The Role of a Community

Sylvia Moon
3 Weeks Grade 1
Stage 1 Desired Results
Established Goals (Social Studies Scope and Sequence Grade 1)

1. Provide multiple perspectives on how people contribute and participate in a community, what jobs are
found in a community and how these jobs benefit the community (Local and Global Communities 1.3a,
1.3b, 1.3c)
2. Learn how maps are used to locate important places in a community and examine an accurate depiction
of our own community (Maps and Map Skills 1.5a, 1.5b, 1.5c)
3. Roads, dams, bridges, farms, parks, and dwellings are all examples of how people modify the physical
environment to meet needs and wants. Students will identify how the physical environment of their
community has been modified to meet needs and wants. (Geography, Humans, and the Environment
1.6b)
4. Children can participate in problem solving, decision making, and conflict resolution within their home,
school, and community. Students will be given opportunities to solve problems, make decisions, and
resolve conflicts. (Civic Ideals and Practices 1.4c)

Establish Goals (NYS ESL Standards)

1. Standard 1.13 Engage in collaborative activities through a variety of student groupings to gather, share,
discuss, and present information. (L, S, R, W)
2. Standard 3.4 Evaluate students own and others work, individually and collaboratively, on the basis of a
variety of criteria, and recognize how chosen criteria affect evaluation. (R, W)
3. Standard 4.4 Listen attentively, take turns speaking, and build on others ideas when engaged in pair,
group, or full-class discussions on personal, social, community, and academic topics. (L, S)
4. Standard 4.10 Demonstrate appropriate classroom behaviors (e.g., participating in small group and whole
class discussions, being courteous, respecting the person and property of others). (L, S, R, W)
Understandings: Essential Questions:

1. Students will understand different parts that 1. What is a community?

make up a community - places, people,
surroundings - and that no two communities
are alike
2. Students will understand the different kinds of
people who are a part of (and contribute) a
community
3. Students will understand their roles in their
communities
2. What are the different types of communities?
3. How are communities alike and different?
4. What are the various parts that make up a
map?/How can we locate a place on a map?
5. What changes can we make to our community
for it to become a better place?
6. What are some of our communitys wants and
needs?
7. Who are the people in our community and how

Students will know
1. How to examine a map along with all the
special features and symbols that make up a
map
2. Different types/features of communities and
identify the community they live in - rural,
suburban, urban
3. Students will know ways to resolve conflict
that may arise in their community
4. Different types of community workers
5. The distinguishment between the wants and
needs of a community
Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks:
Students will complete two class projects: designing a
map that represents Woodside in the present day and a
map of Woodside that represents the wants and needs
the student believes the community should have.
With the class activities and two whole group projects,
students will have the opportunity to showcase the
work they have done over the course of the unit -
collection of students work will be created into
individual portfolios as well.
Stage 3 Learning Plan
do they participate, contribute, and benefit our
community?
8. As members of a community, how can we
solve problems that may arise?
9. How can I become an active and responsible
citizen for our community?
Students will be able to
1. Define community
2. Design a map of their own community and
compare it to the map that is presented in the
curriculum
3. Use the five senses to examine nature and
man-made things in a community
4. Distinguish between wants and needs
5. Name people within a community and describe
their roles in the community
6. Describe their own community, the people they
see, and how these people help the community
7. Create a chart of actions that can positively
contribute to a community
Other Evidence:
Large/small group discussions
Completed community walk sheet
Higher level analytical thinking activities
Completion of thinking maps
Learning Activities:

Day 1
Students will learn the characteristics of three different types of communities and identify the community
they wish to live in.
Assessment - group activity that displays the characteristics of urban, rural, and suburban communities
Day 2
Students will identify the kind of community Woodside is in and what is in this community.
Assessment - Bubble thinking map
Day 3
Students will review the five senses and distinguish between manmade and nature-made things using a
chart in practice of what they will see during their community walk.
Day 4
Students will embark on a community walk to explore more objects/places using the five senses.
Day 5
Community Walk Debrief
Assessment - Completion of five senses chart
Day 6
Students will examine a generic town map and compare what is similar and different between this map
and their understanding and knowledge of what is in their community.
Assessment - Double-bubble map (to compare and contrast)
Day 7
Students will use the knowledge of map symbols and features to recreate a map of Woodside
community. This project will be done as a class where each student will be responsible for at least one
aspect, natural or manmade things, of the map. This project will capture students knowledge of
features/symbols of a map, natural vs manmade things, and our observations of the community from the
Community Walk.
Day 8
Students will finish up the class project and engage in a read aloud on the book, On My Block. This
storybook introduces a character from a different community - students will make connections on the
similarities and differences between our community and the characters community. This allows students
to recognize and realize that another community may also be urban but appear different (emphasizing
that not all urban communities are alike).
Day 9
Students will distinguish between the wants and needs of a community. Students will create their own
T-charts of wants and needs of the community as well as a group-one with the peers at their tables.
Day 10
Students will take the wants and needs of a community that was learned in the previous lesson to create
the class ideal Woodside Community. Students will construct a new map of Woodside Community that
contains all the W/N (Wants/Needs) that was decided as a whole group. This reconfiguration will be
used to compare the present-time Woodside Community to the class ideal Woodside Community.
Day 11
 Students will be presented various scenarios within home, school, or community and examine ways to
resolve these problems. This expands in students engaging in decision-making and conflict resolution
within our community - such conflicts will reflect gender, class, and culture.
Day 12
Students will be exposed to various perspectives on how people impact the community (how they
participate and what they contribute). Students will read Whose Hat is This? and select which
community helper was their favorite and who they would like to be when they grow up.
Day 13
Students will create a mini-book I can make my community better!
Day 14
Portfolio Walk (in lieu of a gallery walk)
Students will examine their classmates work in the form of a gallery walk - students will make
comments such as One thing I liked about ____s portfolio is ____. or My favorite part was ____
because ____.
Day 15
Portfolio Presentation - To families and another first grade class
Students will have the opportunity to present their work to families and other first graders - students will
be encouraged to dress up as a community helper, bring in artifacts from the community, etc. and
showcase all that they have done and accomplished throughout this unit.