Studying States

Third grade geographers are so excited to learn about the 50 United States! We have officially started our unit.

Hopefully your children are busy at home preparing their dioramas and paragraphs for the State Fair. Yesterday, I sent home a checklist to guide third graders as they create. I hope this will help them get organized and keep them from waiting until the last minute. By now, all children should know the topic of their project. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

This week, geographers looked at one way the country is divided into regions. (Different people divide it in different ways, we teach just one example.) Ask your child to tell you where to find these regions on a map of The United States:

New England
Mid-Atlantic
Southeast
Midwest
West
Southwest
Pacific

In addition,it is important that all children know the following:
Our country is made up of 50 states.
Each state has a capital.
The capital of our country is Washington D.C.
We live in Massachusetts.
The capital of Massachusetts is Boston.

The children are also working hard at school to learn about their state. While we are focusing in on one small aspect of their state at home, we are looking at the entire state at school. The children are completing research sheets to gain general information. We are learning about agriculture and manufacturing. (Ask your child for an example of something that is manufactured! Ask them the difference between manufacturing and agriculture!)

This information will be compiled and shared at the state fair. They will be displayed along with the dioramas. Together the children will look carefully at their collective states and find similarities among states. Most importantly, we want children to understand that where people live in our country affect how they live.