3rd Grade Social Studies Curriculum – Good Citizenship Unit – TEKS-Aligned

Are you an upper elementary teacher looking to find a quality TEKS-aligned resource that targets good citizenship and civic responsibility? Looking for minimal-prep and engaging lessons and activities to teach social studies concepts to your 3rd grade students? Look no further!

Unit 5 of the Smart and Simple Social Studies Communities Guided Curriculum is about Good Citizenship. The main topic of this unit is designed to help upper elementary students understand the characteristics of good citizenship, examples of famous figures who show characteristics of good citizenship, civic responsibility, and civic and non-profit organizations that serve the common good.

This 3-week unit includes lesson plans, guided notes, practice activities, exit tickets, a project, unit assessment, and more. Each lesson includes slideshows in both PowerPoint and Google Slides, as well as student digital activities of the notes, practice activities, exit tickets, project, and unit assessment.

This unit primarily correlates to the current TEKS 3rd grade Social Studies standards (adopted in 2024). It includes EVERYTHING you need to teach about good citizenship– just print & go!

This unit covers the following topics:

• Lesson 1: Introduction to Good Citizenship
• Lesson 2: Characteristics of Good Citizenship
• Lesson 3: Participation in Government
• Lesson 4: Helen Keller
• Lesson 5: Ruby Bridges
• Lesson 6: Clara Barton
• Lesson 7: Civic Responsibility
• Lesson 8: Civic Organizations
• Lesson 9: Nonprofit Organizations
• Lesson 10: Good Citizenship Review Game

What’s included in this resource?

• 3-week pacing guide and overview
• Scope and Sequence
• 10 teacher lesson plan guides
• 9 non-editable slideshows (Google Drive & PPT versions)
• 1 editable slideshow review game
• Guided notes for Lessons 1-9 (2 versions: fill-in-the-blank and highlighted words)
• 9 practice activities
• 10 exit tickets
• Digital and full-color versions of student activities
• Unit Project
• Unit Assessment
• Answer keys for all student activities

What makes this Guided Social Studies Curriculum Smart and Simple?

✅ The social studies daily lessons and activities are bite-sized and can easily be implemented in 30-45 minutes.

✅ The social studies curriculum is TEKS-aligned (for Texas) but is still flexible enough to use in any order and in conjunction with any state curriculum.

✅ Each social studies unit has everything you need to simply teach social studies – easy-to-follow lesson plans, guided notes, practice activities, exit tickets, and more!

It’s everything you need to implement engaging social studies lessons that students love and teachers enjoy (because it’s comprehensive and easy to prep)!