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Massachusetts

Massachusetts, Our Home, 3rd Edition is a standards-aligned Massachusetts history curriculum designed specifically for 3rd grade students, providing an engaging and comprehensive look into the state's varied geography, history, government, and economics. Its narrative text promotes critical thinking through a skills-based approach, integrating primary source analysis and thought-provoking questions. Accompanying this are adaptable teacher materials, which provide differentiation tools and personalized instruction. 

MA Our Home
Grade 3

Massachusetts, Our Home, 3rd edition

MA Spanish
Grade 3

La Historia de Massachusetts

The Spanish translation of our student edition allows for dual-immersion language support.

 


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Inquiry Arc, Timelines, and Visual Literacy

Each chapter provides an inquiry-based approach that focuses student learning through a “Big” or “Essential” question. The question is drawn from state-specific standards or standards from the C3 Framework for Social Studies and is supported by Key Ideas, Learning Goals, and Key Terms in each chapter. Activities throughout the text and curriculum are scaffolded and designed to build upon each other and to gain skills, as well as content knowledge. Each chapter opening spread also includes a timeline relevant to the content to be covered and a primary or secondary source image with an accompanying caption to engage students.

Engaging Textbook Design

Every page of the text is designed to engage readers, featuring a variety of maps, images, graphs, charts, primary, and secondary sources that are grade-level appropriate. Many of the features found in the text provide opportunities to examine multiple perspectives for analysis and evaluation throughout, including the ability to express, clarify, justify, interpret, and represent their ideas and to respond to peer and teacher feedback orally and/or in written form. Students frequently engage meaningfully with complex texts and are able to see themselves in the content. Captions included with the visual features in the text include open-ended questions for students to consider, discuss, and debate. Maps, graphics, and sources throughout each chapter support an inquiry arc.

Formative Assessments

After each lesson, students can check their understanding of the content and concepts they have studied. The assessment includes basic recall questions as well as critical thinking questions that are scaffolded to the Chapter Assessments. These checks for understanding allow for students to display a range of depth of knowledge and also include a self-assessment for students to reflect on their own learning and performance.

Social Studies Skills Activities

These activities emphasize the skills historians use to understand and interpret history. Students employ historical-thinking skills to build understanding as well as make connections with historical concepts. They also have the opportunity to use skills like analysis, compare and contrast, contextualization, cause and effect, periodization, forming fact-based opinions, research, defending a position, and accurate chronicling historical events.

Academic and Domain-Specific Vocabulary

The Key Terms within each lesson strengthen understanding of the grade-level content and vocabulary, often include activities to increase comprehension and retention, and feature many terms that can be used by students in other contexts.

Primary Source Analysis

Each chapter includes at least one primary source activity. Questions are scaffolded, allowing students to build confidence and skill as they explore, examine, evaluate, and interpret primary and secondary sources to understand historical concepts and make connections to the world around them.

Explore GSE's Unparalleled Social Studies Resources And Premier Professional Development Services

Voices

Diversity Studies

Black American history, Ethnic studies, and hot topics. Accurate, authentic, and engaging, these resources will give educators the tools they need to guide their students to think critically, analyze multiple narratives and perspectives, and delve into the events and contributions of historically marginalized communities.

GSEonline

GSEonline

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Professional Development

Professional Development

GSE’s Pathways to Excellence professional development program is designed to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to build and sustain strong school cultures and communities that foster academic achievement, character development, and community stewardship.