Fourth Grade Expeditions

Mountain Discovery
Topics: History of NC mountain region from settlement to 1850, people & culture of Appalachians, government & economy, native plants & animals, Cherokee, folklore, rocks and minerals. Students write spirit animal stories, folk tales, and create artifacts styled after Cherokee.

Guiding Questions:

1.  What is the geography of the Mountain region?

2.  Who were the people who lived in the North Carolina Appalachians?

3.  How has their culture changed over time?

Core Texts
Southern Jack Tales
Living Stories of the Cherokee
If you Lived with the Cherokee
The First Strawberries and other Cherokee legends

Literature circles
Soft Rain
Sarah Plain and Tall
Walk Two Moons
Sees Behind Trees
The Birchbark House

Journey Through the Piedmont

Topics: NC Piedmont: relationships between geography, economy, history, and culture; population studies; quilts and geometry; songs and poetry; slavery and underground railroad; stars and constellations. Students create quilts, models, maps, and participate in a historical re-enactment of the Underground Railroad.

Guiding Questions:

1. What is the geography of the Piedmont region?
2. How does geography influence economics?
3. How do economics influence people’s lives?

Core Texts
If You Lived When There Was Slavery in America
The Drinking Gourd
Patchwork Path to Freedom

Literature circles
Leon’s Story
Journey to the Bottomless Pit
Freedom Train
If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad
Amos Fortune Free Man
The Mystery of the Underground Railroad

Coastal Exploration
Topics: NC coastal region, history, pirates, oceans & wetland habitats, poetry & ghost stories, history of flight, technology.  Students create murals, wing designs, conduct independent research and prepare oral presentations.

Guiding Questions:

1. What is unique and interesting about the North Carolina coast?
2. What is technology?
3. How does technology influence people’s lives?

Core Texts
Young Flyer
Pirates!
First Flight
Wilbur and Orville Wright

Literature circles
Mystery of the Lost Colony
Mystery of the Kill Devil Hills
Pirates! Raiders of the High Seas
Treasure Island
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Misty of Chincoteague

Field Work:
Linville Caverns, Cherokee Museum at Oconaluftee, Mt. Mitchell, the Scotch Irish Heritage Museum, Mingus Mill, Nature Center, Gem Mine, Smith-McDowell House, Gatlinburg Aquarium, Cade’s Cove

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