International School of Louisiana - Uptown 3rd Grade / Visual Art & Social Studies Ms. Nobile / Ms. Carbajo, Ms. Caitlin, Ms. Anne-Sophie, Ms. Alma, Ms. Guzman, Ms Geraldine
The primary focus of the third grade social studies curriculum is Louisiana. Throughout the year, students learn about our state’s geography, natural resources, history, and government. In the previous unit, students learned about the people who first inhabited this area, the Choctaw Native people. This unit covered European colonization, beginning with Hernando de Soto from Spain in 1542 and continuing with de La Salle, Iberville and Bienville from France in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The thinking routine “I used to think... / Now I think...” was developed by Project Zero as a way to “help students to reflect on their thinking about a topic or issue and explore how and why that thinking has changed. It can be useful in consolidating new learning as students identify their new understandings, opinions, and beliefs. By examining and explaining how and why their thinking has changed, students are developing their reasoning abilities and recognizing causal relationships.”
As we concluded this unit, I was so thrilled to see students’ responses to this thinking routine. Their responses are evidence of their deep learning about the history of European colonization, its impact on the native people that lived here before, and how it formed the Louisiana we know today.
Here are a few:
“I used to think the USA always belonged to the same people. Now I think that other people bought and took the land.”
“I used to think George Washington was the first to come to Louisiana. Now I think the Choctaw were the first to come to Louisiana.”
“I used to think Native Americans just gave up. Now I think Native Americans fought to keep their land.”
“I used to think Native Americans were called ‘Indians” because there was a place in the US called India. Now I think Europeans used that name because they thought they were in India, but they were in America.”
“I used to think Louisiana could only have one name. Now I think Louisiana could have two names because Native Americans called it Bulbancha.”