Social Studies Unit
Ashley Beasley, Kristin Killen, Victoria
Lentz, Kelli Smith

• History
• People in Society
• Geography
• Economics
• Government
• Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities
• Social Studies Skills and Methods

• 13 Colonies Timeline (Benchmark A, Indicator 2)
– After studying the original 13 colonies in class and using books and Internet for information, students will place the settlement of the 13 colonies in sequential order on a time line.
• Fort Ancient (Benchmark A, Indicator 1)
– After a field trip to Fort Ancient, student will learn how Ohio's
American Indians used local resources in their everyday lives and how communities changed over time. Students will write a short letter to their parents describing what they discovered on their field trip.
• Ohio Sequential Order (Benchmark A, Indicator 2)
– After reading story about Ohio becoming a state, the students will place the information in sequential order on a time line.

• Who/What doesn’t Belong?
(Benchmark C ,
Indicator 3)
– Students will be given a series of four items/names, the students will select the item/person that lacks a common characteristic with the other three and he will write in a complete sentence what the characteristic is that the other three items/people have in common.
• Symmes Population (Benchmark A, Indicator
2)
– Students will illustrate the population changes in
Symmes Purchase from 1810 to 1990 using a timeline.

• http://www.edhelper.com/timelines.htm
• http://www.oplin.org/ohiodefined/statehood.h
tm
• http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/ homeworkHelp/pilgrims.asp
• http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/ homeworkHelp/vocabulary.asp
• http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/Cri ssCrossSetupForm.html
• http://www.timepage.org/spl/13colony.html

• Reading about the Mayflower Voyage
(Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– After reading the story about the voyage of the Mayflower, students will complete the
Mayflower vocabulary word search.
• Reading Coming to America
(Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– After reading the “Coming to America” story, students will play “Coming to America
Jeopardy”

• Pilgrims (Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– After reading the story about “Who were the Pilgrims”, the students will complete the crossword puzzle.
• Colonial Stories (Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– After reading the Colonial Stories, the Students will play “Colonial Password”
• Native Americans (Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– After visiting the Native American website and learning about the customs of Native Americans, the students will take a field trip to Sunwatch Village and then return to the classroom to make dream catchers.

• http://www.instructorweb.com/docs/pdf/pilgrimsles.pdf
• http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/YLP/97-98/97-98_units/97-98miniunit/JAugustine_13Colonies/13colonies.html
• http://www.instructorweb.com/docs/pdf/pilgrimsles.pdf
• http://www.proteacher.com/cgibin/outsidesite.cgi?id=16646&external=http://www.rootsweb.com/~m osmd/&original=http://www.proteacher.com/090096.shtml&title=The
%20Pilgrims%20&%20Plymouth%20Colony:%201620
• http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/homeworkHelp/pilgrims.
asp
• http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/homeworkHelp/vocabula ry.asp
• http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/YLP/97-98/97-98_units/97-98miniunit/JAugustine_13Colonies/13colonies.html
• http://minnow.net/
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Dreamcatcher.shtml

• Globe Spinner (Benchmark A, Indicator 3 )
– In this activity helps students to remember the continents and oceans. Spin the globe and then place one finger on it to stop it.
When the globe stops, the student must say the name of the ocean or continent.
• Making Globes (Benchmark A, Indicator 7 )
– In this activity students will make paper-mache globes and label them with continents and oceans.
• Continents of the world (Benchmark A, Indicator 3 )
– Students will color, label, and cut out the continents, then glue them on another piece of paper in the proper locations

• Continents and oceans quiz (Benchmark A,
Indicator 1 )
– Students will complete the map and answer the questions related to continents and oceans.
• How do maps show oceans and continents?
(Benchmark A, Indicator 3 )
– Students will label oceans and continents on a map, complete a word search with the continents and oceans, and make up a riddle about one of the continents

• http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/soc/cecs st/cecsst134.html
• http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/L
L-66.pdf
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/c ontinents/quiz.shtml
• http://www.nystromnet.com/index.cfm?fa=Teach ers.PrimaryLessons
• http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Contin ents.htm

• Econopolis (Benchmark B, Indicator 2 & 3 )
– In this activity, students will increase their understanding of money, economics, goods, services, producer, consumer, supply, demand, free enterprise, opportunity cost, and trade.
• Distribution of Goods (Benchmark A, Indicator 1)
– In this activity, students will be given paper bags with limited amounts of product. They must then determine a method for distributing the contents among the group members in a way that is acceptable to all.
• Econ-o-mania (Benchmark B, Indicators 2 & 3)
– In this activity, students will complete a web quest during which students will wander through wants and needs, grasp goods and services, create consumers and producers, and recognize resources.

• Jelly Belly Jam: A Lesson on Decision Making
(Benchmark A, Indicator 1)
– In this activity, students will make a decision making chart and use it to help them in deciding which flavor of Jellybeans to buy.
• To Market To Market (Benchmark C, Indicators 5 & 6)
– In this activity, students will become good consumers and producers by taking turns buying and selling things in a classroom-created market. Students will establish prices for items and observe what happens during the sale of those items.

• http://library.thinkquest.org/3901/
• http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/lesson/distrib
.htm
• http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/fellows/Me dvetz/webquest/
• http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.cf
m?lesson=EM365&page=teacher
• http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.cf
m?lesson=EM357&page=teacher

• Flags as symbols (Benchmark A, Indicator)
– In this activity, students will describe the American flag and what it symbolizes.
– Create a classroom flag that symbolizes the shared values of their classroom
• Dictatorships ( Benchmark A, Indicator 5)
– In this activity, one student will serve as dictator for the day.
Allow him or her to make many decisions concerning the daily routine of your class.
– At the end of the day, hold a class meeting and discuss the impact of one person making all of these decisions for the class.
• Local Government (Benchmark A, Indicator 2)
– Students will keep a journal/scrapbook to include articles from the local paper relative to actions of the local government that impacts their community.
– They will make a simple flow chart of the system of government in their community.

• Presidential Biography (Benchmark A, Indicator 2)
– Students will research a President and do a biography project.
– This can be a web quest, library search, etc.
– Students will present their projects to the class so that the class will learn about several Presidents.
• Classroom Rules Activity (Benchmark A, Indicator 1)
– This activity is used to teach students about Presidents, checks and balances, veto, branches of government, democracy, etc.
– Talk to the students about the basic classroom rules and why they are so important.
– Then, talk about how the classroom is all of ours for a long time and that they should have some input in regards to some rules they feel that are important to them as third graders.
– They break into groups and come up with one or two more rules.
– We return back into a large group. The groups present their rules. We vote on the two or three best rules to add to the teacher’s rules. (Teacher = President, etc.)

• http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pages/264.
shtml
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/election/ activities.shtml
• www.discoveryschool.com
• http://www.eduref.org/cgibin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_
Studies/US_Government/GOV0024.html
• http://pbskids.org/democracy/

• Elections (Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– In this activity, students will compare and contrast two candidates running for office in a Venn diagram
– After the US presidential election, color the US states on the map: red for states that vote Republican, blue for states that vote
Democratic. Then tally the electoral votes for each party.
• Interactive Timeline (Benchmark A, Indicator 2)
– Students will use the interactive timeline on the web to learn more about African-American history and nominate the men and women who really made a difference.
• Civics/Community (Benchmark A, Indicator 1)
– A list of occupations of adults known to the class might be generated, and students would be asked to explain how each contributes to the life of the community and to the support of families.

• Rights/Responsibilities Activity (Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– Students could be divided into groups and given a list compose of items which might be defined either as rights, responsibilities, or privileges. The students would discuss each, and then categorize them. Each group would then be responsible for determining the difference among the three.
• Classroom Rules Activity (Benchmark A, Indicator 2)
– This activity is used to teach students about Presidents, checks and balances, veto, branches of government, democracy, etc.
– Talk to the students about the basic classroom rules and why they are so important.
– Then, talk about how the classroom is all of ours for a long time and that they should have some input in regards to some rules they feel that are important to them as third graders.
– They break into groups and come up with one or two more rules.
– We return back into a large group. The groups present their rules. We vote on the two or three best rules to add to the teacher’s rules. (Teacher = President, etc.)

• http://www.proteacher.com/090056.shtml
• http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pages/264.shtml
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/election/activit ies.shtml
• www.discoveryschool.com
• http://www.eduref.org/cgibin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studie s/US_Government/GOV0024.html
• http://pbskids.org/democracy/

• New Environment (
Benchmark A, Indicator 1)
– Students will locate specific places in the school on a map. They will visit places in the school setting such as principal's office, restrooms, lunch room and playground. They will learn rules and responsibilities associated with specific settings including places within the school that are off limits.
• Classroom Court (
Benchmark B, Indicator 3)
– Students will have the opportunity to further their knowledge of the law and its legal proceedings. To experience "trial by a jury of your peers" in simple matters. To give each student a job in the courtroom and to vary these positions throughout the year.

• Injustice (Benchmark D, Indicator 6)
– Students will be given a hypothetical note from the principal which says that their class will not be able to participate in an activity enjoyed by other classes on their grade level. For example, an area of the playground is off-limits to them and the class must find other activities to do. Students must plead their case to the principle.
• Urban/Suburban/Rural (Benchmark C, Indicator 5)
– Students will display information about each community in a chart. They will give the definitions, examples, and type of buildings found in each community.
• Cultures of our Nation (Benchmark A, Indicator 1 )
– Students will become aware of his/her culture (heritage), become confident and proud of his/her culture/traditions, become aware of the many cultures that have richly contributed to the wealth of our nation.

• http://youth.net/cec/cecsst/cecsst.06.txt
• http://www.time4learning.com/scopesequence/pdf/3rdSocialStudies.pdf
• http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/v2i2/cult ural.html
• http://youth.net/cec/cecsst/cecsst.60.txt
• http://youth.net/cec/cecsst/sst-elem.html
• http://youth.net/cec/cecsst/cecsst.10.txt