Teacher(s) Name: Ms. Boyd
School: Highland Springs ES
Grade Level(s): Grade 3
Content Area(s): Social Studies
Lesson Summary
The third grade students at Highland Springs Elementary School have been studying Social Studies 3.10 about the importance of the government in Virginia and the United States. Throughout this unit the students explored the terms: community, government, rules, and laws. While involved in our study, the students generated a discussion about the reasons that the there were so many rules and laws being broken. Several students thought it the reason people were breaking the law was because people weren’t happy with their community. They then thought that if people had their very own perfect community with the things they wanted in it they wouldn’t break the rules and laws of the community. The students then decided to create a survey to ask people about what would make their perfect community. They collected the data and then formed their perfect communities using google draw. Once the communities were drawn they created a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about the communities detailed the contents and why those particular places were chosen to be in the perfect community. The PSA will be broadcasted school wide to show those that were surveyed the results of the survey and to share what should happen with the perfect community.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating:Developing – Explanation: Students had to decide what made a perfect community by learning about different types of communities. They then had to create a poll and ask the community around them for opinions about the community before they started creating their communities.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Students had to work in teams to collect information from their community using google forms. Then they worked collaboratively to design the “perfect” community based on feedback from their forms. Lastly, they had to work together in their teams to create their Public Service Announcements and share their communities with their peers.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Entry – Explanation: Students had to think about what was going to be included in their community and work together to ensure that all aspects fit well.
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Students were required to design a community based on the responses from their google forms that were created. They worked in teams to use this design and produce a public service announcement to persuade their audience that they have the best community.
Student Artifact
Lesson Materials
