Grade: Grade 3
Essential Question/”Big Idea”: How does the climate of a community affect its economic, social, and cultural development?
Month	Unit

(Detailed sub-topics listed at end of overview)	NY State Standards	Skills/Strategies
Assessed
(Students will BE ABLE TO DO)
*Skills/Strategies will be built upon as instruction spirals throughout the year	Content Understandings Assessed
(Students will KNOW)	Means of Assessment	Suggested 
Instructional Resources

	
November	The Location of World Communities	Standard 1: History of the United States and New York.

Standard 2: World History

Standard 3: Geography

	-Compare and contrast the social, cultural, political, and economic differences between world communities.
-Extend and apply an understanding of varying perspectives in a real-world context.
-Sequence events on a timeline.
-Succinctly summarize/retell a story.
-Recognize the characteristics of folktales and examine their importance in expressing cultural beliefs.
-Recognize and apply the lessons highlighted in various folktales.
-Characterize world communities according to their holidays, celebrations, and customs.
	-How do we locate world communities on maps and globes?
-How are geographic characteristics of places similar and/or different?
-How is the world divided into continents and regions?
-How can we use scales on maps and globes to find the exact distance between two places?
-What are parallels and meridians and how do they relate to geographic location of world communities?
-How do we record the location of world communities today?  What technology do we use?  How has that technology improved the accuracy of navigation?
	-After studying folktales from around the world, have students write their own with a clear lesson.
-Make a “big ABC book” that characterizes one world community.
-Look through [kids’] newspapers to find differing perspectives on issues.
-Plan and execute a “Holidays Around the World” Festival.
-Make a time line showing changes in a community	-Africa Is Not A Country
By: M. Burns Knight
-Everybody Cooks Rice by: N. Dooley
-Melting Pots: Family Stories and Recipes by: J. Eichler Weber
-Multicultural Explorations: Joyous Journeys With Books by: M. Heltshe
Kofi’s Magic by: Maya Angelou