TCNJ Unit Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan 1: Communities

Student Name: Cindy Napolitano & Caroline Woo School Name: Hopewell Elementary School
Grade Level: Kindergarten Host Teacher’s Name: Ms. Delloiacono

Guiding and/or Essential Questions:

What is a community? What communities are we a part of? What are community helpers and
why are they important?

Pre-lesson Assignments and/or Student Prior Knowledge:

Students may or may not know what the definition of a community is. It is likely that students
have had real-world experiences with a variety of community helpers that we will be learning
about in this unit.

Standards:

6.1.P.B.2 Identify, discuss, and role-play the duties of a range of community workers.

Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives Assessment

Students will be able to identify Students will draw these three communities at Center 1.
the three communities they are Teacher will assess for logical thinking.
apart of; home, school, and
Hopewell.

Students will be able to At center 2, students will sort through community helper
distinguish between the types of cards and put them into piles based upon if they belong to
helpers in different communities. home, school, and Hopewell. Teacher will assess for
accuracy and listen for logical discourse.

Materials/Resources: (List materials, include any online or book references and resources)

 Community song video:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=community+for+kids
 Stamp booklets
 Construction paper
 Crayons
  Pencils
 Community helper cards
 Signs for different piles (home, school, Hopewell)

Step by Step Plan:

1. Cindy and Caroline will start the lesson by sitting on the perimeter of the rug with the
students. Cindy will begin by asking the class if they have ever heard of the word
“community” and have a few students share what they think it is. Cindy will explain that
a community is a group of people living or working together in the same area.
2. Caroline will then ask: What kind of communities are there? Students may respond with
home, classroom, school, Hopewell, etc. If they do not respond with these, she will hold
up pictures of three of the communities we will be focusing on and she will ask the
students if they can name each one. Caroline will discuss the different ones and explain
that community helpers, including ourselves, help a community run smoothly. She will
then ask if there are any community helpers that they can think of.
3. Cindy will explain that we are also community helpers and can help in all different types
of communities such as at home, in the classroom, and around Hopewell.
4. Ms. Delloiacono and Mrs. Krysiak will call two groups for math centers. Cindy will call
the third group to the red and yellow tables for Center 1 and Caroline will call the fourth
group to the green and blue tables for Center 2.
5. In Center 1, Cindy will have students sketching each community they are involved in into
a community booklet. First, she will have each student sketch their home, encouraging
students to include the people that live in their home. She will ask questions such as:
Who are the people in your home? How do you help out around your house? How do
other people help you in your house? Next, Cindy will instruct students to sketch their
classroom community, including the people that are important to that community. Lastly,
Cindy will have students sketch their neighborhood of Hopewell, and include any
important people they think belong in the picture. If they cannot recall what is around
Hopewell, she will have them draw what they think might be in Hopewell. When all
students are finished, Cindy will lead a discussion in which students will discuss what
they have drawn and why. Cindy will make suggestions for students to add certain
community helpers if they have not already done so.
6. In Center 2, Caroline will be doing a matching activity with different community helper
cards. These cards may have community helpers that are not part of our unit. She will
first show them a picture of the community helper and have them make observations. She
will ask: What are they wearing? What are they holding? She will then have them guess
the community helper. If they are stuck, she will read them a clue card that tells them
more about the community helper. Students will then work together to sort the
community helpers into separate piles (home, school, Hopewell.) As they sort, Caroline
will ask why they put certain community helpers in certain piles. After this discussion,
Caroline will help the students make community helper stamp booklets. They will use
these booklets to keep track of each helper they learn about throughout the unit. Students
will use the remainder of the center time to decorate their booklets.
7. Closure: If students finish early, they will be allowed to explore the community book
bin. Once all students have gone to all the centers, Caroline and Cindy will have them
 return to their original seats at the tables and show them a brief song about community.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=community+for+kids

Key Questions:

What is a community?
What communities are we a part of?
How do community helpers and members contribute to the community?
Who do you live with? How do you help around your house? How do people help you?
How do we help each other in the classroom?
What do we see in Hopewell?

Logistics:

Timing:

 Lesson beginning: 10 minutes

 Center 1: 30 minutes
 Center 2: 30 minutes
 Closing: 5 minutes

Transitions:

Students will begin the lesson seated in rows on the rug. They will then transition to centers by
being called to each particular center by Ms. Delloiacono, Cindy, Caroline, and Mrs. Krysiak.
Before switching centers, students will be instructed to clean up, stand, and point to their next
center before rotating.

Classroom Management:

 “Hands on top”
 Sing tune
 Running race if students seem restless
 Waiting for respect

Differentiation:

 Center 1, Cindy will prompt students with questions that will help them to draw their
communities more accurately, if need be. She can also assist students with how to draw
certain things such as roads or houses.
 At Center 2, Caroline will assist students who need help identifying community helpers
or piles. In this activity, students will work together and can use one another as
resources.