During the month of December the third graders will be learning about the Three Fires (Ojibwa, Odawa and the Potowotami) and the Huron. They will be studying these cultural groups of Native Americans as they relate to the State of Michigan.
A great link to this study of the Three Fires is:
The Mitten Have your child use this link to further study these Native Americans of early Michigan. The week of Nov. 30-Dec. 4th students will study the Ojibwa, Odawa and the Potowatami. They will create webs of information for each of these tribes. Vocabulary cards for this unit will also be started.
Vocabulary for this unit will include: cultural group, teepee, natural resources. Pages 23-28 in our social studies books
will aid in any study necessary.
Social Studies Test on the Hopewell....Tuesday, Nov. 24th. A study guide will go home on Thurs. Nov. 19th. Textbooks...ch. 1, pages 14-21 are also great to study from, along with vocabulary cards that we've made in school.
Beginning Nov. 5th we will study the earliest inhabitants of Michigan, The Hopewell. We will use pages 14-21 in our textbooks, as well as other resources to study these early people and their culture. A great link to help your child further understand the HOPEWELL is found below this section. As you try the link click on each of the four clues to learn more about these early people of MI. Hopewell Website
Vocabulary words for the HOPEWELL unit:
culture----the way of life of a people
Hopewell--early native inhabitants of MI
primary source--original document, artifact etc...
secondary source---a copy of an original document, artifact, etc..
archaeologist--a scientist who studies peoples of the past
climate--the weather of a certain place over a long period of time
artifact---an object made by human hands
agriculture---farming, growing plants
goods--materials/things that can be bought or traded
trade--barter, to use something other than money to obtain goods or services
Raffy and Russ are digging in their Hopewell Mound. Wed. Nov. 18th was "archaeology day"
in our social studies class. Ask your child what they found in their mound!
Due to the closure of school the week of Oct. 26th....we are a week behind....So we will complete our unit on Michigan's Land and Water the week of Nov. 2nd.
New news....The week of Oct. 26th we will complete a unit on Michigan's Land and Water. Students will become cartographers (map makers) are complete their first map, a physical map of Michigan. These maps will be due on Tuesday, Oct. 27th. If needed, the maps will be homework on Mon. Oct. 26th. Most students are keeping a very good pace in class with this project.
Students will also complete a final draft of a piece of writing on Michigan's Land, Michigan's Water, or Michigan's Land and Water. Drafts of this assignment were completed in class the week of Oct. 19th. Final copies of this piece of writing are due by Oct. 30th. We used the writing trait of "organization" to be the focus of this piece. You may want to ask your child about the "hamburger" lesson that helped them plan their writing.
Old news.....The weeks of Oct.5 and Oct. 12th we will be learning about the land and water of Michigan. We will be using chapter one
in our Social Text as our resosurce. We will learn that Michigan's land and water have changed over time. GLACIERS
changed our land. A GLACIER is a largte, slow moving sheet of ice.
Michigan's land today has many special features. It is the only state made up of two separate peninsulas--an upper and a lower peninsula. A PENINSULA is a peice of land that is surrounded on three sides by water.
Michigan 's two main land regions are called the CENTRAL LOWLANDS and the SUPERIOR UPLANDS. A REGION is an area that has one or more features in common. The main feature of the Central Lowlands is its flat land. This region covers the Lower Peninsula and the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula. The Superior Uplands covers the western half of the UP and is higher, rocky and has many mineral deposits.
Michigan's Water
Glaciers dug many pits and channels in and around MI. Rivers, streams, and lakes formed when the glaciers melted.
MI has more than 10,000 lakes and more that 30,000 miles of rivers. The four Great Lakes that border MI: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. Lake Ontario is the only Great Lake that does not border MI.
The Grand River is MI's longeswt...about 135 miles long. It is found in lower MI.
Lakes and rivers supply water for drinking and farming and for transportation. Many major cities in MI began near a river or lake. WHY???
Click on the geography link below to learn more about MI's land and water. We will also look at a Great Lakes ecosystem and view the video, "Paddle to the Sea." This video will be an integration with language arts and social studies.
Students will complete packets about the land and water of Michigan. The packets will then be used as study guides for our first social studies test......This test will be given on Thursday, Oct. 22nd.
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Older News........
The week of Sept. 28-Oct. 2 students will study for their first quiz in Social Studies. Students should be able to show where in the world MI is. In class on Mon. Sept. 28th we will use maps of: MI, USA, N. America, and the world to locate MI.
We will also play a study game naming the planet MI is on.....the hemispheres MI can be found in......the continent MI is part of.....the country our state is found in.....that two peninsulas make us unique.....naming the 4 Great Lakes that border MI....and the three states that are our neighbors.
Planet....Earth
Hemisphere.....Northern and Western
Continent.....North America
Country....USA
State.....MI..a unique state made up of two peninsulas...What is a peninsula?
Surrounding Great Lakes....Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie
Bordering States: Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana
Can you point to the continent MI is found on?
Can you find the country in North American that MI is a part of?
Can you easily point to MI within the USA?
The week of Sept. 21-through the end of Sept. we will be learning about, "Where In the World Is Michigan?"
Each child should be able to name our planet, a hemisphere MI is found in, continent, country, the two parts of our state, bordering Great Lakes, and bordering states.
We will study this in various ways and complete two activities related to this info. One activity will be to create a paper plate target of where MI is in the world. Another will be to write a paragraph showing understanding of this mapping concept.
The first link on the site is great ...YAK takes a look at our state symbols...titled "Mich. Adventure, Discover our State Symbols." Try it out, it has wonder info.
I hope the students enjoy the facts found in this link.
