Embedded Files
Content
2016 History-Social Science Framework - Chapter 6, Grade 3 "Continuity and Change"
1998 History-Social Science Content Standards, grade 3 pp. 9-11
Inquiry
Inquiry Questions:
What is the Constitution and why is it important?
Should the constitution protect your rights?
Should your responsibilities as citizens be included?
Why is it important for the students in our class to follow our Classroom Constitution?
How can I help my community?
Learning Activities - Literacy
Textbook Adoption Reflections: Our Communities ch. 7-8
Related Children's Literature:
A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy Maestro and Guilio Maestro
The U.S. Constitution by Norman Pearl
How the U.S. Government Works by Syl Sobel
Biographies of: Anne Hutchinson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh which recounts one family’s involvement in the fight to desegregate schools in California
Learning Activities (no time-frames are given intentionally so that teachers can meet the instructional needs of their students):
Read: A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy Maestro and Guilio Maestro or the U.S. Constitution by Norman Pearl
Students can discuss the responsibilities of citizens, make a list, or create an illustration of what is considered a “good citizen.”
Students learn about the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government with an emphasis on the local government through the Harcourt text or informational texts such as How the U.S. Government Works by Syl Sobel. Information also available at this site: https://kids.usa.gov/index.shtml
Students can also write a classroom constitution. In a discussion of what to include, teachers can ask questions such as the following: Should the constitution protect your rights? Should your responsibilities as citizens be included? To explore the judicial branch of the government, teachers may use literature and role plays by reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs byJon Scieszka
Citizenship
Contact the Federal Courts to arrange for the Three Little Pigs Mock Trial: See this flyer and contact Kathleen T. McMahon-Walford at kathleen_walford@casd.uscourts.gov, telephone: 619-557-7824.
See Framework Vignette for an example of a 3rd grade classroom extension where students will create a classroom constitution.
Teachers can invite a local leader to visit the classroom through the Chamber of Commerce, local government or a local nonprofit organization. Students interview the leader about a local problem (for example homelessness or hunger) and how they are helping the community (for example, a food bank, a soup kitchen, or a new law). The speaker can be asked to describe how students could help and what the leader thinks it means to be a citizen. Students work together to plan a class project to address the problem, such as a food drive, a recycling program, a clothing drive, or writing letters proposing or opposing a law.
Report abuse