Social Studies · Unit 3 · Weeks 13–18
Movement, Culture & Immigration
The big idea
Your child explores why people move, how travel has changed and how goods travel from where they are made to your home. Then your child studies culture (foods, celebrations, music and languages, including Native languages spoken today) and immigration, past and present, including Ellis Island and Angel Island. A state research project and the Quarter 2 review close the unit.
Standards in plain words
- D2.Geo.7.3-5 Explains how culture and environment affect where people, goods and ideas are found and how they move.
- D2.Geo.11.3-5 Describes how the kinds of work in a place change over time through links with nearby and faraway places.
- D2.Geo.4.3-5 Explains how culture shapes the way people change and adapt to their surroundings.
- D2.His.2.3-5 Compares life in the past with life today.
- D2.His.14.3-5 Explains likely causes and effects of events and changes.
- D2.His.16.3-5 Uses evidence to make a claim about the past.
- D2.Civ.14.3-5 Shows ways people have changed society, in the past and today.
- D2.Eco.4.3-5 Explains why people and businesses specialize and trade.
- D2.Eco.5.3-5 Explains how money makes trading easier.
- D3.1.3-5 Gathers useful information from several sources, paying attention to where each source comes from.
- D2.Geo.2.3-5 Uses maps, photos and other images to explain how places and regions connect to their land, water and climate.
What mastery looks like
- Names several reasons people move and puts ways of traveling in time order.
- Traces a food or product from where it was made to the store shelf, and explains why regions trade.
- Describes parts of their own family's culture and shows curiosity about celebrations that are new to them.
- Compares Ellis Island and Angel Island and describes ways immigrants have added to life in the United States.
- Researches a U.S. state's geography, history and Native nations and presents it clearly.
Materials
- U.S. map and a world map or globe
- Pictures of a wagon, steamboat, train, car and airplane
- Kitchen items with labels showing where they came from
- Yarn for migration routes
- Salt dough or modeling clay
- Poster paper and markers for the state project
- Notebook
Anchor texts
- Reading About Our World passages: 'Coming to a New Home' (Week 16) and 'Many Cultures, One Country' (Week 18)
- Video hub topics: reasons people move, what culture is, immigration entry points, and researching state history
- Sources your child chooses for the state project, such as the state's official website
Watch across the unit
Watch for: Thinking culture belongs only to people from other countries, or calling an unfamiliar celebration 'weird.'
Try: Point to your child's own family chart, and turn each comment into a question: 'I wonder why people do that?'
Watch for: Thinking every immigrant came through Ellis Island.
Try: Point to both coasts and ask, 'If you sailed from China, which island would be closer?' Use the hook 'Ellis is East.'
Watch for: Mixing up the movement of people (immigration) and the movement of goods (trade).
Try: Sort cards into two piles, People and Goods, before answering.
Pacing
Short week: Keep Monday's lesson and the Friday check. In the immigration week, keep the discussion focused on how people share ideas respectfully. In the state project week, keep the research days and let the presentation be short.
Flex week: Week 14 is the flex week. Fix tricky map and region ideas or ideas about Native nations and trade, or enrich by building a salt-dough map of U.S. landforms and mapping where your breakfast comes from. End with a review and reflection.
Week by week
| Week | Topic | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Week 13 | Movement & trade | How people and goods move |
| Week 14 | Flex week | Choice project |
| Week 15 | Culture | Foods, music, festivals and languages |
| Week 16 | Immigration | Why people come and what they contribute |
| Week 17 | State project | Research and present a U.S. state |
| Week 18 | Quarter 2 review | Unit 3 test |