Jennifer Serafin
Decision Making: Third Grade Social Studies CRCT Review and Preparation: Influential American Heroes
Common Core Georgia Performance Standards:
SS3H2 The student will discuss the lives of Americans who expanded people’s
rights and freedoms in a democracy.
a. Paul Revere (independence), Frederick Douglass (civil rights), Susan B. Anthony
(women’s rights), Mary McLeod Bethune (education), Franklin D. Roosevelt
(New Deal and World War II), Eleanor Roosevelt (United Nations and human
rights), Thurgood Marshall (civil rights), Lyndon B. Johnson (Great Society and
voting rights), and César Chávez (workers’ rights).
b. Explain social barriers, restrictions, and obstacles that these historical figures had to overcome and describe how they overcame them.
SS3G2 The student will describe the cultural and geographic systems associated
with the historical figures in SS3H2a.
a. Identify on a political map specific locations significant to the life and times of
these historical figures.
b. Describe how place (physical and human characteristics) had an impact on the
lives of these historical figures.
c. Describe how each of these historical figures adapted to and was influenced by
his/her environment.
d. Trace examples of travel and movement of these historical figures and their ideasacross time.
e. Describe how the regions in which these historical figures lived affected their
lives and had an impact on their cultural identification.
TAG Standards:
Advanced Communications Skills:
10. The student supports and defends his/her own opinions while respecting the opinions of others.
Higher Order Critical Thinking Skills:
3. The student conducts comparisons using criteria.
4. The student makes and evaluates decisions using criteria.
Enduring Understanding: As a culmination activity, students will reflect on the year’s social studies curriculum and decide based on criterion and personal opinion who they believe was the most influential American Hero that we studied. Students will recall important contributions, discuss the sacrifices and fight necessary to persevere to accomplish those contributions and overcome obstacles, identify character traits, and determine which heroes connect to them personally and inspire them. Students will engage in discussion, and justify their choice and present it to the class using a myriad of presentation choices.
Essential Questions: How do the actions of one person affect many?
What defines a hero? What makes a person influential to you?
How can I use the decision-making process to make an informed decision based on criteria?
Vocabulary: criteria, decision-making, barometer, obstacles, perseverance, determination, sequential, logical, reasoning
Procedures:
Hook: Pose the following question: When was the last time you decided something? (Ideas include: what to eat for breakfast, what to wear, to tell the truth, to save or spend your money, etc.) Did you know that each of us has a decision-making style? It is something that helps us make decisions in our brains and hearts, and everyone’s is a little bit different!
Complete the physical barometer: how do you decide something? Move to the corner of the room that most sounds like you – try to pick the one that fits most! (Project decision making styles on white board)
- Sequential: Sequence/details
- Do I know all of the steps? I need to before I can make a decision.
- Logical: Know the details/determine is this really the best choice/does it make sense?
- Is this the best possible choice given the facts?
- Does this actually make sense?
- Global: explore the possibilities/imagining new things
- Creative, outside the box thinking to explore new ideas
- Has anyone ever done it this way?
- What about this….?
- Personable: thinking about people’s feelings and how the choice would affect them
- Would this make someone sad? Would this make someone happy?
Part Two: Content
After the students have a general idea of decision-making, and the subsequent styles, share with them that we will be using decision making in our lesson. Discuss the difference between objective and subjective reasoning (a specific set of values met vs. an opinion) and that we use decision-making skills to evaluate both.
Part Two Hook: Show some pictures of people that are heroes from various avenues of life and ask what they all have in common? Do not use the word “hero.” List the ideas on the board and generate thoughts towards “heroes” if needed.
Introduction: What is a hero? What makes or defines a hero?Who are some heroes we know? This includes both current events, the past, and the heroes we study in third grade. Can a person show heroic characteristics or qualities without being a ‘hero’? Brainstorm and discuss in groups. Have students record their ideas as well as justification for why they believe the people they mentioned are heroes as well as their contributions. Discuss as a class. Reinforce respectful discussion and honoring each other’s opinions during healthy collaboration. At each table, develop a definition of a hero. Be ready to share with the class.
As a class, develop a working definition of a hero. Make the curriculum connection: why is this important? How do heroes affect us? Prompt students if necessary to connect to the Social Studies curriculum.
Begin by listing the 9 heroes we have studied:
Paul Revere, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall, Mary McCleod Bethune
Brainstorm as a class: What did these heroes fight for?
Independence, civil rights, specifically African Americans’ rights and/or women’s rights, migrant farmworkers’ rights, equality, generosity, action, etc.
Brainstorm as a class: What characteristics did they exhibit?
Diligent, hardworking, persevering, caring
Museum walk: Review with the class from their American Hero powerpoint project in January: the heroes’ ‘fights.’, contributions, etc. How did each hero change the world? What is different in our world as a result of their work? How do they inspire us today?
Engage memories by taking a museum walk to each of the American Hero stations. Look at the minibooks and props to re-engage your memory from this year! Jot down notes on your notetaking sheet as you travel around the classroom and through American History about each person and his/her contribution.
Restate and discuss Learning Objective: After brainstorming and discussing with the class, it is time for the class to analyze for each student to decide what American Hero we have studied is the most influential according to their own opinions based on specific criterion. Remind the students this is subjective, and it will vary! It will also be hard to stay focused on the 9 American Heroes, but students can analyze other heroes if they have time afterwards.
Convergent thinking: From general brainstorm of heroes, to our 9 American Heroes, next the students need to narrow down the options and choose the best 5 heroes according to their opinions. Note each child’s will look a little different. What impact did this hero make on YOUR life?
Introduce the Decision Making Matrix – a seemingly fancy, yet simple tool to help make concrete, data-driven decisions rather than just picking randomly!
Begin discussing personal opinions and how that will influence my top five heroes:
Example: Share with students what influences and inspires me, and how I personally connect with the heroes. Susan B. Anthony fought for women’s rights, specifically the right to vote, and this is really meaningful to me. I also love Mary McCleod Bethune’s passion for education and that she wanted to be a missionary in Africa. These women mean more to me than some of the other heroes we have studied. Just because they aren’t the most important to me, it doesn’t mean the hero is any less of a hero!
Next, determine the criteria: What do you think are the five most important character traits, type of contribution, etc.
-Bringing equality to all people or a specific group of people
-Fighting for independence
-Educational equality
-Justice
-Number of people affected
-allow the students to generate what they believe is important to be considered a hero
Give students time to discuss at tables different criterion. After about 10 minutes, have students begin to analyze the heroes independently.
Rank: Once you have your criteria, rank each hero according to the criterion you listed.
Calculate: Once you have ranked each hero in each category, add up across the rows to see what hero scored the highest according to your own opinions. If there is a tie, weight categories to help determine which hero would be most influential according to our criterion.
Justify: Write a 2 minute speech to share with the class (using a traditional or unique model: verbal speech, blabberize, a poem, a song) what hero you have decided was the most influential to you and why. In addition, write a paragraph to explain your justification to turn in with the rubric and speech form (prezi account log – in, flash drive, link to blabberize, etc.)
Closing: Wrap-up: share students’ choices with the class upon completion (2 class periods approximately 2 hours) and discuss our class’ opinions overall. Were there any trends? Did anything you heard from a classmate make you re-evaluate your own choice? Did you see a hero in a new way as a result of another student?
What do all of these heroes have in common? What is something you want to emulate from each or any of them?
Stand by your choice with your reasoning to share for Ms. Serafin to record a Vine snapshot video. You will present your reasoning tomorrow to the class!
Class, do we see any patterns based on our choices?
Handouts:
Notes Organizer*
Decision-Making Matrix*
*Print both using the Landscape Orientation
American Heroes Museum Walk
Directions: Take notes on the contributions, character traits, and the “fight” of each Third Grade American Hero.
American Hero Decision Making Matrix
Directions: For each criterion, rank each Hero using the scale 1-5 (5 the hero that best fit that criterion). The highest score in the total column will be the most influential American Hero.
CriteriaHero / Criterion 1 / Criterion 2 / Criterion 3 / Criterion 4 / Criterion 5 / Total
1
2
3
4
5