Lesson 3
Topic, class, and level - Wampanoag Economy (Trading and Inventions)
Date for implementation:
Conceptual Framework: To what important concept, essential question, enduring understanding, or big
idea in the discipline does this lesson connect?
Big Idea: Economy, Inventions
EQ1: How does a lack of an economic system affect a society?
EQ2. How does a society build economy?
EU: Wampanoag inventions are the bedrock of some of our present day inventions.
Standards: MA, Common Core, WIDA or other Standards for this lesson or unit:
Knowledge/Understandings: What should the students know and understand at the end of this lesson?
Wampanoag created a commercial infrastructure
Wampanoag were invertors
Skills: What will the students be able to do when this lesson is over?
Identify Wampanoag inventions
Identify the impact of and economy on a society
Identify and describe and marketplace/ trading point
Assessment: How will you check for student achievement and understanding?
Formative assessment: Observe students participation during the activity
Instructional Approach (Describe activities, allotted time, and closure)
Materials, preparation and/or on-line resources to be used:
Paper
Pencil
Tape
Photographs of depicting Wampanoag inventions
Artifacts of Wampanoag inventions
Two tables
Hook: What question or activity might spark student curiosity and motivation?
Inventions! Third grades, creating or building anything can be exciting, and what is even more exciting is
that we can sometimes trade the things that we create with others. For a society to have an economy,
people must have things to exchange in a marketplace. Today we are going to talk about the many cool
inventions by the Wampanoag, and we will create a marketplace just like a Wampanoag did in order for
us to trade items with others who may have things that we want. During this activity, I want you to think
about differences and similarities in the ways you are trading in your simulated marketplace verses the
ways in which you shop when you are in the supermarket.
Activities: What question/s might encourage the student to explore and discover the content? What will
happen during the body of the lesson?
3rd graders, in our previous lesson on Wampanoag leadership we learned how leadership impacts a society
and the various roles that leaders played. In this activity, think about the reason why the Wampanoag
invented certain things, and why did they need to trade others. Also, I want you to think about the
economic benefits of inventing something and what economic benefits did the Wampanoag reaped from
their inventions.
Wrap-up: How will you help students make meaning from the lesson’s activities?
Whole group discussion about the items that were traded during the market place simulation. Why do certain items
cost more and other items than other items? Why do a society need an economy?
Differentiation including SEI Considerations (key vocabulary, language/content objectives, etc.):
Key Vocabulary: Economy, Inventions, Trading
Grouping: If you are grouping at some point during the lesson, why are you grouping? How are you
grouping?
For the group activity the class will be divided into two groups.
Group A: Byers
Group B: Traders
Sponge activity: How will you “soak up” extra time if some students or groups finish before others?
Students who finish the activity early should go create a list on items (inventions) that they saw during the
activity that particularly peaked their interest and explain in their own words why this item was so
interesting.
Homework when appropriate:
Write a brief two paragraph essay telling your teacher two things that are needed in order of a society to
have an economy.
Potential Pitfalls and Reflection: What can you predict (or did you discover as you taught) that your
students may find challenging or have misconceptions about? How will you address those confusions?
For this lesson it will be particular challenging for students to suspend disbelief as some of the items we
use during the activity will only be a pictorial representation of the item and not the item itself. Thus,
students have to treat the pictures of the items as if it were the actual items. To address this challenge, I
will explain to students that although the physical items itself is not present, we can think of this as
purchasing an item online (marketplace), where we place an order for an item that we haven’t seeing
physically but he know the importance of that item.