
Building
Social Studies Skills
Grade
3
- Watch
the television news together on occasion. Let the events on the news
become a basis for conversation. You might also watch documentaries
about historical figures with your child; biography is a good basis for
helping children learn about history.
- Look
at photographs together. Family pictures showing you and your child at
different ages are a good choice. Ask, "What can you remember about
these earlier times? What is different now?"
- Look
at photographs or children in other parts of the world. See whether
your child knows where these children come from, and then ask him or
her to tell you about the different countries the children come from.
- Social
studies in the third grade includes learning more about maps and
various regions of the world. You might ask your child what countries
he or she knows about. Can your child find these countries on a globe
or a map?
- Third-graders
study the globe. Ask your child to pick out the continents -- Asia,
Africa, South America, North America, Europe, Australia, Antarctica.
Make a game of it, taking turns to find the continents. (You can do the
same thing with the oceans.)
- With
a map or atlas, see if your child can use map coordinates (these are
the guides maps have on the edges, usually numbers on one side and
letters on another, rather than latitude and longitude.)
- Ask
what scientists, carpenters, mechanics, lawyers, plumbers, physicians,
and nurses do. Take turns thinking of various occupations, perhaps
starting with people you know or characters in books.
- Children
celebrate several different holidays in school. President's Day, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and in some settings
Cinco de Mayo receive the most attention. These celebrations are good
opportunities to ask your child what he or she has learned about the
presidents, Martin Luther King, Jr., and various national traditions.
- Ask
your child to share with you what he or she has learned about different
ethnic and cultural groups in and around your community. What has your
child learned about African Americans, Hispanics, Vietnamese, and
Cambodians?
- Ask
your child to describe how a skyscraper is built, how a car is made,
how wheat is harvested, how bread is made, how oil is carried from one
part of the world to another, and so on. You will learn about your
child's growing understanding of the world.
Reprinted from 101 Educational Conversations with Your 3rd Grader
by
Vito Perrone, published by Chelsea House Publishers.
Copyright 1994 by Chelsea House Publishers, a division of Main Line
Book Co.
All rights reserved.

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