Heather Antunez

SPED- 275

Subject/Grade Level

Title: Our Community

Kindergarten - Grade 2

Big Ideas
1. Students will define what community means and understand that people must respect each
other and work cooperatively to have a good community.
2. Students will evaluate the people and places around us around us and discuss differences
in urban and rural communities.
3. Students will explore community helpers and understand the different roles of people in the
community.
4. Students will choose and study a career choice and learn about what skills they need to
work in that career.
5. Students will describe ways in which the members can work together to make a community
a better place to live.
Essential Unit
Questions

What is a community?

Who are the people in you neighborhood that you meet each day?

What job are their job responsibilities in the community?

How do people in the community help each other?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you need to do and what skills are needed for your career choice?

Unit Introduction:
Iowa Common Core Essential Concepts and Skills:
What is a Community?
Geography

Concept and/or Skill: Understand how human factors and the distribution of
resources affect the development of communities and the movement of
populations

History

Concept and/or Skill: Understand the role of culture and cultural diffusion on
the development and maintenance of societies.

21st Century- Employable Skills

Communicate and work appropriately and productively with others:

Materials Needed:
White board
Dry Erase Marker
Book: Town Mouse and
the Country Mouse by
Jan Brett.
Paper
Crayons or markers

Demonstrate good listening skills

Share thoughts and ideas with others

Describe the concept of community

Objective: Students will define the word community and recognize communities can be
different.
Anticipatory Set- Accessing Prior Knowledge
Begin by writing the word community on the board and ask students to help you create a word
web to construct meaning of the word. Accept all student answers and encourage discussion.
Read aloud the book the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse by Jan Brett.
Review the concept map and see if students want to make any changes or additions. Explain how
the words in the concept web that define the word community.
Modeling & Instruction
Do a Venn Diagram and discuss the differences between rural and urban communities as a large
group. Involve the students to get ideas and have them thinkpair-share with a partner to get
ideas and make connections.

Guided Practice
In small groups have students generate ideas and identify characteristics and name what type of
community we live in by providing examples to support their ideas.
Independent Practice
Have students to divide a piece of paper in half and draw a picture showing an urban and a rural
community. More advanced students can construct their own booklet showing the different
differences between the two communities. Have students share their products and display their
work on a class bulletin board.
Closure
Review and discuss as a large group how community is a group of people living in one area with
the same interests. People who live in different communities may have different interests like the
town mouse and the country mouse.
Social Studies Vocabulary Defined with Pictures:
http://dalygrove.epsb.ca/datafiles/kindergarten_social_studies_definitions.pdf
Assessment
The teacher will observe students during classroom interactions and informally assess student
discussion during instruction and during guided practice. The teacher will also review each
students booklets showing the differences between two communities at the end of the lesson.
Lesson One:

Iowa Common Core Standards:

Behavioral Sciences
Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand all people have individual traits.
21st Century- Employable Skills
Learn leadership skills and demonstrate integrity, ethical behavior, and social
responsibility.

Use interpersonal skills to influence and guide others toward a goal.

Objectives:
Students will recognize diversity of a group and understand the benefits of working cooperatively
with others.
Introduction:
Ask students how they think we are alike and different from classmates?
What is the best thing about differences?
What do you like about you?
Think -Pair -Share and tell a friend sitting next to you something you like about them.
Ask students how they would like it if we were all exactly the same?
Materials Needed:
Book: All the Colors of
the Earth (Mulberry
Books) By Sheila
Hamanaka
Paper
Markers
Glue
Yarn of assorted colors

Read Aloud Activity

Childrens Literature: All the Colors of the Earth (Mulberry Books) By Sheila Hamanaka
After Reading
Ask students how the children in the book are the same and different?
Ask students if they think children are as different in the inside as they are on the outside?
In what ways other than hair color and skin color are we different and what ways are they the
same?
Emphasize the beauty of differences in our appearance and personalities.
Give students paper, markers and yarn of assorted colors, and have students draw portraits of
each other.
Other activities and books will be read aloud and complete over the course of the week to
reinforce the concepts of teamwork and appreciation for diversity.

Materials Needed:
Wet Construction Paper
Water Colors

Diversity Paint Activity:

Purpose- Develop an appreciation for diversity.
Divide students into small groups. Give each group a sheet of wet construction paper. Have the
students use watercolors to paint the wet page. The color will blend together. Explain to students
how even though things may seem different they come together to make a beautiful picture.
Guided Game:
Purpose- The important things about others have little to do with physical appearance.
Students will participate in a game where the goal is to identify classmates without looking at
them. Have the student hide while the other students have their eyes closed. Students will ask the
child to name favorite foods, friends and activities (not physical characteristics) to find him /or her.

Materials Needed:
Multi colored balloon of
various shapes and
sizes
Materials Needed:
After walk-paper,
colored pencils

Balloon Teamwork Activity:

Purpose- Practice Teamwork.
Divide students into groups of 10 give students 5 different colored balloons to hit in the air. Players
must keep the balloons form hitting the ground.
Nature Walk:
Purpose: Appreciation for diversity
Take students on a walk outside to investigate the color of nature. Have students to identify the
colors of leaves, rocks, grass, sky etc. See if students can identify other objects the same colors
as nature. Students later can draw pictures of the items they saw from the nature walk.
Handprint Collage:

Materials Needed:
Paper for Bulletin Board
Paint

Purpose-Working together to make a final product and respecting diversity.

Students will make a handprint collage for a bulletin board to represent diversity in the classroom.
Each student will choose a color of paint and add their handprints to the collage. The bulletin
board will be a reminder of the beauty of diversity in the classroom community.

Other Books about Building Community for Working Together to Read Aloud:
The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll
Yo! Yes by Chris Raschka
Assessment
The teacher will informally observe student interactions throughout the week during the
cooperative learning activities and games to determine if students understand the benefits of
working cooperatively with others. The teacher will look for teachable moments to embrace the
concept of teamwork.

Lesson Two:
Exploring Different
Roles of Our
Community

Iowa Common Essential Concepts and Skills:

Geography
Recognizes different roles and responsibilities and is open to change

Adapt to varied roles, responsibilities, and expectations.

21st Century- Employability Skills

Recognizes different roles and responsibilities and is open to change

Adapt to varied roles, responsibilities, and expectations.

Objectives:
Students will identify places where people in their community gather together.
Students will explore their community through understanding the different roles of its members.
Materials Needed:
White Board
Dry Erase Markers
Elmo Projector

Introduction and Class Discussion

Begin a classroom discussion and ask students where their parents work in the community and
what to they do? Generate a list of names of places their parents work and what they do.

What paces do they go in the community? Why do they go there?

Generate another list of places they go, and the people who work there.
Ask students what tasks or roles do these people have at the places that they visit in the
community? i.e. bank- count , borrow and save money, post office- delivers mail , library-borrow
books, grocery store- get food, doctors office- to keep you healthy or take care of you when you
are sick etc.
Tell students to think back about the book we read The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.
Have students compare and contrast the where the town mouse lived and the country mouse
lived. Ask students if we live in a rural or urban community? Explain the live in an urban
community with lots of buildings, etc.
Modeling and Instruction
Show a map of our community on the Elmo Projector
Identify buildings and places in the community

Shoeboxes and
Cereal Boxes of
various shapes and
sizes
Paint
Scissors
Paper other Art
Supplies

Guided Practice
Have students bring in shoeboxes and cereal boxes and decorate them like buildings in our
community. Students will make a model of an urban community and identify people we might find
there. Have students put all the finished boxes on a table and made streets and labeled them.
Put the model on display for everyone to see.
Independent Practice
Students will draw a map or picture of their own neighborhood.
Assessment
The teacher will informally assess the community models and pictures to assess the students
knowledge of their local community. The teacher will assess student understanding of peoples
roles in the community through discussion, models, pictures and interactive role-play.

Lessons Three:
Community Helpers

Iowa Common Core Essential Concepts and Skills:

21st Century Skills-Employability Skills

Develop initiative and demonstrate self-direction in activities.

Perform work without oversight.

Work Productively and are accountable for their actions.

Deliver quality job performance on time

Demonstrate accountability for individual performance

Recognize different roles and responsibilities and is open to change.

Adapt to varied roles, responsibilities, and expectations.

Health Literacy

Identify influences that affect personal health and the health of others

Indentify trusted individuals who can help.

Objectives:
Students will define what it means to be community helper.
Students will identify different community helpers and some characteristics of their jobs.
Materials Needed:
White Board &
Markers

Introduction
Who are the people in you neighborhood that you meet each day?
What job are their job responsibilities in the community?

You Tube Video-

Community Helpers
(Theme Song from Toy
Story)

Play the You Tube Video-Community Helpers (Theme Song from Toy Story)
Engage students in a discussion and have them brainstorm a list people in our neighborhood
community who are community helpers.

Book: Helpers in My
Community (My World

Modeling & Instruction

Read Aloud Book:
Helpers in My Community (My World Series) by Bobbie Kalan

Series) by Bobbie Kalan

Themed Games
Themed Books- Unit
& Independent
Reading
Community Helper
Dress Up Clothes and
Accessories
Themed Listening
Center Activities
Writing Journals
Art Supplies
Optional
Guest Speakers who
are Community
Helpers
Field Trip-Optional
Games

After reading the book refer back to the list of community helpers that the students helped to
generate before reading the book
Choose two or three community helpers from the list and ask students what are their jobs? What
do they do? How do they help people in our community? Have students to look at the original
class brainstormed list and ask them which helper they think is most important?
Independent Practice
Tell students that they are going to spend the next week or two learning about community helpers
from A to Z. Students will have to choose which helper that they think is most important and why?
Finally each student will create a presentation of his or her favorite community helper.
Community Helper Activities
The teacher will arrange in advance for a few guest speakers who are a community helpers to
come to the class each day i.e. postal worker, police officer, firefighter, dentist and briefly share
with students what they do to help people and possibly bring either some tools or clothing that
they might wear to show students. If possible a field trip to visit a place of work of a community
helper would be a great learning experience for students.
Other activities during the week will include read alouds about community helpers, role play
activities, listening centers with audio books, costumes for dress up in play areas, coloring pages
and themed booked for independent reading and discovery time.
During Learning Centers Students Can Play the Following Types of Games with
Classmates:
Community Helper- Picture Bingo
Community Helper Board Game at ed.Helper.com
Community Worker Vehicles match the worker with the vehicle
Match the Hats with the Community Helpers
Match Buildings with People Who Work There
Listening Center Activity
Community Helpers-by Nicole Mays

Childrens Literature

Childrens Literature
Community Helpers From A to Z by Bobbie Kalman
I Want to Be (Book Series) by Dan Lieberman
Show Me Community Helpers My First Picture Encyclopedia by Clint Edwards

Themed Book Units;

Community Helpers at

Themed Book Units; Community Helpers at edHelper.com

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (Grades K-2)

Fireman Small (Grades K-2)

Fireman Small Fire Down Below! (Grades K-2)

Katy and the Big Snow (Grades K-2)

Otis (Grades K-2)

Thank You, Mr. Falker (Grades K-2)

The Lemonade Club (Grades K-2)

Whose Hat Is This? A Look at Hats Workers Wear - Hard, Tall, and Shiny (Grades K-2)

A Day in the Life of a Doctor (Grades K-3)

Helpers in My Community (My World) (Grades K-3)

edHelper.com

Writing Activity
Students will define community helper in daily writing journals and find job names for each letter of
the alphabet.
Assessment:
The teacher informally observe and monitor students with daily activities, and will perform a
formative assessment of student writing journals to monitor student progress and evaluate their
understanding of characteristics of jobs and knowledge of community helpers.
Lesson Four
Working Together
Members of A
Community

Iowa Common Core Essential Concepts and/or Skills:

Science

Ask questions about objects, organisms, and events in the environment

Students should answer their questions by seeking information from their own

observations, investigations and from reliable sources of scientific

information.
Employability Skills
Communicate and work appropriately with others to complete tasks.

Use different perspectives to increase innovation and quality of work.

Use all the appropriate principles of communication effectively.

Materials Needed:

Objectives:
Students will identify the different relationships that can be found in a community.
Read Aloud: The Magic Students will talk about their jobs and how we need them.
School Bus Gets Ants in Students will learn about the importance of responsibility and independence.

His Pants

Insect Lore Ant Kit

Introduction
Read Aloud: The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in His Pants
Discussion Questions:
What do we know about ants?
How do the ants communicate and work together in their community?
The teacher will introduce the Insect Lore Ant Colony and students will observe the ants forage for
food, excavate sand and problem solve to keep the colony going.
The teacher will introduce the ant colony lesson and continue through out the unit plan until
students have come to the conclusions. Students will observe and ants in the Insect Lore Kit
during the week and come to the following conclusions trough investigative inquiry:

Every ant has a job to do to keep the nest going.

Forager ants find food and take it back to the nest.
The Queen lays the eggs.
Nurse ants take care of the young.

Guard ants protect the nest.

The teacher will lead the students with guided questions each day as they observe and learn
about ants to get students to recognize that the ants live together in a nest, share work and
cooperate to help the community. After the class has arrived at the main conclusions about the
ants, the teacher will ask the students how the ants community is similar to the school building?
The teacher will ask students to identify staff at the school and list their job title on the board.
The class will take a walk through the school and look for people in the school who help the school
keep running. Students will be prompted to look for staff personnel and to look and tasks what
they are doing to discuss when they all get back to the classroom.
After students get back to the classroom the teacher will ask students roles of the following school
personnel:
Principal

Custodian

Secretary

Librarian

Nurse

Teachers

The teacher will guide discussion and ask students questions about the different school personnel,
their roles and responsibilities and how they all work together to keep the school running.
Students will be able to understand that everyone at the school cooperates works as a team.
Team Project Activity
Students will work together to create a school community booklet to identify the roles and
relationships of the staff at their school. Students will share the work and work cooperatively to
complete the school community booklet. Students will work in small cooperative groups of four
students with each group member having an assigned role to complete the class project. Students
will be given specific job duties and have to communicate and work cooperatively with classmates.

Closure
Discuss with students that the staff at the school like the ants, must work together and cooperate
to help have a good school community.
Team Building Games to Play:
Popcorn Tag
Play: All players must hop up and down like popcorn at all times. Start with one it.
It hops around trying to tag pieces of popcorn. When it tags someone, they join
hands, forming an it chain. Continue playing until everyone has become part of the it
chain.
Frozen Bean Bag
Materials: Beanbags (as many as people in the group)
Play: Each person places a beanbag on their shoulder. Each person then walks around
the playing area; if their bean bag falls off they are frozen until another member places
their bean bag back on their shoulder.
Variations: The bean bag can be placed on another body part such as the head, face, or
elbow. Members can also be required to use a different kind of movement such as
crawling or crab walking. Obstacles can be placed around the playing area.
Yarn Ball
Materials: Ball of yarn
Play: One player holds one end of the ball of yarn. She/he states something good that
they have seen someone else do during the previous social skill activities. She/he then
tosses the ball of yarn to that person, while still holding on to the end of the ball. The
second person wraps a piece of the yarn around a finger. That person then states
something that someone other that the first person had done well. She/he still has hold of
the ball of yarn. The third person then does the same thing. This continues with each
person saying something good about a different person (no person will have the ball of
yarn tossed to them twice.) The last person to receive the ball will then toss it to the first
person along with a compliment. The end result will be a web (someone can drop their

piece of yarn to demonstrate), then the rest of the group will support them. If everyone
drops their piece, then there is no one left to support the group. Compare this to real life
situations.
Name Choo-Choo
Play: A leader should be chosen from the group to start the game. The leader walks
over to a person in the group, sticks out his/her hand to shake hands, and says (very
enthusiastically) Hi! My name is ----------! Whats yours? When the person (whose
name, for example, might be Anne) responds, the leader cheers and yells the name as
follows: Anne! Anne! Anne! Anne!, Anne! The leader then yells Ready! Reverse! and
turns in the other direction. The person whose name was just cheered (in this case, Anne)
puts their hands on the leaders waist, and choo-choos with the leader up to another
person. Play continues in the same manner until everyone is part of the train. Note that
the person who leads the train will be different after the first two introductions because of
the reversing.
Assessment
The teacher will have the students write a journal reflection about what they have learned about
the importance of responsibility, having jobs and working together in the community. The students
will identify the people and illustrate the important roles of the personnel that work at their school.
Lesson Five: Helping
Out in the Community

Iowa Common Core Essential Concepts and/or Skills:

Geography
Understand humans impact the environment in positive and negative ways.
21st Century Skills
Essential Concept and/or Skill: Communicate and work appropriately with
others to complete tasks.

Work appropriately and productively with others.

Essential Concept and/or Skill: Learn leadership skills and demonstrate

integrity, ethical behavior, and social responsibility.

Use interpersonal skills to influence and guide others toward a goal.

Essential Concept and/or Skill: Develop initiative and demonstrate self

direction in activities.

Perform work without oversight.

Objectives:
Students will describe ways in which the members can work together to make a community a
better place to live.
Introduction
We have learned that communities need to work together and cooperatively to make it a better
place. How can you help in you your community to make it a better place?
Book: Helping by
James Levin

Read Aloud
Helping by James Levin; photographs portray children helping at home, at school, and in the
community. The book will be used as a visual aid to help students comprehend the concepts of
helping and teamwork.
After reading the book have a class discussion about what the children were doing in book to help
in their community? Ask students what it means to be a friend? Guide discussion to lead students
to recognize the needs of others and that helping out is being a good friend.
Ask students what it means to volunteer? After students understand that volunteer means to give
some of you time and help in the community. Ask students what they do at home to help and then
ask for ideas of how can we help in the community?

Plan ahead for service

experience activities

Service Experience Activities:

1. The class will collect canned food for local food pantry or clothing for a church or shelter.
2. The class will pick up litter at the park or playground with parents on for an hour one day.

Closure
After the service experience, discuss the service experience with the class. Ask students how did
it make them feel to help out in the community? How do they think the people felt that received
our help? Do they think they will volunteer to help out in the community again in the future?
Assessment
Students will write and illustrate a reflection about at least two ways in which the members of a
community can work together to make a community a better place to live.
Lesson Six: Choose a
Career

Book: When I grow Up

by Al Yankovic
Student Writing
Journals
Pencils

Iowa Common Core Essential Concepts and Skills:

21st Century-Employability Skills

Develop initiative and demonstrate self-direction in activities

Perform work without oversight.

Introduction
Read aloud the book: When I grow Up by Al Yankovic
After reading ask students what they want to be when they grow up?
Have students write a journal entry and draw a picture about what they want to be when they grow
up. Have students share their picture with the class.

Other Activities:
Read Aloud Career Day by Anne Rockwell
Book: Aloud Career Day Before reading the book, ask students what kinds of work do people you know do? Allow students
by Anne Rockwell
to share their knowledge. Tell students in the book we are going to find out how the children in
Mrs. Madoffs class learn about they kinds of work people do they the know by inviting visitors to

the classroom. The teacher will read the book and then review what career day is in Mrs. Madoffs

class. The teacher will tell students that we are planning on having a career day at our school and

having some visitors to come and share with us about their jobs.

Career Day Visitors

Computer and Internet

access

Host a Career Day

Invite parents or other members of the community to come and share about their career with
students. Set a side half a day for the career day activity. Students will rotate in small groups to
listen and talk with the career day visitors.
Research and Discovery
Students will research career possibilities and play games at the Dept of Labor website
Exploring Career Information; picture and a description
http://www.bls.gov/k12/index.htm
Paws In Jobland
Students will explore careers at www.IHaveaPlanIowa.gov and build their own clusters to identify
their own personal career interest areas. For classroom discussion, ask students how they
decided which career cluster they are part of? How may clusters in Paws in Jobland do we have
and dont have? Ask student why they think we have more clusters in some areas and none in
other areas?
Assessment
Students will make a career choice and find two books in the library about their career choice.
Students will write three fun facts that they learned about their career choice, and dress up and
present to the class.

References/Resources Iowa Common Core Standards:

https://www.educateiowa.gov
Social Studies Vocabulary Defined with Pictures:
http://dalygrove.epsb.ca/datafiles/kindergarten_social_studies_definitions.pdf
Activities that Teach Teamwork & Diversity:
http://entertainmentguide.local.com/activities-teach-teamwork-diversity-kids-9646.html

References/Resources
All The Colors of the Earth Lessons & Activities:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/study_guides/all_the_colors_of_the_earth.pdf
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/books-teaching-about-teamwork
Community Helper-Large.m4v Video -Clip with music from Toy Story movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zoar0hsN4c&feature=share&list=PLF8B7BF74A0BBB29C
Community Helpers Songs: https://www.kinderplans.com/p/58/preschool-kindergarten-song
Book Units; Community Helpers
http://www.edhelper.com/community_helpers.htm
Listening Center Activity: Community Helpers-by Nicole Mays
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylmf0mexwCo&list=PLF8B7BF74A0BBB29C
Find a Job Name for Each Letter Activity:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/communityhelpers.shtml
Magic School Bus-Ants in the Pants Lesson:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/magic-school-bus-gets-ants-its-pants
Ant Lore Kit:
http://www.insectkits.com/contents/en-us/d28_Insect-lore-anthill.html
PK-K Team Building Games:
http://www.lumpkin.k12.ga.us/~fc/images/TeacherResourcesTB/pk_kgames.pdf
Learning to Give and Help in the Community:
http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit60/lesson3.html

References/Resources Paws In Jobland

https://secure.ihaveaplaniowa.gov
Iowa Common Core Standards:
https://www.educateiowa.gov/pk-12/iowa-core/iowa-core-21st-centuryskills