Brief Description

In this lesson the idea of primary and non-primary sources will be introduced to second graders. The first PowerPoint presentation focuses on Abraham Lincoln and includes both types of sources. The purpose of this section is for the students to practice differentiating between the two types of sources. In the second section of the lesson students will see a second PowerPoint in which they will view pictures, line drawings, and movie clips about the lives of Irish immigrants before they immigrate to America. The purpose of this lesson is to build background knowledge about the living conditions of the immigrants in Ireland and their underlying reasons for immigrating.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 2T-F3. Discuss common uses of technology in daily life and the advantages and disadvantages those uses provide
• 3T-F2. Use prescribed technology tools for data collection and basic analysis
• 5T-F1. Recognize electronic information sources
• 6T-F1. Use technology resources for problem solving, self-directed learning and extended learning activities

• 1SS-F2. Describe everyday life in the past and recognize that some aspects change and others stay the same
• W-F4.  Gather, organize and accurately, clearly and sequentially report information gained from personal observations and experiences such as science experiments, field trips and classroom visitors

Academic

After viewing a PowerPoint presentation about conditions in Ireland during the potato famine students will fill in a web diagram and write about why they think the Irish immigrants came to America. Their reasons should be based on information they acquired through watching the PowerPoint presentation.

Technological

After a class discussion of the meaning of primary source data and seeing examples from the Internet via a PowerPoint presentation students will label possible sources of data a primary source/secondary source with 80% accuracy.

Pre-Requisite Technology Skills

Students must understand that the Internet is a source of information for everyone.

Materials

Teacher made Ireland web worksheet, 1 per student
Teacher made Primary Source/ Not Primary Source worksheet, one per student
Pencils
Teacher made Power Point Presentation: Abraham Lincoln
Teacher made Power Point Presentation: Irish Immigrants
Computer with a screen projection device

Accommodations for Special Needs

Since this lesson is mainly based on a teacher PowerPoint presentation there are not many modifications required. Some modifications that may be necessary include:

SEI and Learning Disabilities: Teacher will model recording information on the Ireland web and include picture clues to help these students decode the data. Both SEI and students with Learning Disabilities can be paired with a partner who is a strong reader/writer. These students will also have the opportunity to work with a parent volunteer for further assistance if needed.

ADHD/ADD: Seat students close to the teacher/monitor during the PowerPoint presentation and ask frequent questions or prompt them to restate information in order to maintain their attention. Break writing/drawing task into small parts and provide frequent feedback to ensure successful progress towards the completed assignment.

GIFTED: Students will be given the web site addresses that were utilized by the teacher in creating the PowerPoint presentation and will have the chance to come up with further evidence of the hardships the immigrants faced in their own country.

1. After a class discussion and viewing a PowerPoint presentation of various research sources regarding Abraham Lincoln students will label a variety of examples of source material as primary or secondary source.
2. Teacher will present the PowerPoint presentation, The Irish Immigrants. As the slide presentation progresses, teacher will discuss the various hardships (poverty, homelessness, starvation) that the citizens of Ireland faced.

Websites that were sited in the PowerPoint presentation include:
For background info/stories/recipes from the Irish Potato Famine
http://www.geocities.com/willboyne/nosurrender/PotatCom.html
For line drawings of farms in Ireland:
http://vassun.vassar.edu/~sttaylor/FAMINE/Master/
For Irish Immigration Stamp design:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~efdietz/stamps/irish.htm
For film clips of Immigrants on Ellis Island:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query
1. Teacher will go through the slide presentation a second time and begin to model how to add the information contained in the presentation to a web diagram.
2. Students will complete the web diagram and then use the information contained in the diagram to complete the prompt:

Draw and write about why you think many Irish people decided to immigrate to the United States.

• Teacher will evaluate the student’s knowledge of primary vs. non-primary sources by grading the completed student worksheets.
• Teacher will evaluate student’s written/drawn response to the Irish Immigrant Power point presentation using the teacher-developed rubric. Web address for rubric is… http://rubistar.4teachers.org/view_rubric.php3?id=655704