Amazing Unit Plan on the Amish Community

Grade Level: 3-8

Speaking and Listening, Civics and Government, Economics, Geography, Family and Consumer Science

Link to Content Standards:

Berks County Language Arts Standards

1.6. Speaking and Listening

1.6.5.A.

¨ª Listen to others.

o Ask pertinent questions.

o Take notes when prompted

1.6.5.D.

¨ª Contribute to discussion.

o Ask relevant questions to gain information, clarify thinking, and understand others.

o Listen to and acknowledge the contributions of others.

o Provide information..

1.6.5.E.

¨ª Participate in small and large group discussions and presentations

o Participate in everyday conversations.

PDE-Civics and Government

5.1. Principles and Documents of Government

5.1.6.B.

¨ª Explain the importance of the rule of law for the protection of individual rights and the common good in the community, state, nation and world.

5.1.6.J.

¨ª Describe how the government protects individual and property rights and promotes the common good.

PDE- Economics

6.4. Economic Interdependence

6.4.6.E.

¨ª Explain how specialization and trade lead to interdependence.

PDE- Geography

7.1. Basic Geographic Literacy

7.1.6.B.

¨ª Describe and locate places and regions.

o Counties (e.g. Lancaster).

¨ª Community connections to other places

o Dependence and interdependence.

7.3. The Human Characteristics of Places and Regions

7.3.6.B.

¨ª Describe the human characteristics of places and regions by their cultural characteristics.

o Ethnicity of people at the county and state levels (e.g., customs,
celebrations, languages, religions)

o Spatial arrangement of cultures creates distinctive landscapes
(e.g., cultural regions based on languages, customs, religion, building styles as in the Pennsylvania German region).

7.3.6.C.

¨ª Describe the human characteristics of places and regions by their settlement characteristics.

o Current and past settlement patterns in the local area.

o Factors that affect the growth and decline of settlements (e.g., immigration, transportation development, depletion of natural resources, site and situation).

7.3.6.D.

¨ª Describe the human characteristics of places and regions by their economic activities.

o Spatial distribution of economic activities in the local area (e.g., patterns of agriculture, forestry, mining, retailing, manufacturing, services)

o Spatial distribution of resources and their relationship to population distribution

¡× Natural resource-based industries (e.g., agriculture, mining, fishing, forestry)

PDE- Family and Consumer Sciences

11.1- Financial and Resource Management

11.1.6.C

¨ª Describe the adaptability to meet basic needs of the different types of housing available.

11.2.-Balancing Family, Work and Community Responsibility

11.2.6.B.

¨ª Deduce the importance of time management skills (e.g. home, school, recreational activities).

11.2.6.C

¨ª Classify the components of effective teamwork and leadership.

11.2.6.E.

¨ª Describe the role of technology within a community in maintaining a safe and healthy living environment (e.g. safety, hospitals, waste treatment, water quality, schools).

11.2.6.F.

¨ª Compare and contrast how different cultures meet family responsibilities within differing configurations (e.g. new parent, just married, single adult living alone, ¡°empty nest¡±, retired, senior citizen).

Enduring Understanding:

¨ª Perceptions are constructed.

Essential Questions:

¨ª Interpretation:

o What are distinguishing factors that make the Amish and PA Dutch different?

¨ª Explanation:

o Who are the Amish and PA Dutch?

¨ª Application:

o If you were Amish, how would you react to laws and regulations imposed by the local and federal government that go against your beliefs and traditions? What actions would you take to oppose new legislation?

¨ª Empathy:

o What does the Amish lifestyle tell you about the ethics this community has?

¨ª Self-Knowledge:

o In what way can you compare your lifestyle to that of the Amish and PA Dutch?

¨ª Perspective:

o If you were Amish how might you react to people wanting to learn about your lifestyle and culture?

Key Knowledge and Skills:

¨ª Students will know:

o Characteristics of the Amish and PA Dutch Cultures.

o Characteristics of Amish and PA Dutch Religion

o Characteristics of their food.

o Characteristics of their location.

o Characteristics of their schools.

o Characteristics of their traditions.

o Characteristics of their family units and community

¨ª Students will be able to:

o Identify how their lifestyles differ from the Amish and PA Dutch.

O List and discuss traditions that the Amish and PA Dutch have.

O Identify the types of jobs and rules that Amish andPA Dutch communities have.

O Locate the region where the PA Dutch and the Amish live.

O Explain how the location is directly related to their work ethics.

O Discuss in groups their understanding of the Amish and PA Dutch communities.

O Discuss how religion affects Amish and PA Dutch citizens in everyday life.

O Compare the foods made in the Amish community to those we eat.

O Explain how Amish and PA Dutch schooling differs from our own.

Authentic Performance Tasks

¡Ü The students will create a skit about one of the follow aspects of the Amish culture; religious services, school day, marriage ceremony, burial ceremonies, working, and leisure time. In groups of four to five students, each group will write and perform a skit that portrays Amish people and their community in a realistic manner. The students may focus on, but are not limited to dealings in the following areas; gender roles, food, attire, technology, language, religious beliefs, and traditions. Each group will perform their skit in front of the class and then discuss what information they included about the Amish culture.

¡Ü The students will complete a web quest about the Amish community. As a result of the web quest task, the class will be creating a handmade classroom quilt. Each student will be responsible for crafting at least one square to be featured as a piece of the quilt. The square that the students make should illustrate one thing they wish to remember from their study of the Amish culture. The students will write a short reflection explaining the significance of their square/s on the classroom quilt.

¡Ü The students will create a biographic representation of their Amish pen pal.

Informal Assessments

¡Ü The teacher will observe the students as they work independently and on group assignments.

¡Ü The students will reflect on the knowledge acquired by completing written reflections.

¡Ü The teacher will assess student questions and response to questions posed in class.

Formal Assessments:

¡Ü The students will complete a test upon completion of the unit.

Rationale:

Dear Parents(s) / Guardian(s),

Over the next three weeks, your child will be exploring the lives of the Amish and PA Dutch. It will be enriching for your child to see that this community is so different from our own. We will discuss the Amish and Pa Dutch¡¯s culture, history, schools, location, food, and traditions. Your child will be discovering that along with many differences, our cultures share many similarities. The children will be experiencing the culture first hand and have the opportunity to reflect on their experiences in a unique and personal way.

To ensure effective learning we will be teaching about the unique characteristics of the Amish and Pa Dutch and even taking the students on a field trip to Lancaster Pennsylvania so they can be immersed in an Amish community. After the field trip, the students will have an opportunity to reflect on their day in any way they wish, examples include writing a song, writing a paper, making a model, craft. Possibly the most exciting outcome of our trip is that each student will select a same aged Amish peer to become pen pals with!

During this unit, the students will have the opportunity to create and perform a skit about the way Amish people live and traditions they have. We will also ask the class to come together and create a classroom quilt (each student contributing at least one square) to demonstrate some of the things they have learned about the Amish culture. They will be asked to explain why they created the square they did, and how it relates to the Amish and Pa Dutch community.

We would also like to invite parents to attend this field trip with us. This would help to provide us with additional supervision and to experience this community and enjoy the experience first hand. We are very excited to start this unit and we will hope to see some parents attending the field trip with us on April 17^th. Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Stage 3

¡Ü The students will create a KWL chart about the Amish and PA Dutch communities. The students will state what they already know, or think they know, on one column of the chart. They will then compile a list of the things they wish to know about this culture. The chart created by the class will be made into a hand out for the students. They can fill-out the learned portion of the chart during each lesson. At the completion of the lesson, the students will be asked to share the things they have learned with the whole class.

(W, R, and E)

¡Ü The teacher will read the book ¡°Just Plain Fancy¡± by Patricia Polacco aloud to the class. The students will be asked to make predictions about characteristics of Amish people and their community. The teacher will write these predictions on a chart that is hung in the classroom. When the students discover their predictions to be true or false they will mark the chart accordingly. Through this lesson, the teacher will introduce the enduring understanding that perceptions are constructed. Perceptions can be found true or false when one becomes more education on the topic.(E,R-Interpretation)

¡Ü In small groups, the students will be assigned one of the following aspects of Amish culture; location of communities, dress, transportation, technology, history, housing, traditions/laws/rules, and farming. The groups will investigate their topic using the following sources; ¡°Meet the Amish¡± by Fred Israel, ¡°Life in an Amish Community¡± by Katherine Wagner, and www.800padutch.com. Once they have completed their investigation, the students will present their findings to the class any way they wish (skit, poster, graph, drawing, pictures, ect). (W, E, R, E- Explanation, Empathy, Perspective)

¡Ü The students will break into small groups. Stations will be setup with materials explaining Amish religion. The students will read/examine the material presented at each station then rotate. The students will come together to discuss how the religious beliefs and traditions affect the daily lives of Amish people. They will individuals fill in a Venn diagram showing how their traditions are similar and different from those in the Amish community. (E, E-Interpretation, Explanation, Self Knowledge)

¡Ü As a class, we will read the book entitled Amish School by Sara Fisher. We will identify characteristics of an Amish schoolhouse. The next day the classroom will be setup like a traditional Amish schoolhouse. The students will be taught the lessons for one day using only the technology and traditions of an Amish schoolhouse. The students and the teacher will be banned from using anything that is not used by the Amish in daily life. The students will share how they felt and what they noticed about their classroom. (W, H, E, R, E-Interpretation, Self Knowledge)

¡Ü The students will search the Internet and cookbooks for traditional Amish dishes that appeal to them. They will each submit a recipe and a brief story about when the Amish would have eaten it. The story could be fictional or nonfiction. The recipes and stories will be complied into a classroom cookbook for the students to keep. (W, E,R E- Interpretation)

¡Ü The class will read the following books aloud and in book clubs; An Amish Year by Richard Ammon and Pamela Patrick, Growing Up Amish by E. Ammon, What Makes Me Amish by Charles George, and/or Nicole Visits an Amish Farm by Merle Good. The students will write a scaffolded play on family and community or jobs and employment in the Amish community. The students will present these plays to the class using props and costumes when appropriate.(E, R, E- Application, Empathy)

¡Ü The students will attend a field trip to an Amish community in Lancaster Pennsylvania. While in Lancaster, the students will visit a real functioning Amish farm, farmhouse, and school. The students will have time to interact with members of the community and get a first hand view of a day in the life of an Amish citizen. The Amish school house visit will give the students an opportunity to see how school is different for members of the Amish community. Upon returning from our visit, the students will have an opportunity to reflect on their day in any way they wish, examples include writing a song, writing a paper, making a model, craft, ect.(W, H, R- Explanation, Application)

¡Ü The students will hand write letters to their Amish pen pals. The students will be asked to discover as much as they can about their new friend and share things about themselves. The differences in their culture, personal interests, responsibilities, and daily routines should all be addressed. After corresponding with their pen pal for a reasonable length of time, the students will create a biographic representation of their pen pal using an material they wish. (W, E, R- Perspective)

¡Ü The students will complete a web quest to summarize the Amish unit. They will ultimately be creating a quilt about the Amish culture. Each student will create a square of the quilt and write a summary explaining the piece they made. The quilt will be assembled and displayed in the classroom. (W, H, E, R, E- Explanation)