Core Curriculum

Third Grade

Students will investigate how environments and communities change over time through the influence of people. They will survey indigenous (native) people of the United States and compare their environments and cultures with those of South America. One comparison will be the indigenous Inca people of South America. Expanded geography and map skills will assist students in their study of world connections. Using social studies, character, and life skills, students will examine communities and gain a better understanding of government, economics, and citizenship.

Core Curriculum

National Standards

Materials And Resources

The following are materials and resources that can be used to support the core curriculum.

Lesson Ideas

Books

  • Notable Trade Books for Young People
    The books that appear in these annotated book lists were evaluated and selected by a Book Review Committee appointed by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and assembled in cooperation with the Children's Book Council (CBC).

  • A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry (ISBN 0-15-200542-0, A Gulliver Green Book)
    A timeline story of the Nash-a-way river of Massachusettes and New Hampshire. This story is told over 6 centuries as the river becomes the idyllic home of the Indian people, changed to English hands, developed a factory town, and became a polluted stream in the mid 1960s. The story also illustrates how a river is turned back into a valuable natural resource.

  • If you're not from the prairie by David Bouchard (ISBN 0-395-81148-1, Houghton Mifflin)
    In picture and poem the picture of what a prairie is emerges as the story is told. Those who have never lived or seen a prairie will gain an understanding of its magnificence.

  • One Lucky Girl by George Ella Lyon illustrated by Irene Trivas (ISBN 0-7894-2613-7, D K Publishing, Inc.)
    Here is a true story of one scary Sunday when a tornado came to the prairie. A family is left without any belongings after a tornado tears apart their home. When the brother asks, "Where are we going to live?" Dad answers, "Together."

  • HEARTLAND by Diane Siebert (ISBN 0-06-4432876-4, Harper Trophy)
    Through picture and poem students are introduced to the Heartland, where the farmer is king---but over everything, Nature reigns supreme.

  • SIERRA by Diane Siebert (ISBN 0-06-443441-9, A Trophy Picture Book)
    In this majestic poem, and through the pictures of Wendell Minor the multitude of plants and animals that call the Sierra Nevada home come to life. This book portrays a unique vision of the glory of our world.

  • In A Circle Long Ago by Nancy Van Laan (ISBN 0-590-16383-3, Scholastic)
    These are the stories of the first Americans. Through these legends children are taught respect for those who first lived in this land. They will see dancing and hear singing, and imagine the stories being told in a circle, in the dark of winter around a warm fire. It is in this connection that it is taught that everything has a way of circling around, again and again.

  • STORIES ON STONE by Jennifer Owings Dewey (ISBN 0-316-18211-7, Little, Brown and Company)
    Pictures inscribed and painted on stone are scattered throughout the landscape of the southwestern United States. This book introduces young people to the beauty and mystery of rock art and suggests some answers to the intriguing puzzles it poses.

  • Quillworker, a Cheyenne Legend by Terri Cohlene and illustrated by Charles Reasoner (ISBN 0-8167-2358-3, Watermill Press)
    This Cheyenne legend tells how the North Star and the giant water dipper were made. It also gives valuable factual information about the Cheyenne and how their culture lived on the prairie. Photographs and timelines help tell their story.

  • The People With Five Fingers, A native Californian Creation Tale told by John Bierhorst with pictures by Robert Andrew Parker (ISBN 0-7614-5058-0, Marshall Cavendish)
    In the days before California became part of the United States, nearly every one of its many valleys was home to a separate Native American nation, each with different customs. Among the best-loved stories were tales of the ancient time when the world as we know it was created by Coyote and the other animals. The animals could talk. They asked questions. And they told about their dreams. The story that follows predicts a day when the land would be filled with many different kinds of people, whose ancestors would come not only from America but from Europe, Africa, and Asia. Today, as is well known, the Native American presence remains strong in California-which has also made room, as the story tells, for people from all parts of the earth.

  • Is Your Mama A Llama? By Steven Kellogg (ISBN 0-606-04945-2, Turtleback)
    This is an easy to read picture book of what a llama is.

  • YANOMAMI By David M. Schwartz (ISBN 0-688-11157-2 TR, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books)
    This stunning photoessay gives young readers a glimpse of the lives of a vanishing people that live between the Andes mountains and the River of Rains. It creates an opportunity to understand and respect the ways of another culture and perhaps even to help it survive. ˆ Chucaro, Wild Pony of the Pampa, by Francis Kalnay (Troll) Pink certainly is an unusual color for a pony, and when Pedro spies Chucaro grazing on the Pampa he can hardly believe his eyes. He just has to have that pony for himself. Unfortunately, the estancerio's spoiled son is equally determined to own the pony. But the wisest gauchos know that ponies as special as Chucaro can never truly be owned. Chucaro alone will decide for himself which gaucho will have the privilege of riding him.

  • Desert Babies, by Kathy Darling, photographs by Tara Darling (ISBN 0-590-00523-5, Scholastic Inc.)
    The desert is not the land that nature forgot. It's hot. It's dry. And it's a hard place to make a living. But more than 5,000 species of plants and animals have made desert (pan, sandy, rocky) lands their permanent home. Join in the search for desert babies in the Sahara, Australia, and the United States.

  • Seashore Babies, by Kathy Darling, photographs by Tara Darling (ISBN 0-590-03914-8, Scholastic Inc.)
    The ocean is a good place for plants and animals to be born. Most sea life does not live in the cold, ark depths. It crowds against the land. Even animals that live most of their lives far from dry land come to the shore to have their babies. Come and see what new life the tide has washed up on the beach.

  • Arctic Babies, by Kathy Darling, photographs by Tara Darling (ISBN 0-590-97441-6, Scholastic Inc.)
    Here is life in the Arctic taiga, tundra, and icecap. You will be surprised to discover that the far North is a good place to find babies. These are special babies-wrapped in packages of fur, feather, or fat to keep out the cold.

Teacher Resources

  • The Learning Page
    The Learning Page is designed to help educators use the American Memory Collections to teach history and culture. It offers tips and tricks, definitions and rationale for using primary sources, activities, discussions, lesson plans and suggestions for using the collections in classroom curriculum.

  • Utah State Office of Education Recommended Instructional Materials System (RIMS)
    Find instructional materials that have been adopted by the Utah State Office of Education

  • Living With the Land, Desert, Rain-Forest, Arctic, and Plains Regions, by Mary Shanley Gates and Lucy De Maria La Point (ISBN 0-673-36397-x, Good Year Books)
    40 multidisciplinary lesson plans actively engage students in investigating the cultures, geography, and ecosystems in four major regions of the Earth: desert, rain forest, arctic, and plains. ˆ

  • Homes Near and Far, by Jo Ellen Moore (ISBN 1-55799-564-8, Evan-Moor)
    This cross-curricular, thematic unit about homes around the world contains information for both teacher and students. As students learn facts about homes around the world, they will practice skills in reading, language, math, and science. The unit also contains activities designed to help students explore their creativity and think critically.

  • Native Americans, by Jill Norri (ISBN 1-55799-575-3, Evan-Moor)
    This cross-curricular thematic unit on Native Americans is designed to help students understand that the term "Native Americans" represents diverse groups of many different tribes and nations and each with its own unique traditions. It also helps students understand that Native Americans are members of our modern contemporary society. We study their past to understand their rich traditions.

  • Native American, Customs, Costumes, Legends, and Lore by Gina Capaldi (ISBN 1-56417-668-1, Good Apple)
    In this book, children will discover how the idJune 20, 2008 Native American tribes shaped their everyday customs. Hands-on individual and group projects are intended to expand students' understanding of each culture at a more insightful level than might be experienced from apurely textbook based approach.

  • NATIVE AMERICANS by Leigh Hoven. (Teacher Created Materials, Inc.)
    This thematic unit about Native Americans chooses a theme with correlating literature selections for a united of study. A teacher can plan activities throughout the day that lead to a cohesive, in-depth study of the tope. Students will be practicing and applying their skills in meaningful contexts.

  • Mayan , Incan, & Aztec Civilizations by Dr. Michael Kramme (ISBN 1-58037-051-9, Mark Twain Media/Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc.)
    This book is set for older students but gives the teacher an intense background in what the Inca culture was like. It outlines the timeline of the Inca in the front of the book and takes each piece of their way of life and explains it in an easy fashion. Maps and other activies will help the teacher gear the lessons to their classrooms. ˆ

  • National Geographic Picture Show (CD-ROM)
    South America
    Ancient Civilizations of South America
    Native Americans I
    Native Americans II

  • National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
    Founded in 1921, National Council for the Social Studies has grown to be the largest association in the country devoted solely to social studies education. NCSS engages and supports educators in strengthening and advocating social studies. With members in all the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 69 foreign countries, NCSS serves as an umbrella organization for elementary, secondary, and college teachers of history, geography, economics, political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and law-related education.

Software

  • 500 Nations CD-ROM by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington.
    This is a comprehensive guide to Native American history in which students can tour historic structures, listen to Indian music, and examine art up close.

Internet Resources

The following links open in a new browser window

  • MarcoPolo
    MarcoPolo: Internet Content for the Classroom is a consortium of premier national education organizations, state education agencies and the MarcoPolo Education Foundation dedicated to providing the highest quality Internet content and professional development to teachers and students throughout the United States.

  • Pioneer - Utah's Online Library
    Pioneer is Utah’s Online Library of electronic resources. It provides statewide access to newspaper articles, magazines, professional journals, encyclopedias, video, photographs, maps, charts, and graphics.

  • Utah Education Network
    The Utah Education Network website provides education tools, activities, lesson plans, curriculum guides and professional development for teachers and educators in the state of Utah. You can also find other UEN resources like KULC channel 9, EDNET, and distance learning resources here.

  • Education Site for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

  • Mali, Africa to Utah
    On this Virtual Tour of Mali, Africa to Utah, U.S.A. you will find information,links and activities to support people and places in the Utah Social Studies Core for a Second Grade classroom.

  • Ouelessebougou And You
    This virtual tour will help you compare and contrast Oulessebougou and Utah.

  • Bank Jr
    Zions Bank and KidsOnline.com have created the Bank Jr website as the biggest and most comprehensive kid-friendly resource on the web for learning about finances.

 

For further information, contact Robert Austin, State Social Studies Specialist - 801.538.7708; FAX 801.538.7769
This page last updated June 20, 2008