Teacher Page: How do Economic Situations Affect a Community?
Overview: Students will research and create a presentation to answer the question: “How do economic situations affect a
community?” and “How did the hatting industry change Danbury?”
Grade 3 Learning Guide Objectives:
Social Studies
Initial Understanding
Define terms economic, technology, and currency
Identify goods, services, and natural resources
Identify periods of economic development (e.g. craftsmen: by hand, mass
production: by machine)
Developing an Interpretation
Identify economic issues (e.g. rise and decline of hatting industry, transportation,
natural disasters)
Explain how economic situations result in change (e.g. Candlewood Lake,
highways, availability of resources)
Critical Stance
Explain the ways economy influences change in a community
Information Literacy and Technology
Initial Understanding
Identify keywords for searching for information (with assistance)
Use Internet resources to locate information, with supervision
Developing an Interpretation
Work in more than one program or window at the same time
Take print and/or electronic notes in own words from several sources of information
Use technology to organize and reorganize information
Making Connections
Work collaboratively and cooperatively with peers and others when using computers
Describe a course of action for addressing an essential question and completing the task
Organize information into related categories
Construct slide shows, multimedia presentations, web pages, spreadsheets, databases to
communicate ideas or data and present conclusions
Create and use digital images in presentations
Critical Stance
Evaluate their process for searching (with assistance)
Assess the retrieved information for relevancy and completeness (with assistance)
Use a rubric to assess whether the product meets conventional standards and expresses ideas
clearly (with assistance)
Process:
1. In the classroom, introduce the concept of economy. What
Songs about economic ideas:
are goods, services, supply and demand, and natural
Goods and Services
resources? (See simple songs to reinforce the concepts.)
http://www.kidseconposters.com/songs/goods_services.html
2. In the classroom, divide the class into 3 groups. Within each
We’ve Been Working on Production
http://www.kidseconposters.com/songs/we_work_on_production.html
group, pair students. Each partnership researches one topic
Supply and Demand Song
using all the Danbury newsletters/web page to answer the
http://www.kidseconposters.com/songs/supply_demand_song.html
questions, “How did the hatting industry change Danbury?”
What were the advantages and disadvantages of the hatting
industry?”
3. Use stickies on the newsletters to mark key ideas. Take notes from the web page.
Danbury Public Schools 10/2006
How do communities change? Grade 3
page 1
4. Topics to research (one per partnership)
• Identify the goods, services, and natural resources needed to make hats.
• Identify the changes that took place in the way hats were made and sold.
• Describe the way the goods (hats) were sold and shipped. How did transportation change the hatting industry?
• Identify the changes in Danbury during the years that hats were made here.
5. Partners take their sticky notes and write inferences off the notes:
example:
6. Do a simple introduction to Keynote. Demonstrate the use of templates, changing text, and adding slides. Use a sample
Keynote, but don’t demonstrate with one of the topics the students researched.
7. Students use the stickies and Writing Off of Stickies organizer as notes to create a multimedia presentation in Keynote to
describe “How did the hatting industry change Danbury?” What were the advantages and
Tip in adding images from the web:
disadvantages of the hatting industry?”
• Locate the image on the web site
8. Discuss the rubric as you give the presentation assignment so that students have a
• Drag it directly onto the Keynote
framework from which to plan the project. They may include photos, slide shows of
slide.
photos, music, video of themselves describing changes, anything to illustrate ways in
• Copy and paste the URL into a text
which Danbury has changed. The presentation must include the interpretation of: “How
box on the page as a caption to cite
the source.
did the hatting industry change Danbury?” What were the advantages and disadvantages
of the hatting industry?”
Danbury Public Schools 10/2006
How do communities change? Grade 3
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9. Partners build a small Keynote presentation with their information, including images and text.
10. Partners bring their research together to their group and merge into one large presentation that includes each sub-topic.
11. The group as a whole decides how to answer the question, “How did the hatting industry change Danbury?” “What were the
advantages and disadvantages of the hatting industry?”
Differentiation:
1. Team students that can help each other, while each contributes to the project.
2. Students who finish quickly can include short video with the essential question.
3. Students may elect to add other examples of economic changes in Danbury.
4. Teacher may want to provide note-taking sheets for students who need help with
organization.
Adding video:
• Use the Cannon Powershot digital
cameras to take short movies.
• Set the dial on top of the camera to
Video.
• Download the images from the
camera into iPhoto.
• In Keynote, use the Media Browser
Assessment: How well did students describe “How did the hatting industry change
Danbury?” What were the advantages and disadvantages of the hatting industry?”
Danbury Public Schools 10/2006
How do communities change? Grade 3
to drag the video into the
presentation.
page 3
How do Economic Situations Affect a Community Rubric
Name: __________________________________________
3
2
1
Support/Evidence
Presentation includes examples that clearly
support and connect to ideas.
Design
All of the slides
• Have same font
• Size of font fits page
• Good choice of color
Images are well chosen to help describe
the text.
The source of all images and ideas are
cited.
The presentation clearly answers the
questions, “How did the hatting industry
change Danbury?” “What were the
advantages and disadvantages of the
hatting industry?”
Presentation includes examples
that support and is somewhat
connected to ideas.
Most of the slides
• Have same font
• Size of font fits page
• Good choice of color
Images somewhat help
describe the text.
The source of most images and
ideas are cited.
The presentation mostly
answers the questions, “How
did the hatting industry change
Danbury?” “What were the
advantages and disadvantages
of the hatting industry?”
Presentation includes examples
that unclear or may not
connect to ideas.
Only some of the slides
• Have same font
• Size of font fits page
• Good choice of color
Images do not help describe
the text.
The source of images or ideas
are not cited.
The presentation does not
answer the questions, “How did
the hatting industry change
Danbury?” “What were the
advantages and disadvantages
of the hatting industry?”
Images
Works Cited
Critical Stance
Danbury Public Schools 10/2006
How do communities change? Grade 3
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