Outline of Curricular Unit

Unit Topic: Citizens, Communities and Their importance
Unit Title: Who I Am and Where I Live
Grade: 2nd
Unit Length: 10 days

Personal Stake:
I have always thought that grasping major themes such as the ones covered in this unit are very important. Being able to read a map and comprehend the information given along with a map is very important. It is not only a crucial life skill to have, but it allows students to find the community and cultural resources found right around the corner from their houses. It is crucial for children to understand that even as one person they can make a difference for those around them in their immediate community as well as those found in another community. I also think that it is very important that students understand the responsibilities and rights that come along with being a citizen of a community. On top of this I would like to stress that being a citizen of the United States doesn’t mean that you can only help those in your country/community. Reaching out to people in other cultures and places is important as well. I feel very strongly about helping those in my community and others and hope that my students will be able to show me that they understand the responsibilities that come along with being a citizen and part of a working community.

Unit Topic- Standards:
Students will learn how to read maps and be able to read the information provided along with the map. They will know how to find their communities. Students will also be able to describe the rights and responsibilities of citizenship as well as demonstrating them in the classroom. Students will understand the importance that can come from one person’s actions by learning about influential individuals from the past. The unit will incorporate DCPS standards 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4.
2.1. Broad Concept: Students use map and globe skills to determine the absolute locations of places and interpret information available through a map or globe’s legend, scale, and symbolic representations.
2.2. Broad Concept: Students describe the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
2.4. Broad Concept: Students understand the importance of individual action and character, and they explain, from examining biographies, how people who have acted righteously have made a difference in others’ lives and have achieved the status of heroes in the remote and recent past.

Questions:

1. What are the steps used to read a map?
2. What does the information alongside the map mean?
3. How do I find my community?
4. What aspects can be found in a community?
5. What is a citizen?
6. What responsibilities come along with being a citizen?
7. What rights come along with being a citizen?
8. As a citizen of this classroom and school what are the expectations for me?
9. How can one person make a difference for many people?
10. Who can this one person be?
11. If I am a citizen of one place do I have a responsibility to other places?

Assessment of student learning:
I will begin by opening the class with a discussion. Hopefully all of the students have heard a little bit about the words citizen and community and if not, maybe their peers will be able to tell us what they know about them. We will discuss a little bit about the meaning of the two words and I will have the students write a little bit of where they are a citizen and from what community they are in. From this I hope to get an idea of where the child is in understanding the concept of the two. In early assessing we will look at maps and have open discussions about what the aspects of the map mean and what information they provide. Throughout the unit I will have students do work independently, in groups and as a class making sure that each learner has a chance to feel comfortable. As we learn more about maps I will have students create their own realistic maps indicating the understanding there. We will have group conversations about citizen responsibilities. All assessments will show me if the students have understandings of skills, responsibilities and pieces of the content in the unit. At each stage of the unit I will give the students activities that outline their understanding. Also, throughout the unit I will be checking in with each student individually to make sure they are following along in the lesson.

Sequence the content, skills, and attitudes:

Throughout the unit I will be monitoring the completed work of each student and making sure that their understanding is along the same lines as their classmates. A lot of the lessons in the unit will be interactive and engaging which will help the students to find more motivation and understanding. Having the students create a map along with information about their own community allows them to make a connection to real life. On top of this, having the students read about influential individuals that are in some way connected them will also help the students to feel more of a positive effect from the lesson. These connections are so important when it comes to engaging students and having them find a useful purpose with the new information provided. The skills they learn about pertaining to maps, citizens and communities can be transferred to real life lessons. If a student were to ever move they would have the understanding to relate these learned skills to their new experiences and surroundings. They will build a value system and understand the importance when it comes to social interactions with those in your community. Students can work together to have positive interactions and work to build a peaceful, fun community with respectful citizens.

Differentiated Instruction:

When working with students on different levels I have found a good strategy to be splitting the class into groups. Depending on the activity, students can be divided into groups with corresponding levels of ability and understanding. By doing this, students in each group can help motivate each other and the teacher can direct his/her attention to the group of students that need it the most. I will also be providing many different types of lessons and activities during the unit which gives students a chance to thrive at those that are best for them. I will also have modifications for many activities that can provided to those students who need more guidance and those who are gifted. Every student will be participating in the same type of activity, lesson but will have it scaled and tweaked to a level that is good for them.


Community and Cultural Resources:

For this unit I can find places within the immediate community of the school to use. I can bring the children to a cultural center, or to a creek and explain and show to them how pollution affects us all and even those not in our immediate community. Showing the children what the community works to upkeep and provide for them is a wonderful gift. The students can discover fun places that they had never known about before. On top of this, we can do a map activity throughout the community and use our map skills to make our way around.

Materials:

Poster board, white board, journals, index cards, large paper for maps, compass, biographies, reference books, copies of old journals, contracts, board space, markers, colored pencils, read alouds, movie, short video clips