1st Grade
1-1.5

Illustrate different elements of community life, including the structure of schools; typical jobs; the interdependence of family, school, and the community; and the common methods of transportation and communication.

Pacing Suggestions:

4-5 days

Suggested Activities:

• Create a table that displays a variety of jobs in the local community. Under each job, list the pros and cons related to that occupation—for example, firefighters are important to the community and save lives, but their job is very dangerous.
• Develop a web to show how the community is composed of different elements (schools,
  jobs, businesses, transportation, communication, and family activities such as church
  and recreation. List different examples under each section.
• Create a Venn diagram of work/recreational vehicles.
• Construct a graph of methods of transportation/communication categories: family, school, or community. (May be used in 1, 2, or 3 categories).

Suggested Primary Source Documents:

• Pictures of children from different countries/cultures
• Buffalo Dance Song
• Guest Speakers who perform the various jobs

Suggested Lesson Plans:

• Students role-play various careers.
• Elementary Lesson on Community Helpers
• Students identify pictures of places in their community and define the purpose of each location.
• Masai and I – Students will be able to explain how the Masai use the physical setting to satisfy their wants and needs; explain factors which influence where the Masai live; describe how transportation and communication networks link the Masai community to other communities; and, describe the relationship between economic wants and needs for the Masai and Linda’s family.
• Community Helpers – The purpose of this lesson is to help the children realize that it takes many, varied jobs for a city or town to work as a community.
• Members in Our Community – This lesson shows students how important each member of the community is and introduces the different individuals that work cooperatively in the community.
• Mail Time! An Integrated Postcard and Geography Study – Students will write to friends and family asking them to send picture postcards so they can use maps and graphs to record where the postcards come from.