Name: _____Kennedey _________________________

Unit Plan: Aiding School Context

Cesar E. Chavez is located in the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood on the corner
of Grandville and Hall Street on the South West side of Grand Rapids. The Roosevelt
Park Neighborhood Association is an organization promoted to the safety and
upkeep of this area. They host events, organize community gardens and promote
local business, all with the mission of providing a safe and rich community
(Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association, 2015). The population of this area in
2013 was around 5,131 (citydata, 2013). An American Community Survey from
2015 states that 72.7% of this population identifies as Hispanic. This is about 15%
higher than the average neighborhood in Grand Rapids (Roosevelt Park
Neighborhood Association). The average income in this neighborhood is around
$32,000 (city-data, 2013). Keeping in mind that not each student that attends Cesar
E. Chavez lives in this designated area, I still believe this information gives some
insight and detail to the students that attend this school and their families as well
and the community that surrounds the school.
I think that this information will be useful in making my unit plan relevant
and relatable for the students in my class. As the unit focuses on History, I think it
might be interesting to have the students look into these facts and statistics about
their community using the database of the National Center for Educational
Statistics. They can learn how the demographics of their community have changed
over time and how it was different in the past than it is today. Knowing what I know
about language and community programs in the area, I will use Spanish in my
lesson plans and possibly link activities in with community objectives concerning
safety, local business, and good community.

Cesar E. Chavez is a K-5th grade school and is part of the Grand Rapids Public
School system. Their mission is to ensure that all students are educated, selfdirected, and productive members of society! (GRPS,2016). Cesar E. Chavez
provides many opportunities and programs that work in line with this mission
statement. On their official website one can find community resources available
through the school. These include, a Parent Teacher Community Council, ESL
services, a partnership with Kent School Services Network. This partnership makes
it a community school that provides eligible parents and students with access to
in- house health and social services to ensure that children are physically,
emotionally and socially prepared to learn.(GRPS, 2016). In addition to these
programs, they provide free breakfast for students at 8:10 and free lunch and a take
home dinner. 484 students quality for the free meals and 10 qualify for reduced
meals (NCES, 2014). This is incredible to see how the surrounding community and
the Grand Rapids area are able to provide this for the students. The parent support
and concern is also very evident in the school. There were more parents interested
in attending the school field trip to Clackles Apple Orchard than we aloud to go. I
see many parents dropping off their kids, In the office, volunteering to help with
popcorn day, picture day, and help in classrooms. The parents of the students in my
classroom send snacks for the class and snacks for their kids. These are just a few
examples of how I see parents involvement in Cesar Chavez and the students
there. I think this level of involvement is encouraging and I can potentially recruit
parent support in building our personal timelines or when collecting information
about the community for the unit plan on History.
534 students attend Cesar E. Chavez and 30 teachers assist those students
(NCES,2014). The teacher to student ratio is heavily monitored. In the week that I

have been at Cesar Chavez, one of the teachers has been moved to a different
school because they didnt have enough students for him. Now the second grade
teacher has to split up her class between the other two classes and has to teach his
third grade class. Many statistics concerning the students can be found by the
National Center of Education Statistics. In the 2013-14 school year, 432 of these
534 students attending Cesar Chavez identified as Hispanic. 66 were black, 17
white, and 18 where two or more races or American Indian. This information about
the students in the school and the mission statement, commitment to safety,
learning, and strong positive community will be a good foundation for creating a
curriculum or lesson plans that inspires positivity, respect, good work ethic, and
communal conversations and cooperation.
In order to make my unit plan even more specific and relevant to my
students, it is critical to know information and details about each one of my
students as well. Im excited to continue learning about them throughout the
semester, but I also feel as though Ive gotten to know a lot of them in the last week
and a half. My classroom is a bilingual second grade classroom. There are 17
students, 8 girls and 9 boys. They each sit in table groups, 4 students to a table.
Some students have been singled out to sit on their own on one side of the table
making a group of three. Javier, Devon, and Grace are each students that have an
empty seat next to them. Ms. Mapple tells me that these students cannot sit next to
another student because it causes distractions for them and the entire class.
The first language of every student in the classroom is Spanish, but each
student except Javier speaks English as well. Ms. Mapple is in the process of testing
the students for accuracy and literacy in English so I will soon get a better
understanding of how well each student knows English and Spanish. Javier speaks

arrived this year from Puerto Rico and speaks no English. He is learning how to
recognize his alphabet in Spanish and write the words mama, mami, casa, and casi.
Ms. Mapple tells me that she talks to Javiers dad when he comes to pick him up
almost every day. His parents have purple hair and multiple facial piercings, she
tells me. One day Javier drew an animal during one of his free times and gave it
purple hair and a shirt. I thought this was cute because I understood why he was
giving the animal purple hair.
Another day Javier and I read a book about a duck that wanted to move away
from the city because it was too loud. I asked him if it was loud in his house and he
said no. I asked him who lived in his house and he listed, mom, dad, 3 sisters, a
baby cousin, another cousin, a grandma, and aunt and an uncle. I asked him if that
was a lot of people, and he said, No, no tan mucho. Meaning not so many. Ive
been learning a lot about Javier and I hope I will continue to know just as much
about each student in the class in order to make my lessons relevant and relatable
to students language, culture, family, and literacy levels, etc.
I believe the behavior and expectations of the classroom will also influence
the way I present my lessons as well as the schools and class emphasis on
common core state standards. Ms. Mapple always tries to keep students calm and
relaxed and promote this kind of environment. She has the kids move from their
chairs to the rug and back again often to get them in a different location and to
keep their brains working. She also has expectations of the students to treat each
other and themselves with respect, promote a safe learning environment, and be
reading to listen and learn at all times. She has several routines that promote this
behavior and knowing all this information will also help me as I construct lessons
within my unit plan.

Sources Cited
NA. (2016). City-data. Retrieved from URL: http://www.citydata.com/neighborhood/Roosevelt-Park-Grand-Rapids-MI.html
CoreLogic, American community survey, Dun & Bradstreet, NCES, NOAA, and 2015
U.S. Gazetteer
Files. (2016). Retrieved from URL:
http://places.findthehome.com/l/144950/Roosevelt-Park-Grand-Rapids-MI
Grand Rapids Public Schools. (2016). Retreived from URL:
http://www.grps.org/about-grps/our-mission
CCD Public school data (2013-2014, 2014-2015). NCES. Retrieved from URL:

http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?
Search=1&InstName=Cesar+E.
+Chavez&City=Grand+Rapids&State=26&SchoolType=1&SchoolType=2&Sch
oolType=3&SchoolType=4&SpecificSchlTypes=all&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=1&HiGrade=-1&ID=261644005319