Setting the stage for Middle School History

General education students come to middle school history with prior knowledge which we know to be important for ongoing learning. Many CI students who enter general education history classes, do not have a good concept of country and state. Before learning about another country or even the history of our own country, they need to develop this concept. Here is a lesson I have developed for CI students. You will need a map of the United States and a globe for this lesson.

MEET YOUR COUNTRY

Key Words

country - A part of the world with it's own borders, people, and leaders
USA - The United States of America
world - It is round. All of the land is divided into countries.
globe - A round map of the world
president - The president is a leader of a group of people.

Your country is called the United States of America. We call it the U.S.A. or the U.S. for short like a person named Kimberly may be called just Kim. The United States of America has 50 states. You live in one of those states.

The U.S.A. is a big and powerful country in our world. The world is round. We can see all of the countries in the world on a globe.

The President of the U.S.A. is the leader of our country. The people who live in our country vote for our president. You have to be 18 years old to vote.

The president is a very important leader. He has a lot of important things to do and decisions to make for our country. He has to work with other leaders in other countries to keep our world working well and peacefully.


What did you learn?
(Clue words are highlighted.)

1. What is the name of our country?
2. How many states are in the United States of America?
3. What can you see on a globe?
4. What is the short name for the United States of America?
5. Who is the leader of the United States of America?
6. How does a person get to be the president?
7. What does the President of the United States of America do?


Extension Learning

1. What is the name of your state?
2. Have you ever been in another state? If yes, which one?
3. Using a copied map, color your state red. Color all of the other states green. Color all of the water blue.