This third-grade inquiry expands students’ understandings of how groups represent themselves through what they wear. The compelling question—“What do things I wear say about me?”—engages students in an examination of material culture by considering the factors impacting their own choices of what they wear such as geography, culture, and religion. Students will examine the similarities and differences they share with their classmates, as well as diverse cultures in their communities and around the globe.
Compelling Question:
What do things I wear say about me?
Staging the Question:
Choose a piece of clothing that you are wearing today and tell a classmate why you chose to wear it.
1
Supporting Question What do things people wear say about them?
Formative Task Make a class list of special things that people wear and why they wear them.
Sources Source A: What We Wear picture book
2
Supporting Question What do things Sikhs wear say about them?
Formative Task List the things that Sikhs wear and explain why they wear them.
Sources Source A: Sikh Identity and Image cards
Source B: Who am I? What’s on my head? video (Little Sikhs)
Source C: How Do You Tie a Patka? handout (Sikh Coalition)
3
Supporting Question Why do people wear that?
Formative Task View the image bank of clothing choices and decide what those choices may say about the person.
Sources Source A: Clothing Image cards
Summative Performance Task
Argument: Construct an argument by drawing and annotating the graphic with what you wore and why you wear it.
Extension: Create a bulletin board display with the graphics created for the summative argument. Invite another class to view the display and ask them what the things that they wear say about them.