Grade 3 · Communities · §113.14 · Problem-Based Learning

The Town Square Problem — Meeting a Community's Needs

A Problem-Based Learning unit. Students step into a growing town, take on a stakeholder's point of view, and solve a real, messy question — building from surface to deep to transfer learning. The teacher is a guide, not the answer key.

Driving question: Miller's Creek is growing. One empty lot on the town square is left — and families, shop owners, and town leaders all want something different for it. There isn't enough money or space for everything. What should the community do?

The three-phase path (do them in order)

Problem-solving is a transfer move — it only works once students have knowledge to reason with. So the problem in Phase 3 is deliberately gated behind Phases 1 and 2.

① Surface

Build the knowledge

Community words, a jigsaw on how communities meet needs, and map work. ~1–2 periods.

② Deep

Connect & organize

Needs vs. wants & scarcity, supply & demand, and a first claim. ~1–2 periods.

③ Transfer

Solve the problem

Meet the problem, take a role, investigate, weigh options, vote, and debrief. ~2–4 periods.

⛔ Gate: don't open the Phase 3 problem until students have finished the surface and deep activities. Meeting the problem too early turns inquiry into guessing.

Big idea & objectives

Big idea: Communities form to meet shared needs. Because resources are scarce, people must weigh options and decide together — that is the heart of good citizenship.

Know: why people form communities, how communities meet needs, and what scarcity, supply, and demand mean.
Understand: the same empty lot looks different from each stakeholder's point of view.
Do: run the problem-solving process end to end — name a problem, gather information, weigh options, choose a solution, and check it (§113.14(c)(16)(B)).

Standards this unit is aligned to (§113.14)

TEKS SE	Where it lives in the unit
(c)(2)(A–B)	Why communities form & how they meet needs — Surface vocabulary & jigsaw
(c)(3)(B) · (c)(4)(C)	Adapting the environment; map elements — Surface map work
(c)(5)(A–B) · (c)(6)(A–C)	Budget, scarcity, supply & demand, cost/price/profit — Deep phase
(c)(7)(A,C)	Local government & services — Deep "Who decides?" & Transfer roles
(c)(9)(A,C,E)	Good citizenship, civic responsibility, voting — Transfer vote
(c)(14)(A–F) · (c)(15)	Sources, cause & effect, claim + evidence, communicate — Deep & Transfer
(c)(16)(B)	The problem-solving process — the entire Transfer phase

Teacher prep & materials

Print the facilitator guide (teacher moves, map of possibilities, role cards, debrief prompts) and the assessment pack (rubric + individual-in-group).
Chart paper or a projected space for three shared columns: Hunches · Know · Need-to-Know (the KWHL chart).
A big drawing or printout of the town square with one empty lot, plus play money or counters for the budget.
Vetted sources for investigation (district-approved). Suggested free sources are listed in the facilitator guide.
No logins, no accounts — every page runs in the browser. Student writing and products live on paper or in tools your district already vets.

▶ Start Phase 1 — Surface 🧑‍🏫 Facilitator guide ✅ Assessment 📊 Correlation

Teacher supports: UDL · ELPS · PBL facilitation guide (7 languages)

Aligned to (not reproduced from) 19 TAC Ch.113 §113.14; effect sizes from Visible Learning MetaX. This scenario is a teaching fiction.