Creating a community

Students will design a community and take into consideration the structures and human resources necessary for a balanced community. They will evaluate their community as they evaluate differences between wants and needs.

A lesson plan for grade 2 Social Studies

By Helen Byrd

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Related topics

• Learn more about communities, cooperative learning, mapping, and social studies.

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Learning outcomes

Students will learn to work cooperatively in group and partner settings to plan a community, create structures, and evaluate the needs and effectiveness of the community they designed.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 weeks

Materials/resources

• paper
• writing tools
• crayons, colored pencils
• scissors
• glue
• magazines
• Materials to create centers. Centers may include:
  • Art materials and small boxes or milk cartons for children to make additional houses or buildings.
  • Clay, small sticks, small pine branches or leaves to make trees
  • Legos
  • Popsicle sticks
  • Paper strips
  • A word list (street, avenue, road, etc.)
  • Writing materials (to make street signs)
  • Display pictures of traffic signs. Provide colored paper and writing tools to make these. Use clay and popsicle sticks to display signs.
  • Book center, with theme books about:
    • neighborhoods
    • construction vehicles and machines
    • community helpers
    • maps
  • Block center with community helper blocks (These are blocks of cut out figures of firemen, etc.)

Technology resources

• Optional: Tom Snyder Productions’ “Community Construction Kit”
• Optional: Presentation system

Pre-activities

Most second graders have enough background knowledge to successfully be involved in this class project. Background includes general concepts about neighborhoods, community helpers, and kinds of things found in a neighborhood (houses, people, buildings, signs, roads, etc.)

Activities

Week 1

Day 1

1. Introduce the community project by telling students they will be designing a map of a community. Ask them to brainstorm a list of what a community needs. Write these suggestions on a chart. Tell students that they may add more ideas to the chart as the project progresses. (This list should include buildings, houses, people, etc.)
2. Have students work in pairs and plan things they would like to build for the community. As a group, try to match student individual plans with the items on the class chart. For example:
   • Fire station — Sam
   • Pet store — Emily
   • Grocery store — Georgeanne
   • Houses — Jeff
   • Library — Maria

Day 2

Note: If you don’t have the “Community Construction Kit” software, skip Day 2 and go on to Day 3.

1. Use a presentation system or gather students around the computer. Demonstrate how to use the “Community Construction Kit.” This software enables students to design houses and buildings of today, medieval times, colonial times and that of Native Americans. (This project can also be used during studies of these or use the medieval theme and design fairy tale villages.)
2. For second graders, I thought the best way to introduce the software was to have them use the “Ready Made Buildings” and add to these. We used houses and added signs to turn them into stores or office buildings. Adjustments include changing windows, doors, or accessories (people, animals, decks, bikes, outdoor furniture, a satelite dish!). Students enjoy the option of changing the sizes of these.
3. This program allows buildings to be cut out and glued together so everything is three dimensional. Students also may print out signs, people, animals, and vehicles, but they cannot alter these.
4. This program allows students to choose the colors and textures of roofs and siding (bricks, shingles, etc.). To save ink, my students are asked to print in black and white.
5. As the software is introduced, have students come to the computer and take turns altering the buildings. Allow them to “turn” the stuctures around so they can see all four sides of the building. Be sure they understand how to add signs to houses and buildings. They will need this if they are planning to design a public building or store.

Day 3

1. As a group, discuss individual plans as you refer to the class idea chart. Decide how students will take turns using the computer with their partners. I used a sign-up list. (Note: Students can work independently at the computer. I use pairs like this: One child uses the computer to create his or her building, while the other child watches and helps his or her friend if help is needed.)
2. After I check the building, the first child may print it. Then the children switch roles and the second child works on the computer while his partner watches and helps if he needs it. This works well when I introduce new software and assign a specific project. When children are working together, it keeps me from constantly going to the computer and answering questions. Two children can usually solve their own problem. If you’re not using the computer, students can create their building using milk cartons.
3. The rest of the week (and maybe the next week) will be spent with students working on their buildings.
4. Group lessons, for the rest of the week, need to focus on how the class will display their community on a map. Based on the space in your classroom, decide what works best for you. If space is limited, maybe your school has a display case or area in another part of the school to put your map. Some schools have space in hallways.
5. Initially discuss and plan with the class what they think a map of their community would need. They could pretend they are engineers and need to decide what should come first in a community before they can build houses. Hopefully this discussion will lead to roads! Discussion can be lead in this direction by asking students how trucks can bring materials to building site.
6. Help students make a plan for where roads should be and guide them as they put them in place. I use a long piece of green bulletin board paper (for the “land”) and precut black stripes of paper for roads. Students may add lines to sections of road.
7. As the week progresses, lessons can begin with a whole group evaluation and discussion of the map. Refer to the chart the class made, and add any needs the students notice.
8. Assign pairs or small groups of students to think of ways to meet the needs listed. This may include signs, parks, cars, people, a key to the map, or creating a name for the community. While students are working in these groups, continue to assign pairs of children to design their buildings on the computer.
9. Conclude each of these group lessons by talking about what was accomplished that day and what students think their community still needs. Refer to the chart, adding new ideas and deleting things accomplished. This sets the stage for what students can do the next day.
10. Repeat this scenario every day. Set up centers where children can continue to add to the map. Centers may include:
    • Art materials and small boxes or milk cartons for children to make additional houses or buildings.
    • Clay, small sticks, small pine branches or leaves to make trees
    • Legos
    • Popsicle sticks
    • Paper strips
    • A word list (street, avenue, road, etc.)
    • Writing materials (to make street signs)
    • Display pictures of traffic signs. Provide colored paper and writing tools to make these. Use clay and popsicle sticks to display signs.
    • Book center, with theme books about:
      • neighborhoods
      • construction vehicles and machines
      • community helpers
      • maps
    • Block center with community helper blocks (These are blocks of cut out figures of firemen, etc.)

Week 2

1. Continue working on the map of the community until every child has made a building and the class has completed everything on their chart.
2. Discuss the map with the class. Ask questions like the following and have students explain their answers:
   • Do you think this community has everything it needs?
   • What do you need to live?
   • Are these needs met?
   • What else do people need?
   • What if you were playing and got hurt?
   • What if your cat was sick?
   • Do cars need anything?
   • Do we need money?
3. If students see more needs, then more time will have to be spent on completing the map. Making a list of “needs” would help guide students to know what else they should add to their community.
4. Community helpers: When students are finished, have them work in pairs or in cooperative groups and list the jobs adults perform in their community. Allow each team time to observe the map for ideas. As students share their lists of adult roles, list these on a chart.
5. Discussion can continue as students discuss if their parents have any of those jobs. Some students may notice that their parents’ jobs are not listed and may want to add their parents’ workplace to the map. If interest continues, discuss which jobs students are interested in when they grow up.
6. To assess understanding of adult roles, have students fold a large piece of white construction paper into eighths. They can write their name in the first box and then draw 7 different people doing different occupations in the other boxes. Depending on individual abilities, students may be able to add detail to their drawings and show things these people use, or write about what they drew.

Last Day

1. Review the chart that listed needs of a community. Discuss with students the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. Lead students into further discussion about the differences between things they want and things they really need. To assess understanding of this, give students magazines and catalogs. Have them divide a paper in half into sections labeled “wants” and “needs.” Ask the children to cut out several pictures to go under each category and explain why they chose those pictures.

Assessment

• Assess students’ understanding of designing a balanced community through observations while they are working and through class discussions.
• Observe use of problem-solving strategies and effective participation and cooperation in various group settings.
• As mentioned above, students will use magazine pictures and explain the differences between wants and needs. They will also illustrate and explain 7 adult occupations.

Extensions

• Literature extension: Use the book Come Back, Amelia Bedelia. In this book, Amelia is fired and goes throughout her downtown community looking for jobs. Students can act out the various roles of community workers as well as create a map of Amelia’s town. They can make models of the characters and “act out” the story using the map.
• “Community Construction Software Kit” extensions:
  • Use the software’s medieval buildings to reenact or create fairy tale settings and characters. These buildings can also be used for churches or museums on the neighborhood map.
  • Use the colonial buildings and characters during a study of Pilgrims. The Native American theme can be used with this to create the Pilgrims’ settlement and the first Thanksgiving.
• Community and family extension: Invite parents or members of the community to talk to the class about their jobs. Visit local fire stations, police stations, etc. Then have a career day where children come to school dressed showing the profession they want when they grow up. They can talk about what they want to be and tell why. This can be videotaped and shared with families.