Maps and Globes Interactive Read Aloud | In-Person and Distance Learning


In order to cover all of our social studies and science standards, we know that we must integrate them into our ELA block.  In this unit, we cover maps and globes while learning how to identify the main topic of a text, as well as specific paragraphs of a text.  I added a little fun twist to the unit to make it a little more engaging by turning the students into Main Topic Explorers.  We spent the week exploring nonfiction texts identifying the main topic and subtopics.  This was also a great intro before getting into text features the following week, since text features, such as the heading, can help you identify the main topic in texts.  The first set of activities that we look at will be the printable version, and then we will get into how you can use the digital version with your distance learning students.


I always like to have a focus board in my classroom that changes weekly based on the standards we will be covering during our read aloud.  I post the anchor chart, learning posters, vocabulary, and the mentor sentence for the week.  We refer to all of these components during each lesson.


I open up the unit with a little main topic and key details activity.  In first grade, students are expected to identify the main topic and key details that support the main topic, so this was a great review and warm up to the unit.  I made this little main topic suitcase, and inside were three key details.  Students have to decide what all three details have in common and come up with a main topic that describes them all.  I then explain that the details tell more about the big idea or main topic, which turns out to be maps.  


Our main text for the week is Maps and Globes by Jack Knowlton.  Students get to make these explorer hats to wear throughout the week.  I wore this hat that I grabbed from Amazon.  You get two in a pack, so you could split it with a teammate.  


I share how to print your anchor chart as a poster in the resource.  I laminate it so that I can use it each year and we fill it in with a dry erase marker.  You can use it with any text.  


The lesson plans for each day include a mini lesson, which pages to read each day, text dependent questions, a daily task, partner discussion, and an exit ticket.  I also have the questions on a sticky note template so that you can have them in your book and ready to go.



You can have these ready to go for students to save time, but they will have these fun main topic suitcases to store their daily writing tasks inside.  

The daily tasks all build upon one another.  We review key details on day one from first grade.  If they can't identify key details, they will have a difficult time identifying the main topic.  

By day two, we begin identifying the main topic of different sections of the book.  They also have to include key details that tell more about the main topic.  


Each of the daily tasks lead up to the final culminating task, which is a main topic craft in which they have to identify the main topic of the whole text, including at least three key details that support the main topic. 



I also included an extra main topic page that you could use as an independent reading center.  After reading a nonfiction book during their read to self center, they could fill out this page in their book about the main topic. 



Since so many students are participating in distance learning this year, I have turned my read aloud lessons into digital versions using Google Slides TM.  These are basically what I have used for years in my own classroom to guide my instruction using PowerPoint.  But with Google Slides TM, you can assign tasks to the remote students virtually. 


The standards covered are on the first slides for you to add to your lesson plans.  I have five days of lessons within the presentation, but you can copy and paste which you would like to assign each day.  There is an agenda and warm up slide to begin your lesson. 


The learning goal is the focus standard of the week, and the success criteria slide states what is specifically expected for that day's lesson for students to be successful.  I like to model here what is expected on the task and explain how that relates to our specific scoring rubric.  This motivates students to get the highest score possible and extend their learning.


Each week includes 3-4 vocabulary cards with a definition, sentence, and illustration.  There is also a simple task that changes from day to day for them to practice using that vocabulary.



There is a read aloud slide included each day that states what pages you will read and what questions to stop and ask.  I would use these slides during my live or recorded lesson.  You can read the story aloud to your students.  It would be most helpful to them if you displayed the book under the document camera for that part of the lesson.  I like for them to be able to see the pictures and text well.  There is a link to the story being read aloud to YouTube for students to go back and listen to afterwards if they would like.  


Here is an example of what a daily task will look like.  There are text boxes already inserted for students to respond to the text inside.


I like to include a self assessment and exit ticket in each lesson, as well as a wrap it up slide to review what we learned and what we will learn tomorrow.


Each week includes a final assessment that assesses the focus standard for the week, so that gives you at least two grades that you can put towards that standard on the report card.  

Thank you so much for stopping by and see how I use interactive read alouds to integrate social studies while covering my reading standards!

You can click the links below to check out both resources, as well as the monthly bundle that includes them all. 












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