Diane Miller-DeSoto

Text Clusters
3rd grade
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Social Studies

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Diverse Cultures

Biographies
o Latino Biographies
1. Brown, Monica. My name is Gabito: The life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(bilingual text, 32 pp). Northland Publishing, 2007. IL 2-5, RL 4. Uses Garcia
Marquez own imagery to tell his life story.
2. Krull, Kathleen. Harvesting hope: The story of Cesar Chavez (book, 48 pp.)

Harcourt, 2003. IL 2-5; RL 5-6. Biography of Cesar Chavez, migrant worker

and peaceful protestor.
3. Palacios, Argentina. Viva Mexico: A story of Benito Juarez and Cinco de Mayo

(book, 32 pp). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1993. IL 2-5; RL 2. Biography of

Benito Juarez.
4. Ruiz, Bernardo. Roberto Clemente (streaming video file, 56 min.) PBS Video,

2008. Not rated. Recounting of the life of the first Latin American baseball
star in the U.S.
5. Winter, Jonah. Roberto Clemente: The pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates (book,
40 pp). Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing, 2008. IL 2-4; RL 4. The life of
one of the most respected baseball players of all time.
These five biographies cluster nicely together. Included is a book about a famous and
recently deceased Colombian writer, a book about a Mexican migrant worker who
protested peacefully for civil rights, a biography about the Mexican president who led
the war that helped Mexico remove the French occupation, and a book and video about
a Puerto Rican baseball player, the first Latin American to play in the United States. All
four individuals accomplished great things. Students can be directed to compare and
contrast their cultural backgrounds and accomplishments.
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Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Egypt
1. Atherton, Michael. Ankh: Sound of ancient Egypt (music CD). Celestial

Harmonies, 1998. The music that likely was heard back in the time of ancient
Egypt as created by historians, musicians, and singers who worked to recreate
those assumed sounds.

2. Burgan, Michael. The curse of King Tuts tomb (graphic novel, 32 pp). Capstone

Press, 2005. IL 3-9; RL 3; Lexile GN690. Graphic history of King Tutankhamens

tomb.
3. Chambers, Catherine. Egyptian treasures (illustrated guide, 24 pp). Crabtree

Publishing, 2010. IL 8-10; Lexile AD800. Secrets of ancient Egypt such as

weapons, transportation, mummies.
4. Edwards, Roberta. Who was King Tut? (book, 112 pp). Penguin Young Readers

Group, 2006. IL 3-6; Lexile 690. The life and times of King Tutankhamen through
his tombs discovery.
5. Harvey, Miles. Look what came from Egypt (book, 32 pp). Scholastic Library

Publishing, 1999. IL 3-6; Lexile 780. Describes many items familiar today that
originated in ancient Egypt.
6. Milton, Joyce. Mummies (book, 48 pp). Penguin Young Readers Group, 1996. IL K-

3; RL 2; Lexile 530. Ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death,

mummification, and pyramids as burial places.
This text cluster contains items about mummies, King Tut, pyramids, and other ancient
Egyptian topics. There is a wide variance in reading levels. The illustrated guide about
Egyptian treasures is more of an adult read aloud or reference book, though, so
students can peruse it more so than read it from cover to cover. On the other hand, the
graphic novel tells the history of King Tut in a comic strip way while Who Was King Tut?
tells the story in a more traditional way. Mummies are a common thread through the
entire cluster. Students can even experience the music that likely was played in
ancient Egypt. After completing this lesson, students can compare this civilization (and
its music) to others that they will learn about.
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Geography

Maps & Mapping

1. Hoe, Susan. Where we live (book, 32 pp). Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2009. IL

1-4; RL 3. Map reading and how technology is changing the way we use
maps.
2. Kalman, Bobbie. Explore Earths seven continents (book, 32 pp). Crabtree
Publishing, 2011. IL 2-5; RL 4.4. Continents, landforms, landmarks, people,
animals.

3. Knowlton, Jack. Maps and globes (book, 48 pp). Harper Collins Publishers,

1986. IL K-3; RL 3. Mapmaking, map reading, globe reading.

4. Understanding longitude and latitude. PowerPoint that explains longitude and

latitude practice questions. Understanding Longitude Latitude.ppt

5. Wade, Mary Dodson. Types of maps (book, 48 pp). Scholastic Library

Publishing, 2012. IL 2-5; RL 5-8. Illustrates different kinds of maps and

explains their uses.
All items in this text cluster help students understand why and how maps are used.
Common Core standards of finding locations, absolute and relative location, and
geographic features are discussed. All these things combine to provide students
with a solid geographic foundation that will help them use maps correctly,
understand how technology plays a role in maps and mapping, and better
understand the physical world and the diverse cultures that they are learning about
in other units.