Unit Plan 36 (Grade 3 Social Studies): Cumulative Synthesis & Exhibition
Showcase yearlong learning as students create and host a Community Expo featuring maps, history projects, civic action work, and economic displays.
Focus: Show what you know about communities, maps, history, citizenship, and economics by creating and hosting a “Community Expo” with maps, history projects, and civic action displays.
Grade Level: 3
Subject Area: Social Studies (Inquiry • Civics • Geography • History • Economics)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this final unit, students synthesize their learning from the year by planning and hosting a class “Community Expo.” They revisit key projects—maps, timelines, history reports, community atlases, and civic or environmental action work—and polish them for an audience of classmates, other grades, and/or families. Students design exhibit stations (e.g., “Our Maps,” “Our History,” “Our Citizens in Action”) and practice explaining their work using key vocabulary and evidence from sources. The week ends with the Community Expo and a reflection on how their inquiry, citizenship, geography, history, and economics learning all connect.
Essential Questions
- What have we learned this year about communities and how they change over time?
- How do maps, timelines, sources, and projects help us understand and explain our community?
- What does our work show about being a responsible citizen in our classroom, town, and world?
- How can we share our learning clearly and respectfully with visitors at a Community Expo?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Review and select work samples (maps, timelines, source-based history work, economic and civic projects) that show growth in social studies skills.
- Organize work into exhibit stations (Inquiry, Civics, Geography, History, Economics) and help plan the layout of a Community Expo.
- Revise or polish at least one piece of work using feedback, adding labels, captions, and clear explanations.
- Prepare and deliver a short oral explanation at the Expo, using key vocabulary and evidence from sources (e.g., “In this map…,” “From this photo we learned…”).
- Reflect on what they learned about communities, citizenship, geography, history, and economics, and how these ideas fit together.
Standards Alignment — 3rd Grade (C3-based custom, comprehensive spiral)
- 3.C3.Inq — Inquiry: asking questions, gathering and using sources, making claims with evidence, and communicating conclusions.
- 3.C3.Civ — Civics: rules and laws, citizenship, participation, and symbols.
- 3.C3.Geo — Geography: maps, directions, landforms, climate, regions, and human–environment interaction.
- 3.C3.Hist — History: timelines, change and continuity, important people and events, traditions, and sources.
- 3.C3.Econ — Economics: needs/wants, producers/consumers, resources, work, and trade/choices.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can choose work that shows my best social studies learning and explain why I chose it.
- I can help plan or set up an Expo station with clear labels and displays.
- I can talk about my work using social studies words (like timeline, citizen, resources, symbol, evidence).
- I can tell visitors what I learned using examples from my projects and at least one source.
- I can explain how communities, maps, history, citizenship, and resources all connect.