Third Grade Social Studies
Teaching Unit 4
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Marlo Mong
November 13, 2008
How do I know what concepts to teach?
• Use your curriculum map!
– Unit One on every map lists the
concepts used for the rest of the
year
– Every piece of content for the rest
of the year is listed under a
relevant concept
• These are suggestions – make them
work for your class!
• Keep up with it all using a
concept wall.
Teaching Historical Figures
• Start with character traits
– Introduce vocabulary
– Create a chart that describes traits
– Give examples of character traits in people important to students’
lives
– Refer to chart every time you study a historical figure
• Integrate Social Studies and ELA
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Teach non-fiction reading strategies with biographies
Emphasize the reason historical figure is in the standard
Think about character forming events and impact on society
Discuss differences between what is significant and what is “cool”
Frederick Douglass: What was his role in
the early civil rights movement?
• Abolitionist: How did he help others?
Think about the impact of his actions.
– Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
– Beliefs and Ideals
Civil War era south
• Maryland: Why is Maryland considered a part of the South?
• Escaped to the north and got involved with the Liberator, a newspaper
against slavery
• Traveled and lectured with other abolitionists throughout the North and
Europe to speak out against more than just slavery
• Believed in equal rights for slaves and women
• Was considered by newspaper a very well-spoken man
Frederick Douglass
This task can integrate the information process
skill matrix by using primary sources. Show
students copies of the articles, letters, or diary
entries written by Frederick Douglass. It is
important to include not only textbook and
biographies in instruction so students can gain
multiple perspectives of history.
Susan B. Anthony: How did her work
helped change voting rights?
• Suffragist: Why was being able to vote important
to her? Think about why there needed to be change.
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New York: Raised in NY and remained there aside from travels to
discuss her beliefs and ideals
• Quaker family: How did that shape her beliefs and ideals?
• Many people immigrating to NY, including those disenfranchised from the south
Interesting fact - She felt so strongly about her beliefs and ideas that:
– Cast a test vote in 1872 presidential election.
– Article 1 of the constitution: People shall choose their officials
– Arrested and found guilty of disobeying local law allowing only men to vote.
"Principle not policy; Justice, not favors.
Men, their rights, and nothing more; Women, their rights and nothing less."
The Revolution, edited by Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Mary McLeod Bethune: How did she help improve
education opportunities for all students?
• Educational leader: Why was it important for all children to
get an education? Think beliefs and ideals.
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Reconstruction South: Although freed, were ex-slaves really free?
• Formed strong work ethic growing up on cotton farm but was not content with this work
• very important to learn how to read and write
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Lived in many places, mostly in the South, educating and helping others.
• African-American girls and boys not denied an education because they could not pay tuition
• Assisting prisoners and homeless also part of her mission
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Founder of Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls
• Grew into a co-ed high school and hospital and later became Bethune-Cookman University
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First African-American woman honored with a statue in Lincoln Park, Washington DC
She encouraged people to "Invest in the human soul.
Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough."
(Profiles in Caring, nahc.org)
Mary McLeod Bethune
Don’t forget character traits! After completing this
task (and the others in this session), have students
write the “things Mary McLeod Bethune did” onto
sentence strips. Students can sort those strips onto
the correct column of a class character trait chart or
write the information onto an individual character trait
chart they keep in a notebook.
Use ELA to Assess Social Studies
Students can write a poem just as easily as they can
take a multiple choice or matching test.
First Name
3 adjective that describe the person
Lover of __________
Who fears _________
Who would like to ____________
Son/Daughter of ______________
Resident of ______________
Last Name
Econ and Me Charades
• To review what producers and consumers do in the market
place, students will act out different situations that occur in
real life.
– Working in pairs, give students an index card with a job (i.e.
dentist, farmer, baker, teacher, police officer).
– One student will act out how the good or service is produced by the
person doing the job.
– The other student will act out how that good or service is
consumed.
– Students in the class will try to guess the good/service being
produced and consumed.
This activity is adapted from Econ and Me, published by Agency for Instruction Technology,
Canadian Foundation for Economics Education, and Joint Council on Economic Education
You can get this and other economics resources from the Georgia Council on Economics Education.
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Econ and Me Yarn Web
In this activity, students will see how people rely on others because of interdependence.
Brainstorm a list of jobs that are necessary to make a community run effectively, such as a
banker, ambulance driver, mail carrier, plumber, hair stylist, etc. Let students choose a job from
your list and create a sign to wear that names the job. On the sign, the student needs to write a
sentence about the good or service that is provided.
Form a circle and make sure everyone can see what job each student has. One student will hold
onto one end of a ball of yarn and then “gently toss” the ball of yarn to someone else in the
circle. As the yarn is tossed, the student needs to explain how he or she depends on the other
student for the job on the sign. Then that student will hold one end of the yarn and toss the
other end to someone else also explaining the dependence on that job.
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Example:
• I am a teacher, and I depend on the plumber to keep my sink from clogging up.
• I am a plumber, and I depend on the police officer to keep me safe.
Make sure the students hold onto one end of the yarn before tossing it to someone else so the web can be
made.
When the yarn has been tossed to everyone in the circle, remove someone from the circle and
start pulling on the piece of yarn that was being held. Have a discussion about what happened
when one person was removed and how the yarn web started to fall apart. Students should
understand this is why we are interdependent and rely on others.
This activity is from Econ and Me, published by Agency for Instruction Technology,
Canadian Foundation for Economics Education, and Joint Council on Economic Education
You can get this and other economics resources from the Georgia Council on Economics Education.
Internet Resources
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/resources/gw_douglass.htm
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This website is a review of several Frederick Douglass primary source websites. The links are provided and a
short review of how useful the website is for teachers and students is given.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/douglass
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This website was created by the Library of Congress to tell the history of the United States through story.
There are many different stories about American history on this website, but this link is about Frederick
Douglass.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/frdo/freddoug.html
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This website is part of the National Parks Services. This website talks about Cedar Hill, Frederick Douglass’s
home and where the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site is located. Click on the link American
Visionaries and you can take a virtual tour of Cedar Hill
http://www.susanbanthonyhouse.org/
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Learn about the suffragist and tour her home! This website has many different links that discuss the life and
work of Susan B. Anthony.
http://www.nps.gov/mamc/
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Another website from the National Parks Service, this one dedicated to the life and work of Mary McLeod
Bethune.
http://www.bethune.cookman.edu/about_BCU/history/index.html
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This website is the official site for Bethune Cookman University, and has a great history link that discusses
the life and mission of Mary McLeod Bethune. Included is a transcript of Dr. Bethune’s last will and testament.
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/sayitplain/mmbethune.html
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Listen to a speech given by Mary McLeod Bethune. Collected by American Radio Works, this speech is from
America’s Town Meeting of the Air – New York City, November 23, 1939.
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