ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] ALA (4) 16 :

16 ) Determine the impact of population growth on cities, major road systems, demographics, natural resources, and the natural environment of Alabama during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

•  Describing how technological advancements brought change to Alabamians, including the telephone; refrigerator; automobile; television; and wireless, Internet, and space technologies

•  Relating Alabama's economy to the influence of foreign-based industry, including the automobile industry

[DLIT] (4) 5 :

R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[DLIT] (4) 18 :

12) Use basic features of digital tools to communicate key ideas and details in a way that informs and/or persuades.

Imagine if the world as you know it never changed. Students will embark on a journey back in time and research what life in Alabama looked like in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Students will compare and contrast the information they research with their present-day lives. Students will then identify how technological advancements changed life for Alabamians and reflect on how they feel their life would be today if things never changed. Students will create an Adobe Express digital story to communicate their researched information and personal reflections.

This resource was created as a result of the Alabama Technology in Motion Partnership.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (4) 35 :

35. Write personal or fictional narratives using a logical plot, transitional words and phrases, sensory details, and dialogue, and providing a sense of closure.

[SS2010] ALA (4) 2 :

2 ) Relate reasons for European exploration and settlement in Alabama to the impact of European explorers on trade, health, and land expansion in Alabama.

•  Locating on maps European settlements in early Alabama, including Fort Condé, Fort Toulouse, and Fort Mims

•  Tracing on maps and globes, the routes of early explorers of the New World, including Juan Ponce de León, Hernando de Soto, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa

•  Explaining reasons for conflicts between Europeans and American Indians in Alabama from 1519 to 1840, including differing beliefs regarding land ownership, religion, and culture

[DLIT] (4) 5 :

R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[DLIT] (4) 19 :

13) Synthesize complex information from multiple sources in different ways to make it more useful and/or relevant.

In this lesson, students will define conflict as it relates to Native American land conflict during the early nineteenth century.  Students will compare Native Americans' and settlers' perspectives on land.  Students will write a narrative writing as a Creek Chief watching the settlers move into their territory, focusing on how this makes them feel and how these events will change the lives of his/her people. 

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (5) 16 :

16. Demonstrate comprehension of varied literary and informational texts by utilizing its content when discussing or writing in response to the text.

[ELA2021] (4) 14 :

14. Demonstrate comprehension of literary and informational text by utilizing its content when discussing or writing in response to the text.

[ELA2021] (3) 18 :

18. Demonstrate content knowledge built during independent reading of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through writing.

[MA2019] (5) 8 :

8. Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationships between addition/subtraction and multiplication/division; relate the strategy to a written method, and explain the reasoning used.

a. Use concrete models and drawings to solve problems with decimals to hundredths.

b. Solve problems in a real-world context with decimals to hundredths.

[MA2019] (4) 10 :

10. Use place value strategies to fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers and connect strategies to the standard algorithm.

[MA2019] (3) 11 :

11. Use various strategies to add and subtract fluently within 1000.

[DLIT] (3) 5 :

R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[DLIT] (5) 5 :

R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[DLIT] (4) 5 :

R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

This Digital Breakout is a perfect way to enhance a unit of study with animal standards for grades 3-5. It can be used before or after a unit of study or a field trip to the Birmingham Zoo. Students will work creatively and collaboratively to solve academic puzzles to unlock an answer. Academic puzzles are centered around a variety of Course of Study standards that engage students through the Breakout process. This activity can be done as a whole group for students that are not familiar with the Digital Breakout process. This activity can be done in small groups in grades 2-5 with students that are familiar with the Digital Breakout process.  

This Learning Activity was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo.