Unit 4: We Can Change the World

Unit Overview: Each unit overview provides a description of the content knowledge students will gain through learning and applying literacy skills while engaging with texts. Additional information in the Resources section. 

               Unit 4 in Grade 3 focuses on having students understand that young environmental activists are making a difference around the world, and children can be an important voice in improving the environment by making a difference in their communities and the world. In Grade 2, students were asked to compare and contrast different versions of a story or details. In Grade 3, that work is elevated through looking at themes, settings, and plots in different texts as well as the major key details in non-fiction texts. Students will grow in this work through being able to pinpoint explicit details within a text to be able to compare and contrast. Beginning in module 1 students will begin by building their background knowledge around the topic of environmentalism and being an activist, and using that knowledge to be able to become an environmental activist in their own communities. We will explore that transition through learning the content with informational text and then use realistic fiction and biographical narratives to help them explore the topic and the work they can do. All Foundational standards and skills are prioritized as students are participating in activities to support their phonics development and stamina such using prefixes and suffixes to determine the meaning of new words and decoding and reading multisyllabic words to build their stamina to read longer passages and longer periods of time. Students will engage in phonics and language building activities to ensure they are decoding and building a strong vocabulary to support their comprehension.

In order to promote learning for all-students, strategies have been incorporated into the day to day lesson design. For Els, strategies such as using sentence frames and narratives to support students' understanding of the material and tasks. For students with IEPS, the use of small groups and read alouds to support students to work on grade level. As part of the district’s initiative to promote equity, we will cultivate students who build skills through lessons that advance students' content area skills and proficiencies around being an environmentalist and an activist. Through writing, drawing, and hands-on activities, students will create projects and writing samples that explore their knowledge base around the topic. Within the unit, students will work with the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. In the story, we will learn about a boy who created a windmill. Research another invention using renewable or recycled sources that has also had a positive impact on the environment, such as a windmill or solar panels. Create an infographic of an existing renewable energy invention or invent your own version of a renewable source of energy. Explain the benefits of the invention and how it improves our health, economy and environment. This unit may include texts from Wit and Wisdom and/or ReadyGen that are aligned with the content and priority standards.

Big Ideas: 

• Young environmental activists are making a difference around the world.

• Environmentalism is both a philosophy and a social movement that is concerned with humanity's and nature’s adverse impact on the environment and protecting the Earth.

• Environmentalism advocates help to preserve, protect, and restore the natural environment from damage.

• Children can be an important voice in improving the environment by making a difference in their communities and the world.

Essential Questions: 

• How are young activists making differences across the world? 

• What is environmentalism and why is it important?

• How does environmental activism impact our lives?

• How can young people get involved and change their communities and ultimately the world?