Mississippi—A Historical Tour Via the World Wide Web

Subject Area: Social Studies

Grade Level(s): 6

Duration of Activity: Three to five, 50-minutes classes

Description of Activity:

The students will use the World Wide Web to research facts about the state of Mississippi using Web sites provided by the teacher. The students will learn about the history, heritage, and Mississippi way of life in this study. The students will organize their findings and create Microsoft PowerPoint presentations to present to the class. The students will complete maps of Mississippi emphasizing the region and county in which they live.

Objectives:

• The student will learn facts about Mississippi using sites on the World Wide Web.
• The student will learn how to organize the facts found through his/her research.
• The student will use Microsoft PowerPoint to create a presentation based on information he/she has discovered about Mississippi. This will be done in groups of two to three students depending on class size and computer availability.
• The groups will share what they have learned with the class.
• The students will use the Mississippi Division of Tourism Web site / http://www.visitmississippi.org site to discover the 5 different regions in Mississippi.

Materials/Equipment:

• Computers with Internet access
• Printer
• Digital Map file of Mississippi
• Handout 1: Mississippi Facts
• Handout 2: PowerPoint Directions
• Handout 3: Assessment Rubric: Mississippi Historical Tour Presentation
• Handout 4: Map of Mississippi

Prerequisites (skills or background needed):

• Basic computer skills including how to turn on a computer, how to open a software program, and mouse and keyboarding skills.
• Basic Microsoft PowerPoint skills including how to open PowerPoint and, how to select a blank presentation. PowerPoint in the Classroom / http://www.actden.com/pp/ can be used for review.

Procedure

Teacher Component: The teacher will

1. bookmark the sites to be used previous to the beginning of the lesson. [See Using Favorites/Bookmarks in the K-12 Classroom.]
2. inform the students that it is important to understand the history and culture of the state in which they live.
3. using a large-screen monitor or digital projector, show each Web site that is to be used for student research as a means of guiding them in their research efforts.
4. review PowerPoint instructions with the students using Handout 2: PowerPoint Directions.
5. assign students to groups of two to three.
6. distribute Handout 1: Mississippi Facts.
7. discuss the findings of Handout 1: Mississippi Facts.
8. have the students insert the Handout 4: Map of Mississippi in their Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and use the drawing tools, AutoShapes , and text tools to insert information including their hometown, the five areas of Mississippi, and the location and date of at least two historic events. The slide can be duplicated if the students want to mark the required elements separately.
9. observe completed maps for accuracy and required components.

Student Activities: The student will

1. navigate through the bookmarked Web sites about Mississippi.
2. complete Handout 1: Mississippi Facts by groups.
3. share group findings of completed answers to Handout 1: Mississippi Facts.
4. organize his/her findings and create a PowerPoint presentation as a part of a group.
5. as part of a group, complete and insert into a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation a map of Mississippi emphasizing the region and county in which he/she lives. The students will include his/her hometown, the five regions of Mississippi, and the location of at least two historical events. They can insert the Map of Mississippi slide several times if they want to label each required element separately.

Accommodations:

• Hard copies of assignments and information could be printed for students who are absent when time is allotted for in-class research.

Extension Activities:

• A teacher from the high school who teaches Mississippi history could be brought in to speak to the class.
• Students could create a map of Mississippi and label the cities that they have visited.

Integration:

• Social Studies
• Language Arts
• Technology

Assessments:

1. Completion of Handout 1: Mississippi Facts.
2. Handout 3: Assessment Rubric—Mississippi Historical Tour Presentation

URLs:

• Mississippi Division of Tourism
  http://www.visitmississippi.org
• Information Please: On-Line Dictionary, Internet Encyclopedia, Atlas, & Almanac Reference.
  http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0833412.html
  You will need to type Mississippi in the search window.
• Mississippi History
  http://www.segenealogy.com/sgo03_ms.htm
  http://www.segenealogy.com/index.htm
• Old Capitol Museum
  http://www.mdah.state.ms.us/museum/
• Mississippi History Now
  http://mshistory.k12.ms.us
• Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archive
  http://www.lib.usm.edu/~spcol/crda/index.html
• Mississippi: The Magnolia State
  http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ms/state/
• History of Mississippi Units
  http://www.visitmississippi.org/cultural%5Fhistorical/
• United States Senator Thad Cochran History: Mississippi, the Magnolia State
  http://cochran.senate.gov/history.htm
• A Treasure Chest of Educational Resources
  http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ms.htm
• The Natchez Indians
  http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/features/feature1/natchezindians.html
• Mississippi HistoryNow
  http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/
• Mississippi Society of Washington D.C.
  http://www.mississippisociety.com/history.htm
• History
  http://www.ohwy.com/ms/h/history.htm
• History of Mississippi
  http://history1900s.about.com/library/world/blxusms.htm
• PowerPoint in the Classroom

http://www.actden.com/pp/

Curriculum Frameworks

Mississippi:

Sixth Grade

Language Arts

3. Complete projects and tasks in an organized and coherent manner. (R,W,S,L,V)
   1. Identify the purpose of and audience for a project or task.
   2. Use reading as a source of ideas and information for a project or task.
   3. Follow logical sequence/multi-step directions to complete a product.
   4. Demonstrate increased proficiency, complexity, and independence in completing a product.
4. Read, listen to, and view multimedia sources to select and use information. (R,W.S,L,V)
   4. Read and interprets information from charts, graphs, maps, tables, schedules, and timelines.
5. Develop self-monitoring skills to work independently and cooperatively. (R,W,S,L,V)
6. Participate cooperatively while engaging in small group activities to analyze and interpret information, to make decisions, to solve problems, and to produce a product.
   1. Participate in team building through concrete and abstract activities.
   2. Develop strategies for listening and speaking that respect the rights and contributions of others.
   3. Analyze, evaluate, and compromise to arrive at a consensus.
   4. Reorganize ideas and information to achieve a designated purpose.

Social Studies

2. Apply spatial and ecological perspectives to people, places, and environment using social studies tools (e.g., timelines, maps, globes, resources, graphs, a compass, technology, primary and secondary sources, charts, etc.). (C, H, E)
   4. Analyze the physical characteristics of places in the Western Hemisphere (e.g., climate, resources, etc.).
   8. Analyze information using social studies tools (e.g., graphs, maps, charts, tables, political cartoons, etc.).
5. Describe the impact of technology on development of the Western Hemisphere and its ecology. (C, H, G, E)
   2. Identify new technology and the direct effect it has had on the development of a specific area (e.g., drilling for oil and minerals, pollution from factories, new jobs, etc.).

National Educational Technology Standards for Grade Level [3 – 5] (NETS):

4. Use general purpose productivity tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, remediate skill deficits, and facilitate learning throughout the curriculum.
5. Use technology tools [e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, Web tools, digital cameras, scanners] for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)

TerraNova:

Language Arts:

02 Basic Understanding (Level 10-21/22)
Demonstrate understanding of the literal meaning of a passage through identifying stated information, indicating sequence of events, and defining grade level vocabulary.

Write responses to questions requiring literal information from passages and documents.

Social Studies:

26 Geographic perspectives (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate and understanding of concepts and process skills related to the study of the world’s people, places, and environments, and their interactions over time.

Construct answers, use geographic tools, and create solutions or products using inquiry skills and knowledge related to geographic perspectives.

Link and Feedback to Author(s):

Marilyn Linton, Houlka Attendance Center, Houlka, MS
marilynlinton@hotmail.com