Regions of the United States

Students will:

• Be able to name the states that make up each region. 
• Be able to identify the characteristics of each region. 

Vocabulary Words:

1. Region: A region is an area or division, especially a part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.
2.  

To prepare for this lesson:

• Students will have been introduced to the five regions of the United States. 
• They will use the Michigan eLibrary and the Encyclopedia Britannica to learn more about each region. 
• Go to http://mel.org. Your school district should be able to log in without a login and password. If asked for one in Michigan, you will be directed to add a State ID, Driver's license or library card. 
• Next, go to Kids on the main menu and select Britannica School Middle. This will be appropriate for the students for their research. 
• When searching use the word the in front of the region. For example to search the Midwest type The Midwest. 
• Once you have found The Midwest, you will see that there are three different reading levels for the students. The lowest has less text and the highest has more text and information. There are images and related articles too. 
• The students can listen to the article, print it or email it to themselves. 
• You can assign articles to the students in Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. 
• Make a copy of this worksheet for your students. There are ten questions. You can modify and add additional questions if you wish. 

See Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students.net site in the Teacher Resources. 

Directions for this activity:

1. The teacher will introduce the five regions of the United States. 
2. The teacher will introduce Michigan eLibrary's Britannica Middle School to the students. 
3. The teacher will show the students how to use the different features in Britannica Middle School. They will learn how to change the reading level in the articles, how to listen and have the articles read to them, print and/or email the articles. 
4. The students will use the worksheet provided to research and answer the ten questions on the U.S. regions using Britannica Middle School. 

Different options for assessing the students:

• Observations
• Check for understanding
• The students will complete the worksheet provided in the lesson.