Our Community
1st Grade
Connecting the community to
the classroom
By
Kristina Stieger
Table of Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
History
People in Societies
Geography
Economics
Government
Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities
Social Studies Skills and Methods
History
Students use materials drawn
from the diversity of human
experiences to analyze and
interpret significant events,
patterns and themes in the
history of Ohio, the United
States and the world.
D 6. Relate Stories of the
heroism and the
achievements of the
people associated with
state and federal
holidays.
Activities
• Invite a serviceman/woman from the local
community to come in and speak with the class to
discuss their job and role in society
• Invite a veteran from the local community to come
in and speak with the class to discuss their service
to our country
• Discuss with the class the national holidays in honor
of those who have served our country (i.e. Veterans
Day and Memorial Day)
• Take a class field trip to place flags on the graves of
veterans
• Make care packages and cards to send to servicemen
and women currently serving our country. Try to
find a unit that has a local connection to be the
recipients of the care packages.
Websites
• City of Centerville, Veterans Memorial Page:
http://www.ci.centerville.oh.us/index.php?option=com_conte
nt&task=view&id=657&Itemid=753
• Online Learning Haven, History of Memorial Day:
http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/edu/historyof-memorial-day.html
• Online Learning Haven, Veterans Day:
http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/edu/veterans
_day.html
• Blue Star Mothers of America:
http://www.bluestarsouthbayla.org/calendar.html
• Ohio Legion News (Veterans Site):
http://www.ohiolegionnews.com/district3.htm
• Amvets: http://www.amvets.org/
People in Societies
Students use knowledge of
perspectives, practices and
products of cultural, ethnic
and social groups to analyze
the impact of their
commonality within local,
national, regional and
global settings.
•B3. Describe family and
local community customs
and traditions
Activities
• Discuss the different holidays around the world (i.e.
Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah, etc). Have the
students compare the holidays they celebrate with
one another.
• Have a family/community member come in and
share the main aspects of a Chanukah celebration
with the class
• Have a family/community member come in and
have a mini Chinese New Year Celebration with the
class
• Have the students research the local community
festival(s) and why it is a tradition
• Make holiday cards and go to visit a local nursing
home prior to winter break
Websites
• Social Studies for Kids, Holidays:
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/holi
days.htm
• Centerville-Washington Township Americana Festival
(pictured above):
http://www.americanafestival.org/
• Kaboose Family Network, Chinese New Year:
http://holidays.kaboose.com/chinese-newyear/chinese_new_year.html
• Kaboose Family Network, Chanukah:
http://holidays.kaboose.com/chanukah-index.html
• Holidays for the Classroom:
http://www.kathimitchell.com/holidays.html
Geography
Students use knowledge of
geographic locations, patterns
and processes to show the
interrelationships between the
physical environment and human
activity, and to explain the
interactions that occur in an
increasingly interdependent
world.
•A2 Construct simple maps
and models using symbols to
represent familiar places
(e.g., classroom, school or
neighborhood)
•A3 Identify and use symbols
to locate places of
significance
Activities
• Have students create a map of their
classroom
• Have students create a map of their school
• Have students locate on a map where the
servicemen and women whom they sent care
packages to are located
• Have students use a map to locate the US
and Ohio
• Have students map their route to the nursing
home before their visit in winter
Websites
• Social Studies for Kids, Modern Maps:
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/map
smodern.htm
• Mapquest, World Atlas:
http://www.mapquest.com/atlas/?region=world
• National Geographic, MapMachine:
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachin
e/index.html
• Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/
• Topozone (topographical maps):
http://www.topozone.com/
Economics
Students use economic
reasoning skills and knowledge
of major economic concepts,
issues and systems in order to
make informed choices as
producers, consumers, savers,
investors, workers and citizens
in an interdependent world.
•B2 Describe the ways
people produce,
consume, and exchange
goods and services in
their community
Activities
• Have a local baker come in and discuss his business.
Have the children compare how a baker produces
products today to the ways a baker operated in the past
• Have a local banker come in and talk about the services
offered to the community
• Have a mail carrier come in and discuss their service to
the community
• Have a local physician come in and discuss their service
to the community
• Invite the leader of a local non-profit organization to
come in and share how they serve the community (i.e.
Hannah’s Treasure Chest, St Vincent DePaul, etc)
• Have students participate in a local community service
project (i.e. collect can foods, adopt-a-family)
Websites
• City of Centerville, Volunteer Page:
http://www.ci.centerville.oh.us/index.php?option=com_conte
nt&task=view&id=524&Itemid=713
• Hannah’s Treasure Chest: http://www.hannahstreasure.org/
• The Banking Kids Page:
http://www.bankingkids.com/index_m.html
• Home Baking Association- Educators Resources:
http://www.homebaking.org/foreducators/bakers_dozen_dvd.
html
• United States Postal Service, Classroom Resources:
http://www.usps.com/communications/community/classroom.
htm
Government
Students use knowledge of the
purposes, structures and processes
of political systems at the local,
state, national and international
levels to understand that people
create systems of government as
structures of power and authority
to provide order, maintain stability
and promote the general welfare.
•A1 Recognize the role of
authority figures in
providing for the safety
and security of
individuals.
•C4 Recognize the need
for rules in different
settings and the need for
fairness in such rules
•C5 Discuss the
consequences of violating
rules
Activities
• Take a trip to the local police department and have
a police officer discuss their role in the community
• Invite a judge to come in and speak with the class
about their role in enforcing rules and laws
• Have the class interview the Principal
• Review/write classroom rules. Discuss how they can
be written so that they are fair to all in the class
• Invite a bus driver to come in and speak with the
class. Discuss bus safety, practice a bus evacuation,
Show the students around the bus (i.e.: the area
around the driver seat) and talk about why the rules
in place are important
Websites
• Montgomery County Juvenile Court:
http://mcjc.mcohio.org/default.asp
• Centerville Police Department Youth Programs:
http://www.ci.centerville.oh.us/index.php?option=com_content&tas
k=view&id=706&Itemid=1080
• Sugarcreek Township Police Department:
http://www.sugarcreektownship.com/fw/main/Police_Department11.html
• School Bus Safety Web:
http://itre.ncsu.edu/ghsp/NCBUSSAFETY.html
• Education World, School "Rules"! Ten Activities for Establishing
Classroom Rules:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson274.shtml
• Read, Write, Think, Creating Class Rules: A Beginning to Creating
Community:
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=136
Citizenship Rights
and
Responsibilities
Students use knowledge of the
rights and responsibilities of
citizenship in order to examine
and evaluate civic ideals and to
participate in community life and
the American democratic system.
•A1: Demonstrate the
importance of fair play, good
sportsmanship, respect for the
rights and opinions of others
and the idea of treating others
the way you want to be
treated
•Demonstrate citizenship traits
including: Trustworthiness;
fairness; self-control; respect
for those in authority
Activities
• Have the Guidance Counselor visit and discuss
positive character traits with the students
• Make posters that explain what the hallway
“names” mean (i.e. Respect Way, Patience Path…)
• Read Enemy Pie and discuss how it could relate to
the students and their friendships
• Have students write a friendly letter to another
student complimenting them on something they
have done well this week
• Read The Recess Queen. Have students discuss what
happened in the story and use a ven diagram to
compare the two main characters.
Websites
• Character-in-Action Program:
http://www.character-in-action.com/
• Character Education through Children's Literature.
ERIC Digest: http://www.ericdigests.org/20033/character.htm
• Enemy Pie Book Site: http://www.enemypie.com/
• Stephen Bell Elementary Guidance Page:
http://www.sugarcreek.k12.oh.us/14862052316553
7413/site/default.asp
• Character Counts:
http://www.charactercounts.org/
Social Studies Skills
and Methods
Students collect, organize, evaluate and
synthesize information from multiple
sources to draw logical conclusions.
Students communicate this information
using appropriate social studies
terminology in oral, written or multimedia
form and apply what they have learned to
societal issues in simulated or real-world
settings.
•A1: Obtain information
about a topic using a
variety of oral and visual
sources
•B2: Sequence
information
•C5: Communicate
information orally or
visually
Activities
• Have students make a short storybook about the
history of their school with information learned
from the Principal
• Have students make a short storybook about the
history of their town with information learned from
a trip to the local library
• Have students work with their parents to fill in a
family tree
• Have students create a mini family scrapbook either
with real pictures from home, or hand drawn
pictures
• Have students take a walking tour of the historical
area of town
Websites
• Genealogy for Kids:
http://www.kidsturncentral.com/topics/hobbies/ge
nforms.htm
• PBS Kids, Family Ties:
http://pbskids.org/wayback/family/tree/index.htm
l
• Family Tree Lesson Plans:
http://genealogy.about.com/od/lesson_plans/
• The Centerville-Washington Township Historical
Society:
http://www.mvcc.net/Centerville/histsoc/
• Ohio Historical Society:
http://www.ohiohistory.org/