Grade 3

Massachusetts, Our Home

Third grade students study the history and cultures of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and New England. At the beginning of the year, as educators create community norms in the classroom, students learn about the role of government at the local and state levels. They explore the geography of Massachusetts. They begin to develop historical thinking skills by analyzing artifacts and primary sources. They investigate the Native peoples who lived and live in the area, with a focus on Native Nations today. They explore what happened when Europeans arrived in New England, and look at contact between Native Americans, Europeans and Africans in the 1600s and 1700s. Students engage in their first explorations into the American Revolution, enslavement, and abolition in Massachusetts through 1783. At the end of the year, they participate in project based learning centered on advocating for change in the communities today.