Visiting Vandalia Social Studies Strands By: Amanda Dennler Brittany Farmer And Leah Higgins

Table of Contents  History  People in Societies  Geography  Economics  Government  Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities  Social Studies Skills and Methods

Visiting Vandalia Unit: Social Studies Grade Level: 3 rd Grade Lesson: My Community Objectives: Students will be able to increase his/her awareness of the make-up of the immediate community.

History Activities: 1. Students will visit the Vandalia Historical Society. 2. Students will research an important person from Vandalia and prepare a short presentation. 3. Students will look at historical pictures of Vandalia and compare and contrast those pictures will recent pictures of the same places.

History Activities (continued): 4. Students will create a timeline of events that have occurred in the history of Vandalia. 5. Students will research the Dayton Flood of 1913 and its effects on Vandalia.

History Websites:  Historical Society butler.org/index.html  Pictures of Dayton Flood flood.htm

History Web Sites (continued):  History of Vandalia  History of the Grand American Trapshoot  City of Vandalia

People in Societies Activities: 1. Invite the Superintendent to come and speak to the class. 2. Invite a spokesperson from the rotary club to come and tell the class what the rotary club does for the community. 3. Take the class on a field trip to a local nursing home.

People in Societies Activities (continued): 4. Take to class to visit a local senior center to learn how a community has activities for age levels. 5. Compare the community of Vandalia to other communities around the world.

People in Societies Web Sites:  Senior Center  Vandalia Board of Education htm  Rotary Club

People in Societies Websites Cont…  Amateur Trapshoot Association  Optimist Club butleroptimistclub.org/community/ht ml

Geography Activities: 1. Look at a map of Vandalia 2. Learn the history of Old National Road. 3. Take a walking field trip around Vandalia. Have students take notes about what they see. Use the notes to create a detailed map of Vandalia.

Geography Activities (continued): 4. Discuss the importance and geography of the Taylorsville Dam. 5. Look at a map of the Dayton airport.

Geography Web Sites:  National Road Route 40 - America's Golden Highway (TM)  Taylorsville Dam Miami Conservancy District - flood protection - MCD system - Taylorsville Dam  Vandalia Rec Center

Geography Web Sites (continued):  Dayton International Airport rt_home.htm  Longitude/Latitude html

Economics Activities: 1. Visit a local farm to see how the farm handles production, distribution, and consumption. 2. Invite the manager of Krogers to visit the class to explain how corporations work. 3. Visit Marti’s Monogramming to learn about small and how they effect the community.

Economics Activities (continued): 4. Visit a local bank to learn how money plays a role in the economy of the community. 5. Compare how small businesses are different from large worldwide franchises like McDonald’s.

Economics Web Sites:  Household Income ndalia.htm  McDonald’s  Kroger

Economics Web Sites (continued):  National City Bank  Ken’s Pharmacy  Hock’s Pharmacy

Government Activities: 1. Have a student government representative from Butler High School speak to the class about student government. 2. Watch a School House Rock video about government. 3. Read a story about the American flag and discuss it’s importance to our country.

Government Activities (continued): 4. Have students create a class government that reflects the government of Vandalia. 5. Have students give a brief presentation on each of the government positions in Vandalia and their importance to the community.

Government Web Sites:  Find a City  History of American Flag  Hometown locator alia-ohio.cfm#1

Government Web Sites (continued):  Elected Officials  City Manager ity_Manager.cfm

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Activities: 1. Have students participate in student voting for a local election. 2. Have a police officer visit the class and discuss his job and what service he provides for the community. 3. Have students pick out a community issue to discuss and research.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Activities (continued): 4. Have students create a list of classroom laws and consequences such as those used in the City of Vandalia. 5. After having the classroom rules and consequences for a couple of days the students will get in groups and propose possible solutions.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Web Sites:  Student voting  Vandalia Police Dept. Youth Programs m  Animal Shelter r/

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Web Sites (continued):  Conservancy District g/  D.A.R.E. lt.asp

Social Studies Skills and Methods Activities: 1. Have students use a map of Vandalia to find where important places are located. 2. Have students practice the process of ballot voting while voting on their favorite sport. 3. Have students work in groups to discuss appropriate consequences for breaking school rules.

Social Studies Skills and Methods 4. Have students create a model of the City of Vandalia complete with labels explaining the importance of key buildings and places. 5. Have research and write short reports about important jobs in the community.

Social Studies Skills and Methods Web Sites:  Ohio History Teachers  Crime Stopper  Improving Strategies for Social Studies

Social Studies Skills and Methods Web Sites (continued):  Crime Prevention rimePrevention.cfm  Vandalia Court