health and wellness with plants. This presentation uses an example of a diet called the Waianae Diet, which is an indigenous diet used in Native Hawaiian cultural diet revitalization.

Personal Dictionary
The Vocabulary List is available with five vocabulary words from the presentation. Students have the extra option to add these words to a personal dictionary. Here are directions for making a Personal Dictionary, and here is a finished example for you.

2. Students will play Making Camp Premium for 15-20 minutes.

Games

Play Making Camp Premium.

In Making Camp Premium, click the icon called LIFE, and then find the icon that has a brown wild rice plant. Students will listen to the audio being read with highlighted paragraphs. They won’t be able to skip ahead or skip the passage.

Engage in an Ojibwe tribal activity mini-game. Students learn about some of the historical challenges of collecting herbs in the wilderness in the passage and the mini-game. There was a good degree of risk-taking involved in subsistence gathering.

Assessment

This lesson has a section of formative assessment in the form of manipulatives for classifying junk food and healthy food.
Students have the option to make a Personal Dictionary.
The wild rice minigame is a gamified learning segment about history and culture.

Related Lesson

See the social studies lesson, Cattails, for Grades 3-5 for an in-depth look at this all-around useful herb that boosts survival in the harsh wilderness, and is still being used today, with new applications as biofuel and pollution clean-up.

10-Minute Multiplication Practice with Ojibwe History

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📖Standards

CCSS. Math 3OA.A.4 Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation relating three whole numbers.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.C.7– Fluently multiply and divide within 100

NCSS The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.

⏰Time Required

10 minutes

📲Technology Required

Computer/tablet with internet access for reporting student assessment data from Making Camp.

📃Summary

Ojibwe History Integrated with Math If your students are like most people, you’re having a hard time getting them to focus. Each of these three activities only takes a few minutes and teaches Native American history or multiplication. These 10-minute lessons can be done as stand-alone activities at the beginning or end of a class to raise student engagement, or the three in this unit can be combined for a single 30-45 minute lesson.

📚Lesson

Activity 1

Matching Multiplication

Step 1: Have students open Making Camp Premium. If you need more detailed instructions on how to access Making Camp Premium, student usernames and logging in, please go to this lesson plan.

Step 2: If students are playing the game for the very first time, they will watch the two introductory videos that talk about Native Americans and how to play the game (5 minutes). Then you will see the Making Camp choice screen.

Step 3: Have students click the NUMBERS box to view the six math challenges. You can press the round, green button at the bottom left with white squares to return to the choice screen at any time.

Step 4: Have students click on the top left box (with cards) to play a memory game. In this game, you match multiplication problems with their answers. You may assign this activity for 5 minutes of multiplication drills.

Activity 2

The Multiplication Dog

Step 1: Have students click on the icon with the dog.

This lesson opens with a paragraph explaining that some tribes used dogs to haul heavy loads, using a type of sled called a travois. The player then has the opportunity to earn a dog and items for their dog in the game by answering multiplication problems. The game resets when it is finished, and also takes about 5 minutes.

Activity 3

Reaping the Rewards of Math Practice at the Wigwam

The player should now have enough points to get a wigwam and at least two items to supply their wigwam.

Step 1: Click on the wigwam icon on the bottom left. This will play a video on how a wigwam was built, followed by a second video that briefly discusses that trading existed between and within tribes long before the settlers came.

Step 2: The player then has an option to trade points for items for their wigwam.

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Clicking on the wigwam in the lower left corner will bring the player to their wigwam. Purchased items appear here for decoration and interaction.

Clicking on an item brings up a text box with information on how that item was used or obtained by the Ojibwe people.

Some items also perform actions when clicked. For example, the parfleche opens to show pemmican inside; when clicked, the dog walks across the wigwam.

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Assessment

Making Camp Premium offers Data and Reports for teachers to access after students are finished playing.

State Standards

Minnesota History Substrand 2, Standard 3. Historical events have multiple causes and can lead to varied and unintended outcomes.

Related: 10-Minute Multiplication Practice with Ojibwe History (Bilingual English & Spanish)

The lesson above has a companion lesson for English Learners. 10-Minute Multiplication Practice with Ojibwe History (Bilingual English & Spanish) is the same lesson from above but provides the resources in English and Spanish, featuring Making Camp Bilingual.