Communities: Past and
Present, Near and Far
Grade: 3rd
Strands PowerPoint Presentation
ED 417-01
Charissa Charpie, Laura Groeschen, Gloria Mori
Table Of Contents
History
History Websites
People In Societies
People In Societies Websites
Geography
Geography Websites
Economics
Economics Websites
Government
Government Websites
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Websites
Social Studies Skills and
Methods
Social Studies Skills and
Methods Websites
Introduction:
Communities: Past and Present,
Near and Far
The local community serves
as the focal point for third
grade as students begin to
understand how their
community has changed over
time and to make
comparisons with
communities in other places.
The study of local history
comes alive through the use
of artifacts and documents.
They also learn how
communities are governed
and how the local economy
is organized.
History
• Activity 1
• Students will make a time line consisting of
important dates and people in history.
• Activity 2
• Students will create a Venn diagram. Class will
discuss modes of transportation before and after
the industrial revolution. They will put these
findings into the Venn diagram. *Talk about the
Amish way of living.
History
• Activity 3
• Students will take a trip to the historical society.
There they will see pictures of the beginning of
their community. If possible, they will see a
bird’s eye view map of the city before and after
development. Discuss what the community
was based around/built on (i.e., near springs)
and if that is still important today.
History
• Activity 4
• Together as a class students will come up with a
pre-definition of what they think technology is.
They will explore the different types of
technology and how it has changed in their
schools. Students will then create a post
definition of technology and compare the two.
History
• Activity 5
• Students will create a history book for the
community their school is located in. It will
include when it was established, who founded it,
and the major events leading up to the present
time.
Websites
• http://www.brainpop.com/ Brain Pop
• http://www.oplin.org/fal.php?msg= Ohio Public
•
•
•
Library Information Network
http://pbskids.org/democracy/educators The
Democracy Project
http://school.discovery.com/ Discovery
School
http://www.ed.wright.edu/~rhelms/home.html
Dr. Ronald Helms
People in Societies
• Activity 1
• Students will explore different types of artistic
expression. Then they will take a trip to the
Dayton Art Institute. Upon returning, students
will choose their favorite work/artist and create a
classroom gallery of their own artwork.
People in Societies
• Activity 2
• Have leaders of different religious organizations
•
•
come into class and speak about what their
responsibilities are within the community.
Activity 3
Talk about the local festivals held each year and
discuss their originations, traditions, and food.
Send a handout home with the students with
festival schedule of events.
People in Societies
• Activity 4
• Invite parents of different cultural backgrounds
to prepare food, and present a presentation of
their family’s culture. *Discuss the differences in
breakfast, lunch, supper, dinner, afternoon tea,
brunch, etc.
People in Societies
• Activity 5
• Students will discuss the origin and history of
the Olympics. Students will coordinate a school
wide Olympics with the Physical Education
teacher. Each class will represent a different
country.
Websites
• http://www.culture.ohio.gov/project.asp?proj=d
•
•
•
•
ai Dayton Art Institute
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adhere
nts.html Major Religions of the World Ranked by
Number of Adherents
http://www.wcnet.org/~kbrandt/ohio.htm Ohio
Festivals, Fairs and Events
www.brainpop.com Brain Pop
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/olympics/winter
olympics.htm Winter Olympic For Kids
Geography
• Activity 1
• The students will map the cross-country
•
•
campaign stops of the presidential candidates.
Activity 2
After learning about government services and
branches of local government, students identify
important landmarks, institutions, and
structures within their community. They will
then create an edible map to share with
classmates.
Geography
• Activity 3
• Students create maps with a color key
showing presidential election night results.
• Activity 4
• Students will discuss the symbolism of the
Statue of Liberty. Students will discuss
why people come to America and the
places in the world from which they come.
Geography
• Activity 5
• Students will interview their parents. They will
find out about their heritage and the parts of
the world their ancestors came from.
Websites
• http://pbskids.org/democracy/educators The
•
•
•
•
Democracy Project
http://school.discovery.com/ Discovery
School
http://www.education-world.com/ Education
World
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/schools
/lessons/k4_contract.html America Bar
Association
www.brainpop.com Brain Pop
Economics
• Activity 1
• Students will be exposed to the causes,
consequences, the amount, and the history of
the national debt. After research and
discussion, students will pose their own
solutions for overcoming the debt (i.e. bake
sale, garage sale)
Economics
• Activity 2
• Students will identify local, state, and federal
government services, their cost and the income
that pays for them. Students will create pie
graphs and use these for drawing conclusions
and making figures comparisons.
Economics
• Activity 3
• Students will learn about contractual agreements
and how breaking them could cause financial
problems. Students will then create their own
make believe contracts.
Economics
• Activity 4
• Students will have a hands-on exploration of
•
•
basic economic terms such as goods, services,
resources and specialization via a trip to the
local grocery store.
Activity 5
Students will identify examples of goods and
services. They will explain and demonstrate the
use of money in everyday life. Students will
then open up a classroom store and take turns
sharing responsibilities.
Websites
• www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/
•
•
•
•
Economics/ECO0200.html Integrating
Economics Topics
http://pbskids.org/democracy/educators The
Democracy Project
http://school.discovery.com/ Discovery
School
http://www.education-world.com/ Education
World
www.brainpop.com Brain Pop
Government
• Activity 1
• Students will discuss the roles of the U.S.
•
•
president. They will then write letters to the
president and ask about his job.
Activity 2
Students will identify the legal requirements,
experiences and personality traits that equip
someone to be a successful president. Use the
job descriptions from activity one and write a
newspaper article.
Government
• Activity 3
• Students will define a “good citizen,” explore
•
•
ways of students to volunteer in the community,
and create public service campaigns about the
importance of civic responsibility.
Activity 4
Ask the students to identify leaders within their
community. Brainstorm the kinds of
responsibilities the following leaders have:
teacher, principal, governor and mayor. Graph
results and display in the classroom.
Government
• Activity 5
• Students will learn about political parties by
creating new political parties and issue
platforms. Plan for a mock convention.
Websites
• www.kidsvotingohio.org Kids Voting
• www.brainpop.com Brain Pop
• http://pbskids.org/democracy/educators
The Democracy Project
• http://school.discovery.com/ Discovery
School
• http://www.education-world.com/
Education World
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities
• Activity 1
• Students will be given two ballots. The
first will be non-descriptive and they will
vote on the issue. The second ballot will
be detailed. The students will take
another vote and discuss how the two
ballots differ.
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities
• Activity 2
• Students will use different forms of voting to
•
•
vote on a classroom issue (i.e., thumbs up,
thumbs down, eyes closed/open, tally marks,
etc.)
Activity 3
After reading Duck for President, the students
can have a mock campaign within the
classroom.
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities
• Activity 4
• Students learn about the important public
•
•
services that the government provides and the
importance of voting. Students will create a
public service campaign to encourage adults in
the community to vote.
Activity 5
Students will brainstorm ideas of how to make
their community a better place to live. They will
choose one item from the list and form ideas of
how to implement it (i.e., trash pick up).
Websites
• http://pbskids.org/democracy/educators The
•
•
•
•
Democracy Project
www.enchantedlearning.com/vote/presidentialel
ections.shtml Enchanted Learning
www.kidsvotingohio.org Kids Voting
http://www.education-world.com/ Education
World
http://school.discovery.com/ Discovery
School
Social Studies Skills and
Methods
• Activity 1
• Teacher will explain that voting is making a
•
•
choice. Students will vote between two flavors
of cookies and make a voting chain from their
votes.
Activity 2
Students will be given facts about a pretend
crime. They will be assigned jobs of lawyer,
judge, police officer, jury, etc. They will then
have a mock trial and learn about due process.
Social Studies Skills and
Methods
• Activity 3
• Teacher will put together a word search for the
•
•
student’s Social Studies text. They will need to
know how to utilize their table of contents,
glossary, and title pages to find the words.
Activity 4
Students will discuss cause and effect
relationships. As a class, they will create a Tchart showing causes and effects of not voting.
Social Studies Skills and
Methods
• Activity 5
• Students will participate in a primary election
simulation to explore the process of choosing a
new school mascot. Students will research
maps, photos, oral histories and local
newspaper to gather information and ideas for a
new mascot.
Websites
• www.kidsvotingohio.org Kids Voting
• http://www.oplin.org/fal.php?msg= Ohio
Public Library Information Network
• http://pbskids.org/democracy/educators The
Democracy Project
• http://unix32.nysed.gov:9210/ciai/socst/ss
essentitems.htm Social Studies
• www.brainpop.com Brain Pop