Lower and Upper Grades United States Research Unit (Digital Version)

Students will first learn how to use the text features in an informational text including the table of contents and index. Then, students will be assigned a state. You can choose if you would like your students to work individually, in partners, or in groups. Students will have a United States Research Journal that they will use as a guide as they research about the United States and their assigned state. Editable sections have been added to the research journals so you may add your own questions!

Once students have completed their research, they will use it to complete two culminating activities: a state report/presentation and a salt dough map of their state.  Finally, other classes and parents will be invited to the “State Fair” where your students will share what they’ve learned about their state and show off their maps!

Contents:

• Teacher Info Pages: This includes a sample unit outline, grading rubric, and lesson plans for internet research, intro lesson, research journals, and final projects.
• Book research/ text features worksheets: Students will review other text features including: glossary, titles, headings, photos, captions, graphs/charts, and special print. They will also compare and contrast the table of contents and index. These can be completed digitally!
• Internet research worksheets: These worksheets will familiarize your students with how to find credible sources on the internet for research. These can be completed digitally!
• State Cards Cards with the name and clip art of each state. You can use these to assign students a state to research.
• Research Journals: The research journals will guide the students throughout their research. There is one question on each page for the students to find the answer to. 19 pre-written pages are included, plus 2 blank ones to add your own questions. Since this is the Google Slides version, students can type right into the journals. Full page and half page versions are BOTH included in this resource. Choose which version is best for your students.
• Salt Dough Map & State Report Instructions Lesson plan for the student’s final project
• Salt Dough State Map Example  A photo example of the final project
• Parent Letter & State Fair Invitation: Keep the parents in the loop! Let them know what is going on with the states unit, and invite them to the state fair, if you decide to do one.
• Final Report Pages and info: A final report page is included as well as examples and lessons to have students create a salt dough model of their state.