Day One: What is a community?

Introduce children to the word “community.” Ask if they have heard the word before and if they remember in what context. Jot down any words or phrases that are mentioned. You might begin this discussion with a web with the word “community” in the center. Children may not have much background knowledge about this word, which is fine. One of the need-to-know questions was most likely “What does community mean?” or “What is a community?” So share with your students that in order to get to know one another and create a classroom community, we need to understand what a community is!

The first step in helping children unpack and construct a definition of the word “community” is to create a web. Place the word “community” in the center of the web. Ask children to name all of the things they think of when they see/hear this word. 

At this point, children may not have many words to include. Leave circles blank and you can return to fill in later (especially after upcoming learning experiences). 

Show a slide show like the one below of examples of types of communities. Examples might be social communities like sports, music, church/synagogue, school etc. You can make your own slide show based on your unique community. Explain that these are all different types of communities. Ask students what they notice/what do these images have in common? 

Encourage children to continue adding ideas to the web. Next children select one or more ideas from the web and draw what “community” means to them or what the terms included (i.e. “friendship,” “family,” “caring”) mean to them following the whole group discussion. This could be a Seesaw activity assigned after this group discussion.

 Day Three: What Communities Do We Belong To?

Share with students that although we all live in different places, we all go to the same school, and a school is one type of community. Even though our school might not be a building, the learning and playing we will be doing together every day is still a type of community because we will be together every day, sharing and learning together and getting to know one another. 

Our school is one community that we are all a part of. We are all important parts of this community. 

Review students’ personal webs (those who want to share with one another might do so in a whole class meeting or small groups) and explain that today we are going to do more thinking about different communities that we belong to.

Read-aloud suggestion: Places in My Community by Bobbie Kalman

Next, tell students that we are going to use different materials to think about the communities we are a part of. Elicit names of different communities from the students (i.e. church, synagogue, sports, theater, Korean school, neighborhood) and record them on chart paper/digital whiteboard. You can also reference their personal webs and read-aloud. Consider proposing the idea of virtual communities for example, as friends who play the same games like Minecraft or Roblox.

Modeling Our Communities 

Students can construct a model of any community they are a part of. Demonstrate how to model a community for students using different materials. If distance learning, pre-record a lesson using these materials. You might tell children: I love to do plays. My community is with a lot of people who also do plays, so I’m a member of a theatre or acting community. I am going to use these small cardboard boxes and some tissue paper to create a theater community. What community do you want to make? Help children to look back at their webs to choose one community they would like to represent using materials from home or in school. You might enlist the help of an art teacher if available.

If online, children can use household recyclables (such as small cardboard boxes, cartons, and tubes) to build their community model. They can take a photo of it and upload to their online platform. Students can also submit an audio recording explaining their community model.

If there is time, support children by making one suggested revision to improve their models. You might say, “What is one thing you can add or change?” Take photos of these models and consider including these photos (along with the community webs) as a part of the public product.

Share: 

Children can share their creations either in person or via Flipgrid or a Zoom meeting.

Day Five: What is a neighborhood? What is my neighborhood like? 

Revisit with students the different types of communities we have been learning about. Explain to students we will explore about the neighborhoods that we live in. Discuss the term “neighborhood” with students and come up with a definition. For example, a neighborhood is a place where some people live, some people work, and some people play.  You can also discuss the term “neighbors” as people who live near your house. If online, in a Zoom meeting, you can take students on a virtual tour of your neighborhood using the “street view” feature in Google Maps. 

Read-aloud suggestions: This is My Neighborhood by Lisa Bullard

Additional Resource: National Geographic Readers: Helpers in Your Neighborhood by Shira Evans

If learning is in-person and it is safe to do so, perhaps take a walking trip around the school community to see different places that make up a neighborhood (i.e. businesses, playground, etc). 

Possible guiding questions: What types of businesses help our neighborhood? What are the needs of a community? Who helps the community? 

Have children draw, collage, or photograph their neighborhood (if it is safe to do so) in order to share the type of community in which they live. The neighborhood could simply be a representation of a neighbor’s house, or a favorite bakery. 

Share: 

If online, students can share their neighborhood representations and audio record their explanations on Seesaw or Flipgrid.

In-Person: Students can take turns sharing their neighborhood creations in pairs or small groups.

At the end of this milestone, together come up with ONE definition of “community.” Use all of the ideas and materials children have engaged with. See if you can write one definition together as a class, or alternatively, work with children in small groups and then bring all the ideas together. This definition will be the front page of the book/Website that is published.