My Community
Grade: Kindergarten
Duration: 12 lessons (2 weeks)
Time of Year: Beginning (recommend second week of classes to start)
Integration: Reading (multiple read aloud times for different concepts)
Math (graphing number in family)
Key Concepts:
q Community: group of people living in one place or district
q Family: any group of people related by blood or marriage
o We are not all from the same family
o Different families have different traditions (serves as introduction to culture concept for future units)
q Friends: a person known well and liked, but not related
o We can all be friends
o We are friends at school
o There are lots of ways to play
q Responsibility: liable to be called to account for
o Ways that we can be responsible in our community
o We can responsible inside and outside of our home
o We can responsible at school
Secondary Concepts:
q Job: regular paid position
o Different examples of jobs that easily relate to services discussed
q Services: relating to or used by people working in a place
o Examples of services or locations offering services in our neighborhood
q Brother: male relative with the same parents
q Sister: female relative with the same parents
q Tradition: passing down of a culture from one generation to the next
o Different examples of traditions
Skill Terms:
Concept Map / Map / GraphComparing / Matching / Word Bank
Skills:
Mapping Concepts: students will be able to complete a concept map. (Example: Jobs is concept, and they fill in five bubbles with job examples using picture of that job and hopefully word for that job name).
Mapping: students will be able to draw a map with key features of areas that they know, like our classroom, our school, or their home. Key features should be in approximately correct location.
Graphing: Students will be able to help me collect information to graph, organize the graph, and discuss the differences in the graph that we make as a whole class. They will be able to read our class graph of family size. I do not expect them to be able to form their own graph yet, but I want to introduce the skill and concept, to be repeated in other units.
Comparing: Students will be able to compare the columns on the graph that we made of family size and use comparison words like bigger, taller, more, smaller, shorter, and less to discuss the columns on the graph.
Matching: Students will be able to match jobs to their services. This skill will be discussed with each job/ service that we discuss. We will keep a list of jobs and services that we’ve discussed, and then they will complete a worksheet of matching.
Word Bank: We will make a word bank on the board for this unit. I will put in all the concept words and skill words, and we will also put in any words that the students bring up during the unit that they didn’t know or that were related to the unit that I had not already discussed. Students will not be expected to list, spell, or read any of these words, but they will be expected to know what a word bank is and how it can help us. Word banks will be used with every unit.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to describe community in their own words and through pictures.
Students will be able to distinguish between family and friends.
Students will be able to define responsibility and give examples of how they should be responsible in the community, at home, and in school.
Students will be able to map areas that are very familiar to them with key features shown and in approximately the right location.
Students will be able to compare information that is presented on a graph.
Students will be able to complete a concept map after concept has been explained and examples have been provided.
Students will be able to explain family in their own words using terms like Mom, Dad, Parents, Brother, Sister, Siblings, Marriage, Related, and Traditions.
Students will be able to explain traditions in their own words and be able to give multiple examples of different traditions.
Students will be able to give examples of jobs in the community.
Students will be able to match services and jobs at that service that are in the community.
Community Introduction (1)
Introduction to concept of Community: explaining that we live in La Villita, which is a part of Chicago, and that we form a community. Discussing how different people and places make up our community. Drawing a map of our classroom.
Family (1)
Discussion of family: What makes up a family? How do we define a family? Who is in our family? Making a graph of number of people in our family, and then comparing the columns.
*Reading I Love You Mommy/ I Love you Daddy
*Students need to bring in pictures of family members in groups or singly, but can only have family members in the pictures, preferably just immediate family members. Pictures need to have labels on the back, like brother, sister, mom, and dad. Send note home to parents.
Friends (1)
Discussion of how friends and family are different: defining friends, talking about how we can all be friends, how we are friends at school, and different ways that we can play with friends. Activity is drawing a picture of family members on one side of page, and friends on other side of page. Children will need help labeling the different people in the pictures to truly distinguish the difference.
*Reading I Will Surprise My Friend
*Students need to bring in pictures of friends. Can be group pictures or individual pictures. Pictures need to be labeled on the back with friend’s name. Send note home to parents.
Jobs and Services (6)
Lesson on Postman/woman and Post Office: coloring activity page of postman/woman.
Lesson on Fireman/woman and Fire Department: coloring activity page of fireman/woman.
Lesson on Garbage man/woman and Waste Management: coloring activity page of garbage man/woman.
Lesson on Judge and Courts: coloring activity page of judge.
Lesson on Teacher and Schools: coloring activity page of teacher.
Lesson on Zookeeper and Zoos: coloring activity page of zookeeper.
*Reading My City: Mi Ciudad
*Listening to Curios George Gets a Job
*Watching Mighty Machines Lights and Ladders
*Would be very beneficial to find books related to each job discussed!
*Students will maintain a portfolio of jobs that we cover.
*During these days students will draw two more maps, one of their home, and one of their trip from home to school.
*On Day 5 of these lessons, students will make a concept map of Jobs.
*On Day 6 of these lessons, students will list more examples than the six we have already discussed, and then make another concept map with new examples.
*On Day 6 students will work through as a class matching jobs to services, then in small groups matching jobs to services.
Responsibility (3)
Discussion of how we can be responsible and help at home, at school, and in the community at large. Give examples of responsibilities, and discuss issues like recycling, Arbor Day, and following rules.
*Read Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up too Late
*Watch Arbor Day
Major Assessments:
Match jobs and services worksheet independently.
Divide pictures of family and friends into correct categories.
Complete a concept map for family and family words like Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister independently. Can use words or pictures.
Complete a concept map for Jobs and five job examples from the lessons we covered and/or the extra examples listed on Day 6 of jobs, independently. Can use words or pictures.
Draw a picture of how they can be responsible either at home, at school, or in the community. Need to be able to explain their picture or put helping word like, clean, listen, or plant.
Compare classroom graph of family size that we made. Assessed one on one as part of centers.
One-on-one assessment for verbally defining a drawing of a community
Portfolio compilation and rubric