Social Studies Historical Thinking Lessons

Designed for grade(s) ___

_3rd Grade Unit: Pioneers

Lesson Title: Were Hungry: Challenges Pioneers Faced in Getting
Food
Literacy Strategies: graphic organizer, Venn diagram, character trait
analysis, text tagging, RAFT writing, Project Based Learning: map and
journal

Essential What was the biggest challenge to getting food facing early Nebraska
Question pioneers?

Objectives / 1. I can compare and contrast modern challenges of food

Learning acquisition with those faced by pioneers by analyzing primary
Targets documents and applying my discoveries to a comparison matrix. I
can evaluate the guiding question to form an opinion based on
evidence in the text. I can represent my opinion and learning by
writing as if I am a pioneer in my final RAFT project.
Historical Chapter 2, Lesson 3, Every Community Has a Story textbook;
Background Academic Vocabulary: pioneer, ancestor, history; daily life of a pioneer on
the Plains; understanding of the historical thinking method and close
reading strategies
Resources Primary Source Documents:
Letter from Giles S. Thomas to Thomas Family, May 17-18, 1880
Early Days in Dawson County, by Lucy R Hewitt
Graphic Organizers
Primary Document Historical Thinking Chart
Comparison Matrix
RAFT Pre-Writing Form
RAFT Rubric
Pioneer Challenges Power Point
Content Social Studies:
Standards/ History: Historical Analysis and Interpretation
Indicators SS 3.4.4.a Examine sources on community history through determination
of credibility, contextualization, and corroboration
SS 3.4.4.e Describe the relationships among historical events in the
students community and the students lives today (i.e. current events)
Geography: Human/Environment Interaction
SS 3.3.5.a Explain how physical environments influence human activities
(e.g. availability of water, climate and fertility of soil)
Economics: Markets
SS 3.2.2.a Classify natural, human, and capital resources (e.g. tools, soil,
water, farmers and machinery)
ELA:
Vocabulary
LA 3.1.5.b/c
Comprehension
LA 3.1.6.d/e/i/m
Writing Process
LA 3.2.1.a/b/c/h
LA 3.2.2.b

Sourcing Anticipatory Set:

Close Reading Teacher will direct students to Pebble Go (pebblego.com). TSW work in
 Social Studies Historical Thinking Lessons
Designed for grade(s) ___

Corroboration pairs to explore the site: <Social Studies/Long Ago and Today/Food Then
Contextualiza and Now. TSW journal their findings in their Social Studies journal.
tion

Procedures/Instructional Strategies:

Teacher will begin by showing a PowerPoint presentation explaining that

students will be historians trying to answer the Big Question: What
was the biggest challenge to getting food facing early Nebraska
pioneers? Teacher will move through the PPT as the lesson progresses.
Teacher will model/think aloud the process of corroboration (historians
need to compare/contrast multiple primary sources to be able to answer
any questions about what happened at a given time). Teacher will give a
brief introduction to the texts (title, a picture clue, and definition of the
word drought). Remind students that they will be reading the same texts,
three times, for deeper understanding (close reading).

First Read:
Teacher will set a purpose for reading Letter from Giles S. Thomas to
Thomas Family: TSW practice the first step of the Historical Thinking
Method, source the document; i.e. who wrote it, when, and where. TSW
read the letter independently (Independent Practice). TSW mark up
the document with their Close Reading marks with green pencils (see
attached). TSW answer the questions in the first step, Sourcing, on
their graphic organizer (see attached). After reading, TSW participate in a
Simultaneous Round Robin (Guided Practice). The first person in
students desk group has 10 seconds to write one thing they learned about
the source of the letter. Teacher will say PASS and the next person will
write one different thing they learned about the source of the letter. TSW
will keep passing until everyone writes one thing. Teacher and students
will discuss their discoveries about who wrote the document, when it was
written, and where it was written (Shared Practice).

Teacher and TSW will repeat the process for the second primary document,
Early Days in Dawson County.

Second Read:

Teacher will set a purpose for reading the first document, Letter from Giles
S. Thomas to Thomas Family: TSW practice the second step in the
Historical Thinking Method, Close Reading. Teacher and TSW will do a
shared read (Shared Practice) of the document. TSW mark up the
document with their Close Reading marks with red pencils. TSW answer
the questions in the second step, Close Reading, on their graphic
organizer (Independent Practice). Teacher and students will discuss
their findings.

Teacher and TSW will repeat the process for the second primary document,
Early Days in Dawson County.

After the second read, teacher will model/ think aloud one of the
challenges modern people face to getting food: money. Teacher and
students will then brainstorm (brain map) other possible challenges.
(Shared Practice) TSW complete the comparison matrix (see attached),
independently, for a formative grade.
 Social Studies Historical Thinking Lessons
Designed for grade(s) ___

Third Read:

Teacher will set a purpose for reading the first document, Letter from Giles
S. Thomas to Thomas Family: TSW practice the third and fourth step in the
Historical Thinking Method, contextualization and corroboration. TSW
partner read; one person reads the first half, the other person reads the
last half (person with the biggest feet goes first). (Guided Practice) TSW
mark up the document with their Close Reading marks with blue pencils
(see attached). TSW answer the questions in the third and fourth steps,
Close Reading, on their graphic organizer (see attached). (Independent
Practice) Students will use Talking Chips to discuss their findings within
their desk groups. Each student receives three chips (math counters).
When a student wants to share something with the group, she puts her
chip in the middle. Students keep sharing until all of their chips are used.
(Guided Practice) Teacher and students will have a brief discussion of
what was shared. (Shared Practice)

Teacher and TSW will repeat the process for the second primary document,
Early Days in Dawson County.

Differentiations:

Above Grade Level Learners:

High Ability students may use their Technology rotation (Literacy Block) to
do extra research on the pioneers and what their lives were like. They
may create a PowerPoint presentation sharing their findings with the class.

Below Grade Level Learners:

Students may read with a partner or have the material read to them by
the teacher. Students and teacher may use shared writing to complete
the graphic organizer.

Summary After the third read and final discussions, TSW complete a RAFT writing
activity to summarize their understanding of the material. TSW write a
letter to their family back East as though they were a pioneer living on
the plains of Nebraska in 1880. TSW determine which challenge is the
worst challenge to getting food and write as though they were a pioneer
experiencing that challenge. TSW will be expected to explain what the
challenge is, why it is a challenge, and ways to possibly overcome the
challenge, using specific ideas from the primary documents (see attached
rubric).
TSW complete the RAFT Pre-Write graphic organizer before they begin
their writing.