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GRADE 4: Lesson Plans
(click here for corresponding communication projects)

Lesson Plan 1:

Subject:	Costa Rica Curriculum Social Studies (lesson plan 1 / lesson plan 2 / lesson plan 3)
Title:	A Typical School Day at St. Michael's School in San Jose, Costa Rica
Timeframe:	1 hour the first day and 1 hour the second day
Materials:	Slides of St. Michael's School and Holy Spirit showing students involved in school life and the different areas of the school, computer with e-mail capabilities, Venn Diagram Visual Organizer, schedules and reporting documents
Objective:	The student will be able to compare and contrast how the schools are alike and different using a Venn Diagram with information gathered from St. Michael's students via e-mail.

Lesson Procedure:

1. Engagement: Show slides depicting life at St. Michael's School and at Holy Spirit School to generate interest to the whole class of students. Ask the students the following questions?
1. How are the buildings alike?
2. How they are different?
3. Do the students wear uniforms? Are they similar?
4. What can you expect when you arrive at St. Michael's School?
5. What do you think the students will be like?
2. Explanation and Modeling: Explain to the students that in January, we will be visiting St. Michael's School in San Jose, Costa Rica and will need to know information about the school. Holy Spirit students will e-mail the fourth grade students in San Jose and find out more about the school day. Time will be used to brainstorm. Can you think of any questions that you might want to know about the school? What is it you would like to know? Brainstorm and list questions on the overhead or chalkboard.
1. What is a typical school day like at St. Michael's School in San Jose, Costa Rica? Compare schedules.
2. What time does school start and end?
3. How do the children arrive at school? (Car, bus, walk, ride bike)
4. How many classes each day? Are they the same each day? How long are the class periods?
5. Does St. Michael's teach their classes in Spanish or English? Why?
6. Do the children wear uniforms? What do they look like?
7. Do both schools have chapel services? How are the services organized? Who leads the program?
8. What can we expect to eat for lunch? Do the children bring their lunch or buy a hot lunch?
9. Does St. Michael's have athletics, art, band, or Christian education?
10. What about clubs such as math club or chess club?
11. What does the report card look like? Do they receive numerical grades, narratives, or both?
12. What sports do they participate in during the school day?
13. What sports do they play at home or in the neighborhood?
Holy Spirit students will be asked to e-mail the Costa Rican students in the fourth grade. The class will be divided into small groups for this part of the lesson and will have several questions each to answer. The technology director will guide the students through this part of the lesson in the computer lab. Through their interaction on the Internet, they will comprise information in categories to compare to Holy Spirit's comparable categories. The topics could include the following: Dress, Academics, School Day, Sports, and Free Time. On the following day, after gathering the information via e-mail from Costa Rica, the Holy Spirit students will compile and present their answers to the class in the form of a presentation discussing the Venn diagram covering only their assigned topic.
3. Guided Practice: Explain to the students that they will be using a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the school days. Demonstrate the proper way to use this visual organizer. Continue to ask several questions and record responses on the Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences among the assigned categories.
4. Elaboration: After completing the research of the various categories, each student will then be asked to complete Venn diagram comparing all of the categories.
5. Independent Practice: The Holy Spirit students working in small groups will begin to organize the information gathered from the Costa Rican students.

Assessment:
Each cooperative student group will be assessed on the completed Venn Diagram. The individual student may be assessed on the second Venn Diagram of the compiled information.

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Lesson Plan 2:

Subject:	Costa Rica Curriculum Social Studies (lesson plan 1 / lesson plan 2 / lesson plan 3)
Title:	Discovering the Early Texans and the Early Costa Ricans
Timeframe:	1 hour
Materials:	Maps of Texas and Costa Rica, artifacts from both geographical areas, slides of Costa Rican and Texas artifacts

Lesson Procedure:

1. Engagement: Display artifacts from each geographical area and discuss the similarities and differences. Show the tools that are used for an archaeology dig. Discuss the importance of artifacts and the reason for exploration.
2. Explanation and Modeling: Explain what can be learned from an archaeology dig. Locate important archaeology digs on the maps of Costa Rican and Texas. What was found at each site? Show slides at this time. What can we learn from the items of the site? What was the food source? What type of culture did the people have? Were they hunters and gathers or agrarian? Can you identify the people's habitat by the artifacts at the dig?

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Lesson Plan 3:

Subject:	Costa Rica Curriculum Spanish (lesson plan 1 / lesson plan 2 / lesson plan 3)
Title:	Costa Rican Food
Timeframe:	25 minutes, 4 times per week 1 ½ to 2 weeks
Materials:	Fruits, blender, sugar, water, spoons, plates, cups, water.
Objective:	Use Spanish vocabulary for fruits taught in the preceding unit (Viva el Español "B", Lesson 11), Use the following structures correctly: ¿Qué quieres comer? Quiero comer_______. ¿Cuándo comes_____? Como___por---_______. Pongo la mesa. ¿Qué te gusta? Me gusta_________. Me gustan________ No me gustan. No me gusta______. Make a Costa Rican drink, Create a simple recipe in Spanish.

Lesson Procedure:

1. Engagement: Begin the lesson by asking the students if they have tasted a natural drink made with watermelon. Tell them they are going to make and taste it and describe what they are doing in Spanish.
2. Explanation and Modeling: Teacher will bring the watermelon, sugar, water and blender, and do a demonstration of how to prepare the "refresco natural". After she has shown the students, she will explainhow to prepare the drink in Spanish. Spanish explanations will be in simple language, using as many known structures as possible. Sentences will be repeated and acted out.
3. Guided Practice: Have groups of students select a fruit and pretend to prepare the drink with teacher narrating en Spanish what they are doing so that they hear the structure again, this time in 3rd. person. Then let a few narrate for themselves.
4. Elaboration:
1. Teacher will model writing the recipe
2. Small groups will write their recipe on paper using name of fruit used
3. Teacher will put recipes together to make a book
5. Independent Practice: Students work in groups of 2-3 to prepare a drink with the fruit they have chosen. Next day have each group tell in Spanish how to make the drink they made. Then have them copy sentences of same.
6. Summation: Students have learned to prepare "refresco natural" and to describe in Spanish what they have done.

Student Product:

1. Student groups make refresco and share with others
2. Groups write out their recipe in Spanish
3. Teacher puts all recipes together to make a small book

Assessment:

1. Proper Spanish vocab and grammar in recipe and description
2. Clean work area (students wash up)
3. Group work evaluations form

References and Resources:

1. http://cgl.microsoft.com/clipgallerylive/default.asp

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