These lessons are meant to supplement the school or district social studies curriculum. In addition, teachers are strongly encouraged to have students engage in project-based learning related to the content of these lessons. The Grade 3 curriculum covers Boston (and Massachusetts) through history, civics, geography, and economics. Below are several suggested long-term projects that we recommend teachers use in conjunction with these lessons. These projects may include producing a report and/or brief presentations in the form of poster boards, digital slideshows, performances that highlight the positive and negative aspect to each historical event or person. Project 1: Indigenous People of New England To extend on lessons 3-1 to 3-8, students will research the Indigenous people or first nations of New England. Project 2: Early Massachusetts To extend on lessons 3-5 to 3-9, students will research important 17th and 18th century Massachusetts people from diverse race, gender, and backgrounds. Project 3: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties To extend on lessons 3-10 to 3-14, students will research social movements for equity and equality in Massachusetts (anti-slavery, women’s rights, Native rights). Project 4: Local Issues To extend on lessons 3-15 to 3-20, students will research important current-day local issues of their choosing (education, parks/recreation, transportation, housing, health care, etc.) and present possible state bills or city ordinances to help solve these problems. Project 5: Local History To extend on lessons 3-1 to 3-20, students will research the main historical events of their local neighborhood (Dorchester) or city/town (Boston) and create history books, covering from the history of Indigenous people to the present-day that can be shared with the primary grades at the school or in a school or local library. GRADE 3 ROAD MAP Lesson Title: People of the First Light: The Wampanoag
Explain that over 200,000 people came to Boston Common on January 21, 2017 for the Women’s march and worldwide over 2.5 million people marched. Ask students if they have ever attended a rally, march, or protest. What was it like? Tell students that millions of women were marching because they did not think the government, and especially the president, supported equality for women. Ask students if they know what equality means. Anticipated student responses may include: everyone being treated equal, everyone getting the same thing, no one treated your poorly because of your background or who you are. Reveal and read the definition of inequality on the board or chart paper. Tell students that today, we will learn about some important people from Massachusetts who wanted equality for women. B. DEVELOPMENT (15 minutes) 3. Participate in a Corner Debate on Women’s Rights Have students individually think about each women’s rights question using Preparation for the Corner Debate (WORKSHEET 3-11.B). Ask students to their preparation sheets with them and stand up in the middle of the room. Post in the four corners of the room the signs that say “STRONGLY AGREE, “AGREE,” “DISAGREE,” “STRONGLY DISAGREE” (MATERIALS 3-11.C). Read each of the questions. Tell students if they think would be a good choice, they should stand under “STRONGLY AGREE” or “AGREE,” or a bad choice, they should stand under “DISAGREE” or “STRONGLY DISAGREE.” Ask students to explain why they agree or disagree. Repeat this with the other questions. If there are no agrees or disagrees for a question, you should stand there and give a reason why it might be a good or bad choice. the students have heard a discussion of each choice, have students return to their seats. Have students take turns reading Corner Debate Information (SOURCEBOOK Have students take turns reading about each question. Tell students that after respectfully listening to the different opinions of different ways to help women’s rights, they will now have a chance to make you own mind up. C. CLOSING (6 minutes) 4. Write Up Argument on Women’s Rights For the evaluation task, have the students complete the exit ticket (ASSESSMENT they write their own personal response to the lesson’s Inquiry Question: “Which Massachusetts women’s rights leader had the best strategy for equality?” Tell students to cite at least three pieces of evidence from Corner Debate Information (WORKSHEET 3-11.D) or our class debate.
5. Write Up Argument on Boston’s Future For the evaluation task, have the students complete the exit ticket (ASSESSMENT they write their own personal response to the lesson’s Inquiry Question: “What is the most important issue for our community to solve in the future?” Tell students to cite at least three pieces of evidence from their classmates’ presentations or the sources for this lesson. Before using the exit ticket, consider using a graphic organizer or two column notes to prepare students for the writing task. Consider using sentence starters and modeling to help the students with their answer to the inquiry question. D. EXTENSION 6. Write Letters to Political Leaders About Your Problem Use language arts time to have students write letters to political leaders (e.g. mayor, state representative, governor, congressperson, senator, president) about their local issue and proposed solutions. EVALUATION ASSESSMENT 3-20.E What to look for? The students should choose one future problem that they think is most important to address and should describe how they would fix the problem. All arguments should cite at least 3 pieces of evidence. Answers will vary based on students’ solution choice. All students’ answers should include at least 3 pieces of evidence from the sources, reference books, or internet. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Below is a list of lesson plan and unit resources from other organizations, which in conjunction with Understanding Our World, may help teachers develop a content-rich elementary social studies curriculum. Boston Public Schools: History and Social Studies Department K-12 Curriculum Resources