lesson plans

lesson plans (upper elementary) ® curriculum & resources ® who? Building Tomorrow (BT) is an Indianapolis-based social-profit organization that works with students in the USA to raise awareness and funds to build primary-level academies for underserved children in sub-Saharan Africa. BT works with students at over 18 colleges and universities across the US, has a partnership with Key Club International, the world’s largest high school service organization, and has a growing network of young professionals through BT’s Social Investment Council. Our next task is getting all students, of all ages, involved. This is where you come in. BT currently works in Uganda, identifying areas where there are many vulnerable children with little or no access to a primary school. In these areas, BT purchases a plot of land and, with the help of the local community, constructs a ten-room school. Upon completion of the school, the building is leased to the local government to manage day-to-day operations under an agreement with BT. Under the BT model, our chapters raise the $45,000 needed to build a BT academy and the local communities contribute 25,000 hours of labor to construct it. Today, BT has classroom space for over 1,250 students, a number that will double before the end of 2010. On that note, we invite you to be a part of our future. than 10 million new classrooms throughout 100 countries. This morning, 41 million children in sub-Saharan Africa alone woke up with no school to attend. In Uganda, 57 percent of children finish primary school and only 18 percent get the chance to attend secondary school. To put it in perspective… If every student in the red states shown was not in school, that would equal the number of children in subSaharan Africa who wake up every day with no school to attend. Sound OK to you? We don’t think so, either. how can you help? Building Tomorrow wants your class to learn as much as possible about Uganda, and about children in Africa before they participate in “Sit for Good”. In this packet you will find lesson plans that are easily adaptable for any classroom. We suggest doing: • One lesson each day, for four days, and then on the fifth day holding a “Sit For Good” in your classroom. • Hold one “Uganda Day” compiling all the lessons into one full day while doing Sit For Good. Visit SitforGood.org for more details on the event and to find out how you can sign up. BT has created two similar sets of lessons to use in your classroom. The Lower Elementary Unit is geared toward kindergarten through third grade, and the Upper Elementary Unit is for fourth through sixth grade. Feel free to use both to adapt to your students. More resources are available such as extensions and interactive activities at SitforGood.org. Use these resources to enhance Sit for Good and the lessons provided. why? According to the World Bank, in order to accomplish the Millennium Development Goal of providing Universal Primary Education for children worldwide by 2015, humanity must undertake the largest building project the world has ever seen—the construction of more Building Tomorrow (a) 407 Fulton St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 (p) 317.632.3545 (e) info@buildingtomorrow.org (w) www.buildingtomorrow.org language arts upper elementary ® Upper Elementary Unit Language Lesson Letters from Uganda Objectives: • Students will be able to find information in a text • Students will be able to comprehend a letter • Students will be able to answer specific questions from a reading Standards provided by McRel Standard 7 Level 2:2 Knows the defining characteristics of a variety of informational texts (e.g., textbooks, biographical sketches, letters, diaries, directions, procedures, magazines) Materials Needed: • Letters printed for each Reading Club [Teacher Instructions] Direct Instructions: Reading Clubs are a series of similar stories with a common theme that are read in a sequence to students. During this reading club series students will read letters from current and future Building Tomorrow (BT) students and their families who are working alongside BT to build an academy in their community. This lesson is designed for small groups, but if you prefer whole class discussion see the Lower Elementary Unit: Language Lesson. Reading Clubs can be done all in one sitting, or spread out over a number of days. Students will have five reading club meetings, each focusing on a different individual in Uganda. Students will split into five reading groups (based on level or behavior). Once students are in their groups, they can move around the room clockwise until they have been to all five reading groups. Once each group is at a reading club, they should start by reading the biography letter and then answering the discussion questions. Each group should spend around eight minutes in each group. After eight minutes, the teacher will flip the lights and ask all the groups to move clockwise to the next club. After all the groups have visited each club, bring the class back into a discussion area. Ask students debriefing questions to see what they learned from this exercise: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What is something you have in common with someone you learned about today? Who would you want to be friends with after reading the profile’s today? Why do all of these people work so hard to build a school? If you lived in Sub-Saharan Africa, would you want a school to go to, to learn? What is one thing you learned today in reading clubs? After the debriefing and discussion end the activity with reminding students that Building Tomorrow is an organization that works with students to raise money to build schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. All of the people we learned about today are real, and they live in a village that has a school built by Building Tomorrow. *Disclaimer: The letters that are being used are real individuals that were interviewed by Building Tomorrow, however the letters are not actually written by the individual. Building Tomorrow (a) 407 Fulton St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 (p) 317.632.3545 (e) info@buildingtomorrow.org (w) www.buildingtomorrow.org ® Hi! My name is Edith. I am 13 years old. I live in Gita, it is a village in Uganda, the country that I live in. I live with my mom and my five older brothers. When I grow up I want to be a nurse so I can give medical treatment to people in my village. Right now if someone in my village gets sick, we have to walk to another village. In order to be a nurse, I must study hard at school. My favorite subject is math. When I am not in school I love to play netball, which is similar to basketball in your country. I also help build an academy in my village with Building Tomorrow. I want the school built so that other kids in my village will have a place to learn. - Edith meet 1. Where does Edith live? Edith. ® 2. Who does Edith live with? 3. What does Edith want to be when she grows up? 4. What is Edith’s favorite sport? 5. In Uganda, netball is “described as using a ball and shooting it into a circular hoop”. What sport do you think this is similar to in the United States? 6. Who will go to the Academy that Gertrude knows? ® Hi! My name is Ventril. I am 7 years old. I live in Lutisi, (you can say it, it’s Lu-Tee-See) It is in Uganda. I have lived in Lutisi my entire life with my grandmother. She is 83 years old and she was the first person to help build my school, I think she is a strong woman! Before my new school was built I walked 2.5 hours to a school, but I had to stop going because it was too far away. When I grow up I want to be an engineer or a mechanic. I love to collect water bottles and try to make the tops of them fit together. Now that the BT Academy of Lutisi is open, I don’t have to walk very far to school! - Ventril meet Ventril. 1. What village does Ventril live in? 2. When Ventril did go to school, how many hours did he spend walking to get there? ® 3. Who was the first person to help out with building the new school? 4. Why did Ventril’s grandmother work every day at the site? 5. What does Ventril want to be when he grows up? 6. What is Ventril’s favorite hobby? ® Hi! My name is Gertrude. I live in the village of Gita, in Uganda, Africa. I am 52 years old. I have seven children and eight grandchildren. I am proud that my children have received more education than I did. I only finished school through Primary 3, which is the same as third grade in America! My grandchildren are in school too, during the school year, all of my grandchildren live with me. I am so excited because Building Tomorrow is building a school in Gita, and I am helping to build the school, in my free time. When I am not building the school I work as a farmer to help support my family and as the Secretary of Information for the local governing committee. I will be so happy when the school is finally built and my grandchildren can go there! - Gertrude meet Gertrude. 1. Where does Gertrude live? ® 2. Gertrude has seven children, how many grandchildren does she have? 3. What grade in school was the last grade Gertrude completed? 4. Who lives with Gertrude during the school year? 5. What office does Gertrude hold in the local governing committee? 6. Who will go to the Academy that Gertrude knows? ® Hi! My name is George. I live in Kiyamba, which is a village in Uganda, Africa. I am 16 years old and I spend much of my time building a school in my community with Building Tomorrow. I work about 25 hours per week mixing cement, laying bricks and working on constructing the school. I want the school to be built so that my sisters will have a school to attend, and an opportunity to learn inside a classroom. When I grow up I want to be an agricultural engineer so that I can provide for my family and teach others in my community how to provide for themselves, too. George meet 1. Where does George live? George. ® 2. Who does George live with? 3. How many community meetings has George missed? 4. Why does George say he is working at the school? 5. How many hours does George usually work during the week? 6. What does George want to be when he grows up? ® Hi. I’m Esther. I am 6 years old. My mother is Hariyet, you might know her because she spends so much time at the new Building Tomorrow Academy of Gita. I have five siblings, so my mom has 6 children all together, including me of course! She is busy taking care of us but she still spends time working to build our school every week. She helped dig the foundation and she also cleared the land where our school is being built. She works so hard on building the school because she wants all of her children to receive an education. My mother was only able to go to school through Primary 4, the same as 4th grade in America. I cannot wait for the Building Tomorrow Academy of Gita to be finished so that I can go there and learn every day. - Esther meet Esther. ® 1. Where does Esther live? 2. Who is Esther’s mother? 3. What does the word “siblings” mean? 4. At what grade did Hariyet stop going to school? 5. What are two things Hariyet does to help build the school? 6. Why does Hariyet want her children to go to school? math upper elementary ® Upper Elementary Unit Math Lesson [Teacher Instructions] Objectives: • Students will understand the costs of items necessary to build a classroom in Uganda • Students will be able to look up prices of an item and decide how much money they need to purchase it Standards provided by McRel Standard 8 Lesson 2:5 Solves simple open sentences involving operations on whole numbers (e.g.,? + 17 = 23) Materials Needed: • The National Ugandan Construction Store Price Sheet • Under Construction Worksheet Direct Instructions: Start this lesson by explaining to students that in order to build a Building Tomorrow Academy, construction supplies are needed. Start discussion by asking a few questions. Choose one or both of these questions to get you started: • What type of things do you think are needed to build a school? • What materials do you think are absolutely necessary to build a school? Do you think the builders in Uganda have everything we do when we build a school? After the discussion, explain to students that when the community in Uganda comes together to build the school, they need supplies just like we need supplies to build things here where we live. Give students instructions by explaining the activity, for example, “Today for math we are going to be the construction workers building the school in Uganda! How many of you think that would be a cool job?” Explain to students that in order for them to purchase the supplies, they must use math to decide what they will buy. Complete the Under Construction Worksheet using the “National Uganda Construction Store” supply list and prices. Extension or Introduction Activity: Instead of using the pictures of supplies, actually have students construct a school to introduce the activity. Using index cards, tape, paperclips, and other materials; have each material represent an actual material used to build a school. Use this activity before the lesson as an introduction or use the activity after the lesson as a conclusion. Building Tomorrow (a) 407 Fulton St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 (p) 317.632.3545 (e) info@buildingtomorrow.org (w) www.buildingtomorrow.org Ugandan National Construction Store Everything You Need, To Build Anything You Need! ® 45 br ick s $5 $4.2 5 1 shovel 10 ft of gu tt er $8 5 sca ffol ding pole s $6 $2.50 nails and wood (nails) $3 (wood) under construction Complete the following problems to determine the total cost of the main supplies used to build a Building Tomorrow school in Uganda. Make sure to write out your equation and show your work! ® 1. Our school needs one door for the library. Each door costs $110. How much money will we spend to put one door on our library? 2. It takes 35 boxes of nails to build a school in Uganda. The box of nails cost $2.50 each. How much money will we spend on boxes of nails if we purchase enough to build the entire school? 3. Each classroom in Uganda has three windows. Windows cost $90 each. How much money will we spend on windows to build one classroom? 4. It takes 60 bags of cement to build a classroom in Uganda. One bag of cement costs $25. How much money will we spend on cement to build one classroom? 5. It takes 50 pieces of wood to build a roof truss for our school. Each piece of wood costs $3 each. How much money will we spend on wood to build the roof truss for our school? science upper elementary ® Upper Elementary Unit Science Lesson Classrom Safari [Teacher Instructions] Objectives: • Students will discover the life sciences of animals in Africa • Students will become experts on one particular animal in Africa • Students will work in a group and work collaboratively on their project Standards provided by McRel Standard 6: Level2:3 Knows that an organism’s patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism’s environment (e.g., kinds and numbers of other organisms present, availability of food and resources, physical characteristics of the environment) Materials Needed: • Available resources on African Animals • List of African Animals Direct Instructions: In this lesson students will learn about animals in Uganda by becoming expert explorers. Begin by assigning students into groups of two or three. Give each person in the group a specific job: researcher, illustrator, and scribe. Feel free to add/edit specific job assignments depending on your class. After each group has divided their jobs assign each group an animal from the list, and explain they will become “expert explorers” for that particular animal by researching an array of information about that animal. Use a list of African Animals: see example below. Give student’s time to research their animal and work with their group to become expert explorers. When students are finished researching their animal, begin preparing for the Safari. Set up chairs in the classroom in the formation of a safari van (3 across). Use your imagination to travel on a Safari through Uganda. Have students bring in props such as old cameras, binoculars, or even make these things using cardboard boxes/toilet paper rolls. Instead of a regular presentation, go on a safari with your students! Parent Connection: Have a “Safari Night” and invite parents to attend. Have each group spread out in the gym or large group instruction room. Groups can make a cut out or poster board with pictures of their animal to go along with their presentation. Have parents sit in the “safari jeep” of chairs in the center of the room. Lead the safari from the front seat and act as the host, calling out the expert explorers by saying, “ I see a Mountain Gorilla” (at which the mountain gorilla group would present their project). You may also want to do this during the day and invite other classes to come and watch. Building Tomorrow (a) 407 Fulton St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 (p) 317.632.3545 (e) info@buildingtomorrow.org (w) www.buildingtomorrow.org African Animals in Uganda ® Leopard King Fisher Lion Zebra Water Buck Hippopotamus Hyena Giraffe Kob ® Elephant Rhinoceros Baboon Crocodile Chimpanzee Water Buffalo Warthog geography upper elementary ® Upper Elementary Unit Georgraphy Lesson Travel Brochure [Teacher Instructions] Objectives: • Students will know how to locate Uganda on a map • Students will be able to identify characteristics of Uganda • Students will be able to identify a good travel brochure Standards provided by McRel Standard 4: Level 1:2 Know that places can be defined in terms of their predominant human and physical characteristics (e.g., rural, urban, forest, desert; or by types of land forms, vegetation, water bodies, climate) Materials Needed: • Sample Travel Brochures (hotels, rest stops, large tourist areas) • Research Materials Available (Maps, pictures, Internet, books) Direct Instructions: In this lesson students will learn about Uganda through class discussion before being introduced to an exciting activity that will allow them to research and find information about Uganda on their own. To start off, use a map to show students where Uganda is located in Africa. Explain that Uganda is a country just like the United States of America, but it is much smaller. Uganda is actually a little smaller than the state of Oregon. Ask students what they see in Uganda (landforms, water, national parks, cities). Possible discussion questions: • What country is north of Uganda? • What famous river runs through Uganda? • Do Ugandans have access to any oceans? After students have finished discussion, go ahead and introduce the activity using the “Make a Travel Brochure” handout. Once students finish their brochures, choose an extension. • Have students present their brochure to the class • Make a bulletin board with all of the travel brochures • Have students create a commercial or advertisement about their brochure to perform to the class Building Tomorrow (a) 407 Fulton St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 (p) 317.632.3545 (e) info@buildingtomorrow.org (w) www.buildingtomorrow.org ® 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Sudan Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwanda Tanzania Kenya Lake Victoria 1 2 3 5 6 4 Make a Travel Brochure Travel Brochures are used to inform readers about a certain place they should visit. After researching the country of Uganda use your information to create a travel brochure to attract visitors to the country. Make sure to use creativity and color to make your brochure worth picking up off the shelf. Use resources to collect accurate information for your brochure. Remember to convince your reader that they should visit Uganda. ® Your brochure should include: • Location and map • Major Cities • Recreation and Activities • Climate and Weather Conditions • Popular Foods • National Parks • Animals that live in the country • Pictures/Graphics .ORG ®