Environment & Society

Kindergarten
 Environments & Society Unit
Recognizing Different Environments
Day 1

Grade: Kindergarten
Geography: “Recognizing Different Environments”

Objective (W):

 Students will be able to recognize different environments.

Resources (O):

 YouTube video
 The Listening Walk book
 Scavenger Hunt worksheet
 Class trip to Nature Trail: bus, parent volunteers, permission slips

Time (O): 3 hours

Classroom Set-Up (O):

 Classroom collaboration on the carpet

 Group work/participation on the field trip

Hook (H): Discuss with student’s different environments that they’ve experienced or
witnessed, whether it was on a vacation or even a walk. What made the
environments different?

Procedure (E):

1. We will begin the lesson on the carpet with a short YouTube video that
introduces different environments, with a class discussion about the different
environments, following the video.
2. Formative Assessment: Using a thumbs up or thumbs down, show me if
you are able to understand and recognize the different types of environments.
Based on what I see from the students; I will be able to determine if I need to
spend more time talking about different types of environments.
3. Questions to discuss:
a. What are some different environments that you encounter every day?
b. What makes environments different from one another?
c. What did you see?
 d. How are these environments similar to your environment?
4. After the short video, assign students into their parent groups for the field
trip to the Nature Trail. Once the students are organized into their groups,
load the bus.
5. While on the bus, explain the directions of the worksheet, and hand them out
to the individual students.
6. As students walk through the Nature Trail, discuss their surroundings with
them while in the environment, and fill out the nature scavenger hunt
worksheet according to their findings.
7. Once students’ have completed the Nature Trail walk trail with their groups,
and have successfully completed their scavenger hunt worksheet, the whole
class convenes together, and briefly discusses what was seen for further
discussion back in the classroom.
8. Back at the school, students gather around the carpet, and we discuss the
scavenger hunt worksheet together.
9. After discussing the worksheet and the Nature Trail environment, we will
read The Listening Walk
10. Discuss the sounds that the students’ heard on their nature walk:
a. What did you hear?
b. Where did the noises come from?
c. Were the noises that the little girl heard in the book, similar to what
you heard?
11. Teacher summarizes and concludes.

Reflecting Experience (R): Assign students with a homework assignment where

they have to draw a picture of what they saw on the nature walk.
 Environments & Society Unit
Environmental Needs & Wants
Day 2
Grade: Kindergarten
Geography: “Environmental Needs & Wants”

Objective (W):

 Categorize human needs and wants according to their environment.

Resources (O):

 SMART Board
 Environment chart
 Picture cards
 Clipboards
 Scavenger Hunt worksheet

Time (O): 1 hour

Classroom Set-Up (O):

 Student discussion at the carpet area

 Students work with partners and travel around the room

Hook (H): Ask students how their needs and wants at home, differ from their needs and wants at
school.

Procedure (E):

1. To begin the lesson, I will have the students gather on the rug, and we will briefly discuss
the different types of needs and wants that are categorized with different environments.
2. Once the students have a reasonable understanding of the objective, I will introduce the
SMART board activity to the class.
3. Before beginning the SMART board activity, I will ensure my students have an
understanding of the objective that we will be using, by using a Formative Assessment
where students will hold one, two, three or four fingers in the air; one finger will indicate
little understanding and the student needs more explanation, and four fingers indicates
complete understanding, and the student is ready to begin the activity. If there are students
holding up one or two finger(s), I know that I need to spend more time explaining the topic.
Once all of the students have reached an understanding of the objective, we will begin the
SMART board activity.
4. Students will take turns coming up to the SMART board, and they will have a chance to drag
a variety of pictures into an environment background to make up an environment of their
own.
5. After every student has had a chance to create their own environment using the “My
Environment” SMART board activity, students will have a seat on the carpet, and we will
discuss the next activity.
6. For the next activity, I will divide the class in half, and using a chart, students from each
team will match pictures of wants and needs with the different environments listed on the
 charts, in which the pictures belong. This activity will act as a game, and whichever team
categorizes the most picture cards correctly, will win the game.
7. After the game, students will meet back on the rug, and we will discuss each environment
that was listed on the chart, and why the needs and wants were categorized under that
environment.
8. Next, I will explain the next activity where students will be paired up with partners, and
they will each complete a small classroom scavenger hunt.
9. For the scavenger hunt, each student is given a list and a clipboard, and they must find three
(3) needs and three (3) wants in three (3) different areas of the classroom. So for example,
students might go to the reading corner, and they would have to find three wans and three
needs at the reading corner. Or they might want to go to the art area, and they would do the
same thing; they might, for example, list paper as an item that is a need for the art area.
10. After everyone has completed their classroom scavenger hunt list, students will come back to
the rug, and we will discuss what everyone wrote on their scavenger hunt lists, and why.
11. Teacher summarizes and concludes.

Reflection Experiences (R): As a reflection activity of what the students learned from the lessons, I
will assign students with a homework assignment where they will use the same scavenger hunt list
that they used in the classroom, but they will complete the list at home instead. They will have to
categorize needs and wants within different areas of their house, just like they had to do in the
classroom.

Differentiated Instruction (T): To help the students that are below grade level, I incorporated class
collaboration and group work to assist students who might need more help. I also assigned partners,
so students who might be below grade level, can work with a student who might be at a higher level,
which will allow them to help one another.

Self-Assessment: Students will complete a “ticket out the door” worksheet, where they will indicate
what they worked on today, what they needed help with today and what they learned today.
 Environments & Society Unit
Wants & Needs
Day 3
Grade: Kindergarten
Geography: “Wants & Needs”

Objective (W):

 Students will be able to explain what basic human needs and wants are.
 Students will be able to define a human want and need.

Resources (O):

 Discovery Education clip

 Picture BINGO activity – Picture BINGO boards, BINGO chips
 The Bag I’m Taking to Grandma’s book

Time (O): 45 minutes

Classroom Set-Up (O):

 Student discussion at carpet area

 Students work at their tables

Hook (H): Ask students what are some things that they really want, and what are some things that
they really need?

Procedure (E):

1. To begin the lesson, we will start by gathering at the carpet where we will watch a short clip
from Discovery Education about wants and needs.
2. We will then briefly discuss the short clip. Discussion questions to ask:
a. What is a want?
b. What is a need?
c. How are they different?
d. What do you need to survive?
3. After the discussion, students will go back to their tables, and each student will get a picture
BINGO board and BINGO chips. I will assess the student’s knowledge of wants and needs by
using picture cards.
4. Next, we will gather at the carpet again, and we will read The Bag I’m Taking to Grandma’s
by Shirley Neitzel.
5. Afterwards, we will discuss the book, and decide if the items that the little boy packed in his
bag were wants or needs, and why.
6. Teacher summarizes and concludes.

Reflection Experience (R): Students will be given a homework assignment where they will have to
pack a small bag of 5 items, and bring the bag to school the next day, and tell the class if the items
they packed are wants or needs, and why.
Summary

1. Students will be able to explain what basic human needs and wants are. – Test
2. Students will be able to categorize human needs and wants according to their
environment. – Test & Performance Assessment
3. Students will be able to identify natural resources that influence our environment. – Test
4. Students will be able to explain the effect humans have on the environment. – Test
5. Students will be able to describe ways people use the environment to meet human needs
and wants.
6. Students will be able to define a human want and need. – Performance Assessment
7. Students will be able to define and differentiate natural resources from man-made
resources. – Test
8. Students will be able to define and recognize different environments. – Test

 When any child enters your classroom for the first time, you always are interested to see
what they may or may not know. For this particular assessment, based on my objectives, I
am interested in seeing how much my students know in relation to their environment and
the needs and wants that they might have, based on their environment.

Pre-Assessment is very important, and one particular way that I might pre-assess my
students for my first objective, is simply by asking them questions pertaining to certain
materials, objects and/or items that make up the environment in which they live. I might
also pre-assess students by taking them on a small fieldtrip to somewhere where they can
experience nature and natural environments to its full extent, which will help lead them to a
better understanding of the objectives in the unit. To test this knowledge that, they now are
familiar with, I would assess students using a graphic worksheet that they could fill out
using crayons or colored pencils, where they could match their wants and needs with the
natural resources that they experienced on the field trip.

Often, it is difficult for kindergarteners to write the words that they want to say, so I would
also pre-assess my students by asking them to describe terms that relate to the objectives
given such as, a want, need, different environments, etc.

 The type of Test which I have designed to give my kindergarten classroom is an objective
test that includes a variety of pictures for my kindergarten students better understanding of
what’s being asked in the question. Based on the test blueprint, my grading system is fairly
easy; every question is worth 1 point, for a total of 15 points. For my chosen test, I have
chosen to include matching, drawing and circling strategies that are easier for
kindergarteners to complete. This test is suited for the appropriate grade level based on the
fact that there are more pictures than words, which gives students the ability to answer the
test questions in a timelier manner, compared to if it was a written-based test.

 My Performance Assessment measures objective number 2; it is designed to help students

categorize their wants and needs according to their home environment. I have asked the
students to cut pictures out from different sources like magazines and/or the internet, and
glue them into the appropriate categorized boxes labeled Want and Need.
 I chose this particular performance assessment, because it is an assessment that is suited for
the appropriate grade level, kindergarten. This performance assessment is an assessment
that doesn’t require any writing, which makes it more timely for students to complete, and it
focuses on an objective that is very important to the understanding of the entire unit. It
requires very little materials and can easily be completed in class or at home. This
assessment is expected to be done in class, because I want to ensure students have the
knowledge, skill and understanding to complete the given assessment with little assistance,
but if they need to finish it at home, they can easily do so based on the minimal materials it
requires. The materials that is required for the completion of this performance assessment
can easily be accessed; all that is needed are magazines, glue and scissors. Students can also
use pictures from the internet.

This assessment can be expected to be completed in approximately a day or two during our
social study lesson. I want to ensure that students are able to spend enough time on the
assessment so I am aware that they understand the purpose of the assignment, and not just
gluing random cut-out pictures onto a piece of paper. A day or two, I feel, is an appropriate
allotted amount of time for the assessment to be fulfilled.

 The Scoring Tool I designed is in the format of a checklist, where I use a variety of smiley
faces to indicate the given score of the assignment. Each smiley face indicates a different
score (2, 1, or 0 point(s)), with a description for each smiley face. The reason behind my
choosing of this particular scoring tool was based on the idea that it’s simplistic enough for
kindergarten students to grasp and understand. What is required from the student is clear
and offers easy understanding. The scoring tool was a valid assessment of the performance
based on the fact that it effectively measures the requirements that the performance
assessment is assessing, and it appropriately matches the objectives that it measures.

 I used a “Ticket Out the Door” approach for my student’s self-assessment. The type of
knowledge that the student will gain from this assessment is the ability to identify the basic
learning that took place, and the understanding that they acquired from it, based on their
own individual knowledge of the material. It will allow them to better understand the
learning process they experienced, and give them the responsibility of their own
understanding. They will be able to determine what they still need help with, and what they
might be able to help others with.

 Both summative and formative assessments are very important in assessing students
progress throughout the year, and there are many different types of formative assessments
that I would use to assess my students understanding.

One type of formative assessment that I would use is the 4,3,2,1 understanding assessment.
With this assessment, students would hold up the appropriate number using their fingers to
express how confident they feel about the knowledge of the material, with 4 being they know
it well and 1 indicating that they need help. By using this method, it is giving students the
chance to show the instructor their knowledge in a timely manner, without the struggle of
dealing with passing out a worksheet.
Another type of formative assessment that I would use in my classroom, is the color card
method where students each have a ring with four colored cards (red, blue, green, yellow)
with each color card being labeled as a progress point to the students understanding of the
material. Red indicates the student is stuck, and the instructor should stop and spend more
time on the material for the student to grasp the information being presented. Yellow
indicates the student is getting there and they just need a little more time, and they might
need a little assistance. Green which states good to go, lets the instructor know that they
understand the material, and they’re ready. Finally, blue indicates the student is all done
with the given assignment, and they were able to thoroughly understand the object of the
assignment, and the material it covered.

The other type of formative assessment that I would use would be the
use of labels and sticky notes. Using this method, teachers walk
around the classroom carrying a clip board, using sticky notes as their
note-taking system for each student as they do their assignment. By
doing this, it is more private, and the students may not feel as bad
about themselves if they don’t quite understand it, and the rest of the
class may. After the lesson, teachers can place the sticky notes in the
proper student observation section of the notebook.
 Performance Test

Name:

1. Label each picture with a W for Want or N for Need.

BOOKS HOUSE CLOTHES

FOOD WATER TOYS

2. For the question below, circle YES or NO if the picture shown,
is classified as a NEED at school.

a. b.

RECESS LUNCH

YES NO YES NO

c. d.
 DESKS
TEACHERS
YES NO
YES NO

3. In the box below, draw a picture of something in nature

that gives us heat and light.
 4. Matching: What does the person do? Draw a line to connect
the person with their job.

CARPENTER FACTORY

GARDENER FARM

FACTORY WORKER GARDEN

FARMER HOUSE
Name:______________________________________________________________________________
_______

Directions: Is it a Want or a Need? Cut, sort and glue different pictures from magazines
or the internet, that you would use at HOME, and place them in the correct box.

WANT NEED

Performance Assessment
 Scoring Tool

Name of Student:

1. Students were able to correctly identify a need. ____

2. Students were able to correctly identify a want. ____

3. Students can look at their environments and correctly

identify needs. ____

4. Students can look at their environments and correctly

identify wants. ____
 Student Self-Assessment
Name:

ADMIT ONE
1. What I worked on today…

2. What I needed help with today…

3. What I learned today…

TICKET OUT THE DOOR