Case Study - Peggy Dunn

Michigan Social Studies Standards and Early Elementary Benchmarks addressed in the unit:

Content Standard III.2: All students will explain the meaning and origin of the ideas, including the core democratic values expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other foundational documents of the United States. (Ideals of American Democracy)

1. Identify aspects of life at school and in the local community that illustrate justice and freedom.

Content Standard V.1: All students will acquire information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets and other sources, organize and present the information in maps, graphs, charts and timelines, interpret the meaning and significance of information, and use a variety of electronic technologies to assist in accessing and managing information. (Information Processing)

1. Locate information using people, books, audio/video recordings, photos, simple maps, graphs and tables.

2. Acquire information from observation of the local environment.

3. Organize information to make and interpret simple maps of their local surroundings and simple graphs and tables of social data drawn from their experience.

Michigan English Standards and Early Education Benchmarks addressed in the unit:

Content Standard 3: All students will focus on meaning and communication as they listen, speak, view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts.

1. Integrate listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing skills for multiple purposes and in varied contexts. Examples include using more than one of the language arts to create a story, write a poem or letter, or to prepare and present a unit project on their community.

3. Read and write with developing fluency, speak confidently, listen and interact appropriately, view strategically, and represent creatively. Examples include sharing texts in groups and using an author's/reader's chair.

8. Respond to the ideas or feelings generated by texts and listen to the responses of others.

Content Standard 9: All students will demonstrate understanding of the complexity of enduring issues and recurring problems by making connections and generating themes within and across texts.

1. Explore and reflect on universal themes and substantive issues from oral, visual, and written texts. Examples include new friendships and life in the neighborhood.

2. Identify and categorize key ideas, concepts, and perspectives found in texts.

Content Standard 10: All students will apply knowledge, ideas, and issues drawn from texts to their lives and the lives of others.

1. Make connections between key ideas in literature and other texts and their own lives.

2. Demonstrate their developing literacy by using text to enhance their daily lives. Examples include reading with a parent, discussing a favorite text, writing to a friend or relative about an experience, and creating a visual representation of an important idea.

3. Use oral, written, and visual texts to identify and explore school and community issues and problems, and discuss how one individual or group can make a difference. Examples include responding orally, artistically, or in writing about an issue or problem they have studied and/or experienced.

Content Standard 11: All students will define and investigate important issues and problems using a variety of resources, including technology, to explore and create texts.

1. Generate questions about important issues that affect them or topics about which they are curious, and use discussion to narrow questions for further exploration.