Integrated Unit Plan Format

Adapted from Central Washington University

Department of Education_______________________________________________

Section 1General Information & Unit Overview

Name(s): Lauren Scire

Unit Plan Title: Community and Citizenship.

Subject Areas: English Language Arts and Reading, Social Studies, Mathematics, Health, and Technology.

Approximate Time Needed: The unit theme will consist of 6 weeks and the concept of community and citizenship will be integrated in the above subject areas. Each lesson will be approximately 60 minutes long, including two core content areas ( for example: Writing/Social Studies, Reading/Math).

Grade Level: Second GradeDate:12/15/10

Integrated Unit Summary/IntroductionCommunity and Citizenship is a very broad topic that can cover many subjects in the content area of Social Studies, ELA, Mathematics, Health, and Technology. The main concepts are that communities are made up of different people and located in different places. Each person within that community is different and brings something helpful to the community. Citizenship is something that is within the people of the community. Good citizenship is someone who cares about their community, is helpful to people and the land, is aware of what is happening around them, and who shows respect to others.

The activities in this unit will allow students to explore the different means of communities and understand how they are each citizens within different communities whether it be the classroom, the school, your town, your state, or the nation. They will also explore the idea of good citizenship and create a description of what that may look like- this unit also ties is linked to Health and the idea of social responsibility and skills. All of the activities will be used to build upon each other and be directly linked to the Essential and Unit Questions.

Materials Needed Printed Materials Ditchfield, C. (2004). Serving Your Community. Danbury,

Connecticut: Children’s Press.

Kalman, B. (2000). What is a Community from A to Z? New York, New York: Crabtree Publishing Company.

Kalman, B. (2010). Helpers in my community. . New York, New York: Crabtree Publishing Company.

Kalman, B. (2010). My school community. New York, New York: Crabtree Publishing Company.

Kalman, B. (2010). Places in my community. New York, New York: Crabtree Publishing Company.

Kishel, A. (2007). Citizenship. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publishing Group.

Kishel, A. (2007). Rules and laws. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publishing Group.

Loewen, N. (2005). We live here too!: Kids talk about good citizenship. North Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Publishing.

Mayer, C. (2007). Following rules. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann Educational Books.

Robertson, J. (2010). My community. Vero Beach, Florida: Rourke Publishing.

Sweeney, J. (1996). Me on the map. New York, New York: Crown Publishers.

Supplies Television/computer hooked up to show videos, Document Camera to display books for read alouds and photographs, Bus for the field trip, Crafts to make thank you cards for the guest speakers, computer lab time to work on projects, kidspiration software, books, writing journals, and office and craft supplies.

Internet Resources www.discoveryeducation.com , http://www.havefunteaching.com/songs-for-kids/character-education/community-song, photographs from internet searches uploaded to the classroom flickr account, organization outline graphic organizer-http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/f.jsp?id=35510

Others School guidance counselor will visit classroom to explain the characteristics of good citizenship and how you can use these characteristics at school and in the classroom.

Field trip to a Nursing Home around the holidays to show how students can display good citizenship in the community and help others.

Parents volunteer to speak to the classroom about their personal celebrations in December. The parents will tell stories of

celebrating these holidays as a child and provide information on how they celebrate their holidays.

Content Expertise and/or Prerequisite SkillsThe student must understand some holidays that we celebrate as a nation (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah). The student must be able to identify where they live (Austin, TX). The student should have an understanding on how to work together in small groups. The student must have some understanding of good people versus bad people and what kind of person a good person is.

Integrated Unit QuestionsTheme Community and CitizenshipEssential Question What would an excellent community look like? Unit Questions Guiding questions for your Integrated Unit

1) Where are communities found? Are you a part of a community? 2) What does a good citizen look like, what characteristics do they have?3) What are some celebrations that the United States celebrates in December as a community?

Content Questions What is a community? What communities are you a part of? What people and places can you find in communities? Where is our community of Austin, TX on a map? What are some characteristics of a good citizen? Are you a good

citizen? What are three different celebrations that people in Austin, TX

celebrate in December?

Rationale & Purpose of the UnitThe theme “community” was chosen for many different reasons. First, community is one of the basic levels that children can relate. Second grade students are educated in the area of social studies in somewhat of a spiral model. At second grade, the students are still developing understanding of complex content by relating it to their community and allowing them to take advantage of their previous knowledge in the area. The Social Studies strand was the focus on this unit and within the standards- math, reading, writing, health, and technology were integrated. The book titled, Widening the Circle by Sapon-Shevin (2007) was also a motivating factor. This book advocated for the idea of inclusion in the school in classroom. The author referred to the idea of inclusion as being part of a community. This is a great way to include different topics about differences in people and cultures into the content standards and lessons.

The community theme will allow students to relate to information they are already somewhat familiar with (school, home, town they live in), so it will be highly engaging and informative. By scaffolding using their pervious knowledge, it will allow the teacher to reach above and beyond with new information. The unit will integrate many different areas of study. Again, the content is based off of the social studies strand. The students will integrate reading, by reading different texts (fiction and non-fiction) about community, citizenship, differences, maps and location, and their specific community characteristics. They will write about their

ideas using different graphic organizers, journals, letters, and other forms of writing regarding the different subjects covered in the unit. The students will design graphs and maps, and look for patterns from the information learned which is included in the math standards. They will focus on personal/interpersonal skills when studying citizenship, which is included in the Health strand. The students will also use multiple forms of technology to present their work, create their work, and blog about their work on the classroom blog.

TEKS: 2.1 History. The student understands the historical significance of landmarks and celebrations in the community, state, and nation. The student is expected to: (A) explain the significance of various community, state, and national celebrations such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving; and 2.6 Geography. The student understands the locations and characteristics of places and regions. The student is expected to: (B) locate the community, Texas, the United States, and selected countries on maps and globes; and2.13 Citizenship. The student understands characteristics of good citizenship as exemplified by historic figures and ordinary people. The student is expected to: (A) identify characteristics of good citizenship such as a belief in justice, truth, equality, and responsibility for the common good(C) identify ordinary people who exemplify good citizenship.

Learning Objectives: The student will be able to define community and give examples of different communities

they are a part of. The student will locate a community on a map by producing their own map of their

preferred community. The student will be able to identify the characteristics of a good citizen in the classroom. The student will determine ways they can help others at school, at home, or in the

community. The student will become familiar with the customs and traditions of the different holidays:

Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Relevancy: Intrinsic and Group Motivation: The students will learn that a community is, “a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage” (www.dictionary.com). They will understand that this includes their family, classroom, school, town, and beyond. This will be motivating for the student because it is something that they can relate to. They will also realize that good citizenship is something that they do every day when they follow rules and procedures in their home, classroom, and school. Cultural Responsiveness: The idea of community is that all people work together for the common good. When speaking about community, I will include all types of people and cultures (especially those present in the classroom) whether it be different ethnicities or special needs. If the classroom does not represent different cultures, the teacher will make sure material includes different cultural components of the community at large. For example, Austin, TX includes a majority of: Hispanic (especially Mexican Americans), African American, German, Asian, and Caucasian population. There is also the School for the Deaf and School for the Blind, so that may

be another population represented in the content. The whole unit, I believe promotes a cultural responsiveness, being that all people are part of a community and the characteristics of a good citizen to make sure no matter how different people are, everyone feels part of

Multicultural ComponentHow will you weave in a multicultural component where students go beyond adding information to their knowledge base but come to a deeper understanding of multicultural issues? (Role play works well here. Put the students in another culture, that is, wear the shoes of a different culture for awhile.) Teaching and learning should be a transformative experience and not just an additive one. This means changing the perception of your students about another culture. This unit is based on community and citizenship and how as good citizens we can care and take care of our community. As a multicultural component, we could talk about who is present in our community of Austin, TX (children, teenagers, elderly, and people in wheel chairs, people that are blind or visually impaired, people that are deaf). We could talk about how we could make our community easier for everyone to live in (ramps, Braille) and/or how we could make our classroom comfortable for everyone to be included. We could role play scenarios of students making fun of others, not including them in games, complaining, and tattling and having students figure out ways they could change the situation to show good citizenship. The teacher could also have someone come into to the class about different traditions in Holidays celebrated around Christmas and the student could plan an activity or game to play that others play when celebrating that holiday.

Differentiated InstructionMeeting the Needs of All Your Learners!

Students receiving special education services AND those students who may struggle to learn the concepts.

Objectives of the lesson will be written on the board for every lesson and explained before diving in to the lesson, as well as linked to real life experiences.

The teacher will review and follow students individual education plans (IEP), behavior intervention plans (BIP), and 504 plans before any instruction and lesson planning.

Use multiple forms of elaborative rehearsal strategies that include: graphic organizers, role plays, rhymes, using multiple intelligences, and mnemonics.

Non-Native English Speaker

If possible, using text that is in the student’s native language will be used.

Visuals will be paired with words. Students can express knowledge of concepts in multiple forms

including graphs, illustrations, and words. Use resources such as bilingual teacher or community liaison in

the school to find community resources and assistance (texts, translators, books).

Gifted Student Students may compare different communities in the Nation or Countries and represent their findings in writing, illustrations, or by computer programs.

Students may research different holidays celebrated around Christmas beyond Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanzaa (Saint Nicholas Day (Christian) -- December 6, Eid'ul-Adha (Muslim) -- November 16, Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican) --

December 12, St. Lucia Day (Swedish) -- December 13, Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish) -- December 26. Omisoka (Japanese) -- December 31, Epiphany (Christian) -- January 6) and create a project to present information.

Students may choose a person in community to conduct an oral interview with, outlining the characteristics of a good citizen.

Technology Used and Its Rationale The use of video, songs, and photographs will be used within the lesson to engage the students in the content. There will also be opportunities to use software such as kidspiration, powerpoint, and other websites to assist the student in producing their work.

Parent/Home & Community Involvement Parents will receive a letter at the beginning of the unit informing them that the students will

be learning about communities and good citizenship. They will be encouraged to use language being used during the unit like: community, differences, cultures, responsibility, respect, and maps.

The parents will receive a volunteer permission form to volunteer at the good citizenship fieldtrip to a community nursing home to visit the residents

A letter will go home to request guest speakers to talk about what they celebrate during December and relate their stories of celebrations to their childhood. Specific requests will go out for families that celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa.

Assessment SummaryMeasuring Student ProgressStudent’s progress will be measured throughout the lessons with different formative of assessments. The teacher will be constantly monitoring group conversations and independent work with observations. Rubrics will be used to measure independent projects. Writing journals will also be used to assess knowledge on specific topics. Weekly or a Unit test will not be given in this unit. Assessments will be measured through questioning, writing, observations, and rubrics.

Section 2Lesson Plans

Lesson 1: Community: People, Places, and Things.

Learning Objective: The student will be able give examples of different communities that they are a part of from using evidence from the text by writing and/or illustrating at least two different communities. TEKS: Social Studies2.17 Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology. The student is expected to:

(B) obtain information about a topic using a variety of visual sources such as pictures, graphics, television, maps, computer software, literature, reference sources, and artifacts.

English Language Arts and Reading2.3 Reading/Beginning Reading/Strategies. Students comprehend a variety of texts drawing on

useful strategies as needed. Students are expected to: (A) use ideas (e.g., illustrations, titles, topic sentences, key words, and foreshadowing) to make and confirm predictions; (B) ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories and other texts and support answers with evidence from text; and (C) establish purpose for reading selected texts and monitor comprehension, making corrections and adjustments when that understanding breaks down (e.g., identifying clues, using background knowledge, generating questions, re-reading a portion aloud).

2.13 Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to identify the topic and explain the author's purpose in writing the text.

Materials Needed: Children’s books on community (My Community, What is a Community from A to Z?, Places in My Community, Serving Your Community, My School Community, Helpers in My Community), Discovery Education Video: What is an Community? A segment of: Citizenship and Community, Chart Paper, Writing Journals, Markers, Crayons, Rulers, and Pencils.

Procedures:

Engage (5 minutes): The students are asked to watch a video and think about what they could be learning today. The video: What Is a Community? A Segment of: Citizenship in the Community from discovery education.com. The students are then grouped in threes or fours and asked to talk to one another and see if they can determine the objective of today’s lesson.

Explore (10 minutes): The students stay in their groups, but are now shown a series of photographs. The teacher wants them to examine the different photographs. The video and photographs will help the students discover what they will be learning. Each group will receive a set of photographs of people, places, and things of different communities (parts of a classroom, students, cafeteria, different employee’s of the school, landmarks in the town, fire station, fire department, school, grocery store, etc.). The students are asked to sort the photographs into different categories of patterns that they find and then within the groups to discuss the objective of today’s lesson. Explain (15 minutes): The teacher states the objective and that we will be learning about the word community. We will learn where communities are located, who is part of communities, and how we are each part of different communities. The teacher chooses one of the texts to read aloud to the class and give each student an organizational map graphic organizer to begin filling out. The text will explain the concept of community in different ways. The teacher will use a document camera to project the book to the class. This part of the lesson will be repeated over the week using different books and different graphic organizers for the students to practice making predictions, generating questions, connecting clues, and using other forms of comprehension strategies.

Elaborate (25 minutes): Each group is given a different book on community to read or conduct a picture walk. The group is to talk about what the author’s purpose is for the book and provide

important details of the book through illustrations or words on a chart paper. The students write a sentence describing the book and where they may see something similar in their life. Students then post the chart paper and walk around the classroom viewing other’s chart paper.Evaluate (5 minutes): The teacher evaluates the students understanding through all aspects of the lesson. She is constantly walking around the room listening to the different conversations that are taking place in the pair shares. The teacher also evaluates the graphic organizers from the read aloud and the group chart papers to see if they understanding. At the end of class the student answers a quick write question in their writing journal describing or illustration two different communities that they are a part of (family, classroom, school, Austin, after school program, boy scouts, etc.). Lesson Closure: Teacher restates the lesson objective and explains that everyone is part of many different communities. Explains the different ideas present in the books reviewed by the different groups: School communities, community workers, places in your community, and serving your community. Let’s student know that tomorrow we are going to work with maps and find these different communities. Modifications: Modifications will be made before hand in accordance to the students IEP/BIP/504 plan. Video, group work, photographs, and picture books are used to help scaffold instruction for students that may need assistance or are English Language Learners. Students that are higher readers may read the books aloud to the group while others take notes or write on the chart paper.

Lesson 2: Where are communities located?TEKS: Social Studies:2.6  Geography. The student understands the locations and characteristics of places and regions. The student is expected to:

(B)  locate the community, Texas, the United States, and selected countries on maps and globes; and

2.18 Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:

(B)  create written and visual material such as stories, poems, maps, and graphic organizers to express ideas.

English Language Arts and Reading:2.10 Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and respond by providing evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction.2.13 Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to identify the topic and explain the author's purpose in writing the text.2.30 Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to follow agreed-upon rules for discussion, including listening to others, speaking when recognized, and making appropriate contributions.

Mathematics: 2.11 Probability and statistics. The student organizes data to make it useful for interpreting information. The student is expected to:

(A) construct picture graphs and bar-type graphs.

Lesson objective: The student will be able to read and illustrate a map to identify specific locations by creating their own personal map of a community.Materials Needed: Me on the Map children’s book. Different forms of Realia/Maps (state of Texas map, City of Austin map, Apartment complex

floor plan map). Writing journal. Post it notes to create bar graph. Paper, rulers, pencils, and crayons to construct maps and/or computer program kidspiration.

Procedures:Review: Review the previous weeks lesson that defined community as a group of people, animals, or insects that share an environment. Review different examples of where you can find communities of people (classrooms, schools, homes, neighborhoods, and cities). Anticipatory Set: Teacher acts students what they know about maps? Where have they seen them before? What do can you use maps for? What is their prediction to why we are learning about maps now and how it relates to community? Have students do a quick write in their writing journal, and then discuss in pair shares. Learning objective: The student will be able to describe different kinds of maps, their purposes, and why they are important to communities by reflecting in their writing journal and creating a map of their chosen “community.”Instruction (I do) 20 minutes: 1) Teacher passes out a KWL chart and has students work independently to fill out 3 facts that they already know about maps. When the finish, the students will work in pairs and figure out 3 ideas they want to know about maps. 2) Teacher reads the children book: Sweeney, J. (1996). Me on the map. New York, New York: Crown Publishers. Teacher models the comprehension strategy reciprocal teaching strategies throughout book: predicting, questions, clarifying, summarizing. 3) Teacher asks students to think about the questions that were presented when we started, “Where have they seen them before? What do can you use maps for? What is their prediction to why we are learning about maps now and how it relates to community?” Have students talk in groups of four about these questions. 4) Teacher describes that there are many different maps that can be presented in many different ways for many different uses. There are maps of the state, maps of city, maps of the school, maps of houses and apartments, maps of classrooms. States the question, how do maps help people in different communities (class, school, city, neighborhoods, cities). 5) Teacher shows PowerPoint that includes different photographs of maps. Guided Practice/Checking for Understanding (We do) 15 minutes: 1) Learning centers are set up in the classroom with different forms of maps (School Map, Apartment Map, Amusement park map, Map of Austin, Map of Texas, Texas Law-Related

Education). Students rotate centers and explore the different centers and the maps, and use the writing prompt, “I think this map would be helpful to me because ____________” in their writing journals. 2) Teacher walks around the rooms and helps guide questions as students explore the different maps and relate them to how they may be helpful to people in their community. 3) After the students have explored all centers, they write which kind of map they think would be most useful to them on a post it note and attach it to a classroom bar graph.4) Teacher goes over bar graph findings and data to see which map students found would help them most in the community, and which they found would help them least. Independent Practice (You do): 1) The students will create a map of choice using detail and write about why they found that specific map helpful. They may create the map by hand or in the computer lab using the software Kidspiration.

Assessment: The students are assessed with a rubric on participation and detail in drawing map as well as their quick write in their writing journals.

Modifications: Students are often paired or grouped in fours to allow students who may not understand the material get a better understanding through conversation. The assessment also includes an illustration option, which may convey understanding if the student has difficulty in writing. For students that may be gifted and talented, they may want to create an actual map of their preference map from exploring the different realia in the classroom. There are also opportunities to update the classroom blog with the lesson learned, and for other students to add to the classroom blog through comments if not able to create a post themselves.

Lesson 3: Characteristics of a Good Citizen in our Class.

Learning Objective: The student will be able to identify the characteristics of a good citizen in the classroom by using writing prompts in a writing journal.

TEKS:Social Studies:2.13 Citizenship. The student understands characteristics of good citizenship as exemplified by historic figures and ordinary people. The student is expected to:

(A) identify characteristics of good citizenship(C) identify ordinary people who exemplify good citizenship.

Health:2.9 Personal/interpersonal skills. The student comprehends the skills necessary for building and maintaining healthy relationships. The student is expected to:

(A) identify characteristics needed to be a responsible family member or friend2.10 Personal/interpersonal skills. The student understands healthy ways to communicate consideration and respect for self, family, friends, and others. The student is expected to:

(A) describe how to effectively communicate; (B) express needs, wants, and emotions in healthy ways; and (C) explain the benefits of practicing self-control.

English Language Arts: 2.17 Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to:

(A) plan a first draft by generating ideas for writing (e.g., drawing, sharing ideas, listing key ideas); (B) develop drafts by sequencing ideas through writing sentences;

Materials Needed: Guest speaker: Guidance Counselor, TV/Computer with Internet, Discovery Education Video: A Good Citizen. A Segment of: Citizenship in the Community, writing prompts, writing journals, paper and pencils.

Procedures:

Engage (7 minutes): Teacher reviews learning objective for the day. Teacher let’s student’s know that will be a guest speaker to talk about how we can be good citizens in the school, but first there is a video. Shows the video, A Good Citizen. A Segment of: Citizenship in the Community and instructs students to illustrate different points in the video as they are watching on a paper with their pencil.

Explore (8 minutes): Students work in their small groups to share their illustrations and what they understood from the short video clip about being good citizens. Teacher will walk around the room listening to different group conversations.

Explain (30 minutes): The school guidance counselor will talk to students about what it means to be a good citizen in the school and community. The pillars of character will be discussed and related to what it means to be responsible and how to effectively communicate.

Elaborate (5 minutes): The group of students will share what with each other how they think they are a good citizen in the classroom, giving specific examples.

Evaluate (10 minutes in class/Homework): Students will use the writing prompts: One way I can be a good citizen in my classroom is by_________., A talent or ability that I have is __________. I can use this talent to help my classmates by________., People should look for chances to help others because ________. The students will write in their writing journal choosing two of the writing prompts. If the student does not finish, they may complete the assignment for homework.

Lesson Closure: The teacher states the objective and pulls popsicle sticks with student’s names to have them name one way to be a good citizen in the classroom and school.

Modifications: Students may also illustrate their idea to support their writing (if not ledge able). Some students may use icons to represent ideas to complete the sentence stems and paste the icons into their notebook. GT students may draw or write a plan they want to implement in the classroom to show good citizen ship (start a recycling program, food drive, clothing donation).

Lesson 4: Being a Good Citizen, helping others at home and in the community.

Learning Objective: The student will determine ways they can help others at school, at home, or

in the community.

TEKS:

Social Studies:2.13 Citizenship. The student understands characteristics of good citizenship as exemplified by historic figures and ordinary people. The student is expected to:

(A) identify characteristics of good citizenship(C) identify ordinary people who exemplify good citizenship.

Health:2.9 Personal/interpersonal skills. The student comprehends the skills necessary for building and maintaining healthy relationships. The student is expected to:

(A) identify characteristics needed to be a responsible family member or friend2.10 Personal/interpersonal skills. The student understands healthy ways to communicate consideration and respect for self, family, friends, and others. The student is expected to:

(A) describe how to effectively communicate; (B) express needs, wants, and emotions in healthy ways; and (C) explain the benefits of practicing self-control.

English Language Arts: 2.17 Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to:

(A) plan a first draft by generating ideas for writing (e.g., drawing, sharing ideas, listing key ideas);

(B) develop drafts by sequencing ideas through writing sentences;

Materials Needed: Computer/TV, Citizen Song-http://www.havefunteaching.com/songs-for-kids/character-education/community-song, Song Lyrics, Document Camera, Bus, Volunteer Chaperons, Construction Paper, Crayons, Writing Journal, Citizenship books.

Procedures: Review: Teacher has groups talk for a while about what we learned yesterday from the Guidance Counselors Visit. Teacher then uses the jigsaw puzzle technique for students to share their ideas from yesterday’s lesson.Instruction: The teacher plays the citizenship song while displaying the lyrics on the document camera. The students listen to the song and read the lyrics. The students then discuss in a group some

examples of the lyrics that they could use in the community. “I am a citizen of my society And I participate in my community I do my part, I keep it clean I make this world a better place for you and me  

I love my neighbor, I treat ‘em good I show respect and dignity like I should I love my family, I follow all the rules I take responsibility for what I need to do

There’s so much goin’ on around me Sometimes I think that it is all about me Then I look around and see what’s in front of me It’s you, and me, we help others in need

I do all I can to make this world a better place Show respect to my neighbor and to the whole human race Citizenship is who I am, everything that I do I take care of the environment, how about you?”

The teacher then passes out several books on Citizenship for each group to read, or conduct a picture walk, creating background knowledge for their field trip to the Nursing home. The student will draw a picture to represent a connection they made while reading the story to yesterday’s lesson or how they can show good citizenship in the community.

The students are taking a full day field trip to a Nursing home to volunteer their time around the Holidays. They will participate in different activities set up by the nursing home staff (games, crafts, reading books, singing songs, dancing).

Assessment: The students will write a reflection of their time spent at the nursing home today and how it helped them become a good citizen may support writing with illustrations.

Modifications: Students may also illustrate their idea to support their writing (if not ledge able). Some students may use icons to represent ideas to complete the sentence stems and paste the icons into their notebook. GT students may also write about other fieldtrips that would be helpful to show good citizenship.

Lesson 5: Holiday’s in December that our Community Celebrates

Lesson Objective: The student will become familiar with the customs and traditions of the different holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

TEKS:Social Studies:2.1 History. The student understands the historical significance of landmarks and celebrations in the community, state, and nation. The student is expected to:

(A) explain the significance of various community, state, and national celebrations such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving.

Mathematics:2.11 Probability and statistics. The student organizes data to make it useful for interpreting information. The student is expected to:

(A) construct picture graphs and bar-type graphs; (B) draw conclusions and answer questions based on picture graphs and bar-type graphs.

English Language Arts: 2.21 Oral and Written Conventions/Conventions. Students understand the function of and use the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to:

(B) use complete sentences with correct subject-verb agreement.

Materials Needed: Parent or community volunteers to speak about Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Student generated questions are written down, Post it notes for Graphs.

Procedures: Review (10 minutes): The students have already learned about the three Holidays that people in our community celebrate in December. The students have also role played in groups how to ask questions to guests using complete sentences. The teacher takes a moment for a student to turn to a partner and practice how to ask questions. The teacher also reviews the behavior guidelines on how to act when there is a guest speaker, as well as our role as good citizens in our classroom community.

Instruction (45 minutes): The teacher introduces each parent or community volunteer that tells a story about the

Holiday that they celebrate in December. Volunteers will explain the different food they eat, games they play, music they listen to or sing, artifacts they use (Christmas tree, candles), and other information. Each volunteer has approximately 15 minutes to spend talking with the students.

Students will practice their oral language by asking questions to the volunteer using complete sentences and using either their generated questions from the previous lessons, or new questions.

The teacher instructs the students to thank the volunteers for their time and asks the volunteers to stay for our graph.

The teacher writes the words: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa on the board with the writing prompt, “I like ___________ Holiday the best because ____________. The teacher gives each student a post it note to fill in the blanks. The student only needs to write the Holiday on the post in notes and will be sharing verbally why they like it the best with the class.

The teacher then creates a bar graph on the board and asks the students to place their post it note under the matching category.

Once all of the post its are on the board, the teacher counts the post it notes under each category and the student answer the questions: “Which Holiday has the most votes? Which Holiday has the least votes?”

Assessment: The students then go in a circle and share their reasoning for choosing the particular Holiday and why not another. This will allow the teacher to assess if the student has understandings of the different December Holidays celebrated in the community.

Modifications: IEP/BIP/504 Modifications as needed. If the student needs teacher support to developing questions or prompting, the teacher or a classmate with support the student as needed. Gifted and Talented students will produce an oral interview with a family member or community member to find out information on which holiday they celebrate in December.

Appendix1) Unit Introduction Letter to Families:

Community and Citizenship

November 1, 2010

Dear Families,

Ms. Scire’s second grade classroom will be starting a Unit on Community and Citizenship. During the next six weeks we will be learning about different communities that we are a part of and what it means to be a good citizen.

Some of the communities that your students are a part of are: the classroom, the school, their home, their family, boy/girl scouts, a soccer team, and Austin, TX. We will be reading maps and creating our own maps of our chosen communities.

We will have a guest speaker that will teach us the characteristics of good citizenship and go on a field trip to volunteer at a Nursing Home to show what great citizens our students are! Please think about volunteering on our field trip on Friday December 3, 2010. More information to come!

Lastly, we will explore the different Holidays that we celebrate as a community in the month of December. I will be looking for guest speakers to share stories from their childhood about the Holiday you celebrate in December! I will be looking for volunteers to speak about Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Please let me know if you are available for about 15 minutes on Wednesday December 16, 2010! More information will come on a later date, but please save the date!

I am very excited about this Unit and look forward to building good citizenship with our students to allow our classroom community to grow even stronger!

Anyway questions, please e-mail me at: laurenscire@txtstate.edu

You’ll be hearing from me soon!

Sincerely,

Ms. Lauren Scire2) Chaperon Request for Field trip the Nursing Home:

Chaperon Request for Nursing Home Fieldtrip (Citizenship)

November 17, 2010

Dear Families,

The students in Ms. Scire’s class have been working hard over the past several weeks! Now that we understand communities, we have been learning about good citizenship. We have learned that to be a good citizen it is important to treat others as you would like to be treated. It is also important to volunteer and give back to our community as good citizens.

On Friday December 3, 2010 we will be visiting the Texas State Nursing Home and spent time with the residents there. We will be doing activities that have been coordinated by the Activity Director at the Texas State Nursing Home. Some of those activities include: arts and crafts activities, singing, dancing, games, reading, and talking.

We would love to have you as a volunteer on this exciting and meaningful field trip. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the following sheet and return it back to me by Monday November 29, 2010. Please remember that you need to be registered as a volunteer at the school. If you are not registered, please e-mail or call me at laurenscire@txtstate.edu or (512) 555-5555 and I will send a permission form home with your child!

Sincerely,

Ms. Lauren Scire

I ______________, would like to volunteer for the Citizenship Nursing Home field trip on Friday December 3, 2010 at 10:00 am with Ms. Scire’s second grade class.

_____________________ __________________ Signature Date

______ I am registered to volunteer with Texas State ElementaryInitial

______ I am NOT registered to volunteer with Texas State Elementary, but would like a permission form.

Initial

3) Volunteer request form for parents to speak about Christmas, Hanukkah, and KwanzaaVolunteer to be a Guest Speaker on the Holiday Celebrated in December for

Ms. Scire’s Class!

November 29, 2010

Dear Families,

It is about time to close on our community and citizenship unit. We have come a long way and learned so much! In this lesson we are going to learn about different Holidays and celebrations that are celebrated in our community.

I would like to ask the families of Ms. Scire’s students to share their stories with our class. We would love a volunteer to represent Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa to be a guest speaker on Wednesday December 16, 2010 at 9:00 am.

As a guest speaker we ask that you share your stories from your childhood about celebrating these various Holiday and Celebrations. Let us know what food you eat, what games you play, what music you listen to or dances you do. If you have any examples or artifacts, please bring them! We are asking that you share 15 minutes of your time with our classroom.

Unfortunately, we only have about 45 minutes so we are only asking for 1 volunteer to represent each group. If more than one person volunteers and you would like to partner up with another parent, I will coordinate that!

I look forward to hearing all of your wonderful stories soon!

Sincerely,

Ms. Lauren Scire

I ______________, would like to volunteer to speak for Ms. Scire’s second grade classroom about a December Holiday on Wednesday December 16, 2010 at 9:00 am.

I would like to speak about (please check):

____ Christmas _____ Hanukkah ______Kwanzaa

____________________ __________________ Signature Date

4) An example of a Map created in Lesson 2: