UNIT DESIGN INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION y Title: Our Community y Grade Level: 1 UNIT OVERVIEW Essential Questions y What is a community?

y What groups of people can be considered communities? What are some different types of communities? y How are different communities similar and different? y How should people interact within a community? What behaviors should members of a community demonstrate? y How can we show members of our community our thanks? y What can you do to make your community a better place? Unit goals y Students will be able to define the word community and illustrate the concept of community. y Students will be able to name people within a community and describe their roles in the community. y Students will be able to use the word community accurately within conversation. y Students will be able to explain and compare and contrast urban, suburban, and rural communities. y Students will be able to distinguish between characteristics of rural, suburb, and city communities and explain why each characteristic belongs to that community. y Students will be able to identify prominent members of their school community and their roles. y Students will be able to explain why they are thankful for members in their community. y Students will be able to describe ways to be kind to others. y Students will be able to explain why they should show kindness to others. y Students will be able to construct a plan for how they as individuals can help their communities. y Students will be able to describe and illustrate the roles of members of their communities and community helpers. y Targeted Standards English Language Arts

Speaking and Listening Standards Pre-K 5 Comprehension and Collaboration 1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g.; listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas 4. Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. 5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Language Standards Pre-K 5 Conventions of Standard English 1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. Vocabulary Acquisition and Use 6. Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts Writing Standards Pre-K 5 Text Types and Purposes 2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure. Production and Distribution of Writing 5. With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas 5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Social Studies Economics 10.Give examples of services that people do for each other. Health Community and Public Health 14.1 List the jobs carried out by people at school and in the community that support health and success in school Science Physical Sciences (Chemistry and Physics), Grades PreK 2 1. Sort objects by observable properties

Arts Observation, Abstraction, Invention, and Expression 3.3 Create 2D and 3D artwork from memory or imagination to tell a story or embody an idea or fantasy Mathematics Geometry Reason with shapes and their attributes. 3. Partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters, and use the phrases half of, fourth of, and quarter of. Describe the whole as two of, or four of the shares. Understand for these examples that decomposing into more equal shares creates smaller shares.

From the Westfield Public Schools Social Studies Curriculum for First Grade 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between community needs and community service. 5. Differentiate between rural, suburban, and urban communities. 6. Identify and describe the roles and responsibilities of people in a local community. Discussion of Learning Goals: The main focus of this unit was on social studies. The first grade curriculum for social studies is all about communities. Therefore, all of my lessons will revolve around communities. With the idea of communities in mind, I will pull in other aspects of the curriculum, including language arts, math, science, health, and art. Each of the lessons I construct will be based off of the MA curriculum frameworks for first graders. That way, all lessons will be appropriate for what first graders should be learning about. Students learn best through a multi-disciplinary approach in which information is presented across the curriculum. Home/School Connection: At the beginning of the unit, a letter will be sent home to families asking them to help their child with an assignment related to communities. Students will be asked to record and illustrate some of the places they go in their communities and who they see at those places. We will use these to connect the information we learn about communities to students daily life experiences. ASSESSMENT PLAN Students progress in English language arts for speaking and listening will be assessed through observation of class discussions in each lesson. Students progress in using Standard English will be assessed through observation of class discussions and through their writing pieces in each lesson. Students progress in using vocabulary words such as community, city, suburb, and rural will be assessed

through their vocabulary worksheets in lesson one, their participation in the urban/suburban/rural picture game in lesson two, their communities worksheet in lesson two, their vocabulary review worksheet in lesson three, and through observation of discussions in each lesson. Students ability to add drawings to clarify ideas will be assessed in each lesson, as they provide illustrations for each assignment they write. Students will be assessed in their understanding of the MA Curriculum Framework social studies standard to give examples of services that people do for each other as well as the Westfield curriculum goals about community through each lesson in observations of discussions and through their work. In lesson one students will illustrate the definition of a community. In lesson two students will hold up cards to indicate whether a picture represents a city, suburb, or rural community. They will also sort pictures into the categories rural, suburb, and city. In lesson three, students will demonstrate their understanding of the definitions of community, rural, suburb, and city in a review worksheet. They will also demonstrate their understanding about the roles of community members and why they are important by writing thank you notes. In lesson four students understanding of their roles and responsibilities as members of a community will be assessed through an action plan for how they will help their communities. In the learning centers, students will demonstrate an understanding of community roles and community helpers by making a community helper book page and by writing and illustrating what they want to be when they grow up. The last two lesson assessments will also tie into the MA Curriculum Framework standard for health to list the jobs carried out by people at school and in the community that support health and success in school. The science objective to sort objects by observable properties will be assessed in lesson two by having students sort pictures into the categories of city, suburb, and rural communities. The art objective to create 2D and 3D artwork from memory or imagination to tell a story or embody an idea or fantasy will be assessed in lessons one, two, and four when students illustrate their ideas they write about. The math objective to divide into equal shares will be assessed through the math learning center in which students divide cookies among children. They will record their results on a worksheet. Students knowledge about communities will be pre-assessed at the beginning of lesson one by indicating whether or not they have heard of the word community. Students will circle either yes or no, and if they say that they have heard it, they will be asked to explain what they think the word community means. Students will be assessed throughout the unit informally as listed above through discussions, worksheets, and games. In lesson three, students knowledge of vocabulary terms will be formally assessed. Students will be asked to fill in key words to the definition of community (live, work, play), and students will be asked to illustrate the differences between cities, suburbs, and rural communities. At the end of the unit, students will be asked to apply their knowledge to their lives and create an action plan that demonstrates their knowledge about communities.

All students will use the same assessments in this class. However, students who struggle with spelling and grammar will not be penalized for those aspects of their writing. Students will be able to use inventive spelling. The teacher will also help students sound out words they do not know and write words that are not easily spelled using letter sounds. LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND INSTRUCTION In lesson one, students will be introduced to the term community. Before starting the lesson, students will participate in the pre-assessment. They will indicate whether or not they have heard of the word community and will explain what they think it means. We will begin the lesson by examining the definition of community, and students will write and illustrate the definition. Then we will read the book My Community and will create a list of people we see in our communities. In lesson two, students will learn about the differences and similarities between rural, suburban, and city communities. We will start by defining the terms city, suburb and rural, and we will watch a fifteen minute video illustrating the three communities. Then we will play a game where the teacher will show a picture and students will hold up a card to indicate whether the picture depicts a city, suburb, or rural community. Finally, students will individually sort pictures into a chart depending based on whether they belong in cities, suburbs, or rural communities. In lesson three, students will learn about their school and classroom community. They will examine how they treat each other and help each other in order to create a positive environment. We will start by reviewing the terms community, rural, suburb, and city. Then we will read The Crayon Box that Talked and discuss how each member of the classroom community contributes something different. Finally, we will make a list of people that help us in the school community, and students will write thank you notes to give to these people. In lesson four, students will think about what they can do in their community to make it a better place. We will start by reading the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? and discussing how we should treat others. Then we will sing the song Show Kindness Every Day and talk about how we can be kind to others. We will look at our home/school connection worksheets and identify some people in our communities that we can help. Finally, students will make an action plan stating how they will help their community.