Death as a Natural Process
Third grade curriculum module
Developed by: Judy Johnson
Summary:
This unit will help third grade students understand that death is a natural part
of life and to have a greater understanding and knowledge of the history of their area
Connection to curriculum:
This unit will integrate social studies, math, language arts, and technology.
Time:
This unit will take approximately two weeks.
Season:
This unit may be taught at any time but warmer weather will make field trips more
enjoyable.
Materials:
Grandad Bill’s Song by Jane Yolen
Alpha Smart
Crayons or colored chalk
graph paper
county map worksheets
Objectives:
TEKS
Language Arts
3. 17) The student composes meaningful texts applying knowledge of grammar
and usage.
3.18) The student selects and uses writing processes for self-initiated and assigned
writing.
Reading 3.12 E) interpret and use graphic sources of information, including maps,
charts, graphs, and diagrams
Math 3.3 B) select addition or subtraction and use the operation to solve problems
involving whole numbers through 999.
3.15 A) identify the mathematics in everyday situations
3.16 A) explain and record observations using objects, words, pictures, numbers, and
technology.
3.17 A) make generalizations from patterns or sets of examples and nonexamples.
Geography 3.5 C) identify and use the compass rose, grid, and symbols to locate places
on maps and globes.
Social studies skills 3.16 A) obtain information, including historical and geographic data
about the community, using a variety of print, oral, visual, and computer sources.
Technology Applications, grades 3-5
1 A) use technology terminology appropriate to the task;
1 B ) save and delete files;
1 C) identify and describe the characteristics of digital input, processing, and
output;
1 E) access remote equipment on a network such as a printer or other peripherals.
2 B) use proper keyboarding techniques such as correct hand and body positions
and smooth and rhythmic keystroke patterns;
2 D) produce documents at the keyboard, proofread, and correct errors;
2 E) use language skills including capitalization, punctuation, spelling, word
division, and use of numbers and symbols as grade-level appropriate.
3 A) follow acceptable use policies when using computers;
3 B) model respect of intellectual property by not illegally copying software or
another individual’s electronic work.
4 A) apply appropriate electronic search strategies in the acquisition of
information including keyword and Boolean search strategies.
8 A) use communication tools to participate in group projects;
8 C) participate with electronic communities as a learner, initiator, contributor, or
mentor.
Procedures:
Introduce the unit by reading Granddad Bill’s Song by Jane Yolen to the
class. Discuss the relationships of the people in the book and how they felt the day
Granddad Bill died. Give students an opportunity to share information and feelings about
funerals and/or situations that they have experienced about death.
Role-play a scene in a hospital or at a funeral home. Help the students understand the
events that occur at a funeral.
Bookmark the Bell County Cemeteries Database of Coordinates. Make copies of the
coordinates and a county map for each student. Students will label the names of 10
cemeteries on the map worksheet at the correct coordinates.
Take a field trip to a local cemetery or use a cemetery database found on the internet to
gather information on people who died in the late 1800’s or the early 1900’s.
At the cemetery, have the students to do crayon or chalk rubbings of interesting
tombstones. Mount these on colored construction paper to display at school.
After the collection of information, have students subtract the birth date from the death
date to determine the age of 20 people buried in the cemetery. If you have each student
use a different 20 people, you will have more information for your graphs.
What is the age of the death of the oldest person buried in the cemetery?
What is the age of the youngest?
What is the difference in these ages?
Are there more old people (over 60) or more infants (under 2 years old) buried in the
cemetery?
Make a bar graph showing the number of people buried in this cemetery during each decade
of the cemetery’s use. Tell the students that a decade is ten years. Count the number
of deaths either by year or by decade depending on the size of the cemetery. Use tally
marks to do this. If a large cemetery, add the deaths for the consecutive years to get the
total for a decade. On the board or overhead, demonstrate how to put the information in
bar graph form. After you have done 3 decades, ask the children to predict the number of
deaths they will find in the next decade. Did the death rate rise, fall, or stay about the
same. Using this graph, look for patterns during each decade.
After the students have completed the graphs, help them make generalizations about several
of the decades. Some generalizations could be that there was a small pox epidemic, no
doctor in the area, or people lived a long time. The generalizations made will depend on
the information available. Ask students to check history books and internet sites of your
area to find additional information about those decades.
Make a bar graph showing the ages at death of the people buried in this cemetery. Repeat
the questions similar to number six about the graph.
After discussing the information gathered, ask students to write a narrative story about a
family who lost a loved one. Guide the students in preparing a story map before they begin
writing. Encourage them to include the feelings of the characters in their story.
Use the stories to make class books. Ask the children to illustrate them. These books
could be shared with your library, another class, or a family who has lost a loved one.
Evaluation:
Subtraction problems created from the birth and death dates
Graphs made using information taken from tombstones or a cemetery database
Maps
Narrative story
Resources:
Arnold, Caroline, What We do When Someone Dies, Franklin Watts, New York, 1987.
Bunting, Eve, On Call Back Mountain, Blue Sky Press, New York, 1997.
Byars, Betsy, A Blossom Promise, Delacorte Press, New York, 1987.
Carson, Jo, You Hold Me and I’ll Hold You, Orchard Books, New York, 1992.
Clifford, Eth, The Remembering Box, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachuets, 1985.
Greenberg, Judith E. and Carey, Helen H., Sunny, The Death of a Pet, Franklin Watts,
New York, 1986.
Heegaard, Marge Eaton, Coping with Death and Grief, Lerner Publications Co.,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1990.
LeShan, Eda, Learning to Say Good-by: When a Parent Dies, Macmillan Publishing Co.,
New York, 1976.
London, Jonathan and Long, Sylvia, Liplap’s Wish, Scholastic Inc., New York, 1994.
Smith, Doris Buchanan, A Taste of Blackberries, Thomas Y. Crowell Co. New York,
New York, 1973.
Yolen, Jane, Grandad Bill’s Song, Philomel Books, New York, 1994.
Internet sources:
Cemetery Database Project bellnetweb.brc.tamus.edu/cemetery.htm
bellnetweb.brc.tamus.edu/centab.htm
150th Celebration of Bell County www.vvm.com/sqc/history.html
Bell County Museum, Genealogy & History www.rootsweb.com/~txbell/
Texas State Cemetery Association www.cemetery.state.tx.us/
This site has really good information on people from Texas history.
National Military Cemetery Webring
www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/7432/natcemring.html
Go to the bottom of this page. Click on next or previous for some really neat military
cemeteries around the nation.
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Revised: December 12, 2000