2003 Lesson Plans
Grades K and 1

4: Sorting by Site
Based on the Missouri quarter reverse

Objectives
Students will identify elements of their own community and compare and contrast these elements with those in other communities. 

Materials
•	1 overhead projector (optional)
•	1 overhead transparency (or photocopy) of the Missouri quarter reverse
•	1 class map of the United States of America
•	1 overhead transparency (or photocopy) of the Louisiana quarter reverse (see page 16 of the 2002 50 State Quarters® Program lesson plans, grades K–1, lesson 3:  Our States, My State)
•	Copies of age-appropriate texts relating to the discoveries made by the Corps of Discovery, such as:
–	Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President by Shirley-Raye Redmond
–	Seaman’s Journal: On the Trail With Lewis and Clark by Patti Reeder Eubank
–	Going Along with Lewis and Clark by Barbara Fifer
–	Lewis and Clark: Explorers of the American West by Steven Kroll
•	Chart paper 
•	Markers
•	Copies of the “In My Community” worksheet
•	Crayons and/or colored pencils
•	Scissors
•	Copies of the “Outside My Community” worksheet
•	Bulletin board paper
•	Stapler

Preparations
•	Make an overhead transparency (or photocopy) of the Missouri and Louisiana quarter reverses.
•	Locate an age-appropriate text relating to the discoveries made by the Corps of Discovery (see examples under “Materials”).
•	Make copies of the “In My Community” worksheet (1 per person).
•	Make copies of the “Outside My Community” worksheet (1 per person).
•	Prepare a “Differences in Communities” bulletin board.  The board will be divided into two columns, labeled “In My Community” and “Outside My Community.”    

Groupings
•	Whole group
•	Individual work

Class Time
Two sessions

Connections
•	Social Studies
•	Art
•	Language Arts

Terms and Concepts
•	Quarter		•	Reverse (back)	•	Lewis and Clark
•	Discovery		•	Community	•	Sorting
•	Explore		•	Gateway Arch

Background Knowledge
Students should have a basic knowledge of: 
•	Their community
•	Other types of communities

Steps
Before conducting this lesson, it is suggested that teachers introduce students to the Louisiana Territory through the 2002 Louisiana quarter lesson plan that is part of this series.  

Session 1 
1.	Describe the 50 State Quarters Program for background information, if necessary, using the example of your own state, if available.  Then display the transparency or photocopy of the Missouri quarter reverse.  Locate Missouri on a classroom map.  Note its position in relation to your school’s location.
2.	With the students, examine the design on this coin’s reverse.  As a class, identify the objects on the coin’s reverse: the Gateway Arch that stands in St. Louis, MO, and three men paddling down the river in a canoe.  Provide photographs or additional physical examples to make these images more meaningful to the students.   
3.	Display the outline of the Louisiana quarter, and review the idea that the shaded part of the quarter was once a new part of the country for people to explore and where people could live.  Explain that the men on the Missouri quarter were sent to explore this land.  These men were sent to learn about the land and wildlife in this area, and to do this, they wrote and drew what they saw.  
Note:  At this point, take the opportunity to explain that the Gateway Arch is a recent structure and it did not exist during this time of exploration.  It is a symbol of the growth of our country.
4.	Select an appropriate children’s text about Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Territory and, as a group, preview the text and illustrations to this text.  
5.	Read this story as a group.  During the reading attend to any unfamiliar vocabulary.      

Session 2
1.	With the students, revisit the story about Lewis and Clark that was read during the previous session.  
2.	As a class, discuss why these men might have written about the different kinds of animals and plants that they discovered during their trip.  The discussion should include the idea that Lewis and Clark noted animals and plants that did not exist in the eastern part of the United States, where they lived.  
3.	Introduce the idea that communities often have aspects which are special to only them.  Share photographs of animals found in a variety of temperature extremes as well as animals that could be found locally.  As a class, sort these pictures according to whether the animal could be found in their community or elsewhere.
4.	Ask students to point out which of these animals live in very cold weather.  Would they be the same animals that you would find in places where the weather is very hot?  
5.	Discuss the idea that animals are not the only things that differ between communities.  To prompt student thinking, ask if students have ever traveled away from their town and seen things that they would not find at home.  What other things might be different from one town to another?   Record all student responses on a piece of chart paper.  
6.	Ask students to think carefully about their own community.  How would they describe their community to someone who had never been there?  Work with students to develop a list of features from their community that might not be found elsewhere.
7.	Distribute an “In My Community” worksheet to each student, and direct each to select a feature from the class list to draw on their worksheet.  Model the related thinking and drawing for students.  
8.	When students have finished their drawings, they should make sure they’ve written their name on the worksheet and then cut along the sheet’s dotted line.
9.	Distribute an “Outside My Community” worksheet to each student and direct the students to think of things that they would not find within their communities (these could be animals, plants, foods, types of homes, etc.).  Work with students to develop a list of features that would not be found in their community.  Direct each child to select a feature from the class list to draw on his or her worksheet.  Again, model the related process for students.
10.	When students have finished their drawings, they should make sure they’ve written their name on the worksheet and then cut along the sheet’s dotted line.
11.	Move the students so that they’re sitting in front of the “Differences in Communities” bulletin board.  
12.	One at a time, ask each child to present his or her worksheet.  When each student has described the picture on each sheet to the class, allow the rest of the class to decide into which category each worksheet should be placed.
13.	Staple each child’s work to the bulletin board in the appropriate category.

Enrichment/Extensions
Incorporate an additional literature selection relating to a different type of community into this activity.  Examples include:
–	Madlenka by Peter Sis
–	The Trip Back Home by Janet S. Wong
–	On the Town: A Community Adventure by Judith Caseley
–	The Last Dragon by Susan Miho Nunes

Differentiated Learning Option
Have students select images from a variety of magazine photographs to sort, cut and paste to each of the distributed worksheets.    

HPC Connection
To learn more about the men sent to explore and take notes on the Louisiana Territory, visit May 2001’s Coin of the Month in the coin news area of HPC at http://www.usmint.gov/kids/index.cfm?FileContents=/kids/coinnews/cotm/cotm0501.cfm.   

Student Worksheet
In My Community
Sheet, to be cut out, contains a large circle for drawing and a space for the student’s name.

Student Worksheet
Outside My Community
Sheet, to be cut out, contains a large circle for drawing and a space for the student’s name.

Student Worksheet
Missouri Quarter Reverse
Enlarged outline.