Social Studies:

Content Standard 1: Historical Thinking

• gather historical data from multiple sources;
• write short narratives and statements of historical ideas and create other appropriate presentations from investigations of source materials.

Content Standard 9: Places and Regions

• locate places within their own and nearby communities in Connecticut;

Content Standard 12: Human Environment and Interaction

• use maps, globes, graphs, models, computer programs and texts, as appropriate; 

Science:

Content Standard 1: The Nature of Science

• use their senses (i.e., sight, taste, sound, touch, smell, to make observations about the natural world and discuss their findings;
• use open minds and be willing to modify opinions based upon evidence;

Content Standard 4: Units of Structure and Function

• use instruments, such as magnifying glasses, to observe living and nonliving things more clearly;

Content Standard 5: The Earth

• recognize (in Grades K-2) that rocks come in many sizes and shapes, and many have interesting textures, colors and patterns;
• identify (in Grades K-2) preserved traces of organisms, such as footprints, shells or imprints of leaves left in soft mud; 

Language Arts:

Content Standard 1: Reading and Responding

• describe the text by giving an initial reaction to the text and describing its general content and purpose;
• interpret the text by using prior knowledge and experiences;
• reflect on the text to make judgments about its meaning and quality;
• generate questions before, during and after reading, writing, listening and viewing;
• use the structure of narrative, expository, persuasive, poetic and visual text to interpret and extend meaning;

Content Standard 2: Producing Texts

• engage in a process of generating ideas, drafting, revising, editing and publishing or presenting;
• engage in writing, speaking and developing visual texts through frequent reflection, reevaluation and revision.

Content Standard 3: Applying English Language Conventions

• proofread and edit for grammar, spelling, punctuation and capitalization;

Connecticut Learning Resources and Information Technology

Content Standard 1: Defining Information Needs

• identify, locate and use appropriate print, non-print and/or electronic resources available through their school library media center with assistance.

Content Standard 2: Information Systems

• use simple menus to locate information from electronic media.

Content Standard 3: Information Strategies

• use correct library/information/technology terminology;

Content Standard 4: Information Processing

• demonstrate attentive and purposeful listening and viewing skills.

Content Standard 5: Application

• use appropriate software (e.g., word processing, desktop publishing, graphing or charting) to create clear and organized presentations of ideas and conclusions;
• use video, audio and multimedia tools to create clear and meaningful presentations of ideas;
• demonstrate basic operation of equipment needed for information access.

• Read Disney’s Winnie the Pooh book A Bear-y Good Neighbor by Kathleen W. Zoehfeld.
• Write the word "neighborhood" on the flip chart or chalkboard and discuss the book. What was Pooh going to do today for his neighbor Piglet? What did he end up doing instead? Where does Pooh live? What is Pooh’s neighborhood? Who lives there? What other things (living or non-living) did you see in the pictures? Who helped Pooh understand what a neighborhood is?
• Where do you live? Discuss addresses and parts of addresses; introduce the state abbreviation by relating it to student initials. What do you think is your state abbreviation?

Activity 1: Where do you live?

• Listen to the story, A Bear-y Good Neighbor
• Discuss the book.
• Discuss where you live, how mail is delivered, and view a sample address and discuss the parts of an address.
• What is your address? Write it down on a piece of paper.
• In the computer lab: Open the Address File template as directed by the teacher. Insert your name and address in the text boxes. Change the font color to a different color. (See sample file, My Address Sample (MS Word).
• Draw a picture options: Draw a picture of your house in paint or Kid Pix and insert the picture into the word processing document, or, print the document and draw a picture using crayons.

Activity 2: Community Map

• Look at the map(s) provided by the teacher of your communities and town/city.
• What can you see on these maps? Do you recognize any of the street names? What is the map key used for? Use the key to determine what some of the symbols are on the map(s).
• Find your street and the approximate location of your house.
• Make a "house flag". Use the sticky address labels or paper and write your name and address on it. Stick the label around the toothpick (be sure the address shows) and place the toothpick into the map board.
• Do all students live in the same community? Which students live closest to each other? Farthest away? Which students live closest to the school? Farthest from the school?
• Computer activity: Go to http://www.maps.com. Click the "Address Finding" link under the "Get Direction" link and category. Each student will type in his/her home address. Use the zoom buttons to zoom in and out. Print maps. Using the Directions feature, have the students input the school address to get directions from the school to their homes. Are the directions accurate? Is there an easier way to go or a faster way than the computer gave them?

Activity 3: Explore a Community

• Go for a walk around the school community or local community (around the school area), or if possible, the downtown area and a park or trail through the woods. Look, listen, and smell as you walk. Stop at various locations along the walk and discuss some of the things you’ve seen, heard, and smelled.
• Collect various items (about 10 items per student) that you find as you walk, from nature or man-made things.
• Discuss: How is this community different and similar to the one you live in? Ask students to think of words that have to do with community and list them on a flip chart. A list of such words might include animals, trees, types of houses, types of businesses, etc.
• What types of items did you collect? (In the fall students could collect fallen leaves, acorns, litter, etc.; in spring, flower petals, rocks, litter, etc.) Put your names on your bags.

Activity 4: Community Collage

• Place the items from your collection bag onto the table in front of you. If necessary, use water and paper towels to clean the items.
• Complete the collection worksheet (see sample file Community Collection Data (MS Word). What colors are they? What shapes? Look at them with a magnifying glass. What do you see now? Using a scale, find out how much they weigh? Find pairs of objects that are the same size but not the same weight. Balance the scale by placing one type of object on one side (a heavy item) and using several other different objects on the other.
• Using the items you collected, make a collage, musical instrument, mobile, leaf print, and/or sculpture.
• Share your creation with the class.

Activity 5: Model Community

• Listen to a story or partner read a story about communities: fire department, town hall, transportation (buses, trains, subways), etc.
• Refer to the word list from Activity 3 and add to the list.
• If possible, visit one or more of the following, or invite a community businessperson or volunteer to visit the class (such as a police station/officer, fire station/fireman, town hall, hospital/doctor, etc.). What do each of these provide to the community? Write letters and draw pictures to thank the person who visited the class or places visited.
• As a class, design and construct a model community – houses, streets, businesses, etc. with Lego™ and/or other art and construction materials. Have each student or group of students responsible for one aspect of the model.

Activity 6: Community BINGO

• Give students a list of 24 community words from the word list (on paper, or via a projection device).
• On the computer, students open the BINGO template as directed and insert one word per box. {See sample file Bingo Card (MS Excel)}.
• Print the document.
• Draw a picture and/or place stickers in each box to represent the word typed in that box.
• Play BINGO! The teacher or a student could lead the drawing of words/pictures. Students place mini plastic houses, coins, buttons, or other objects onto their game card.

Activity 7: Comparison

• Look at a picture given to you from the teacher. How old does this picture look to you? Why? What do you see in the picture? (Teacher will tell students that these are pictures of places in their community/town from X years ago).
• Have students try and figure out where these pictures were taken and what is in its place now. Encourage students to work with each other to figure out where the picture was taken.
• Draw a picture showing what is in its place now.
• Present and describe the two pictures to the class.
• How much has the community changed? Do some of these buildings and places still exist? Do they look different? How have they changed?

Activity 8: Seeing the Sights Class Community "Book"

• Each student will pick (or be assigned) a place in their community that is important to them.
• Find out some facts about that place, such as: How old is the building? If the building has a special name (like a person), why was it named after that person? How does this place serve the community?
• Each student will write a few sentences about the place and draw a picture (or take a picture with a digital camera) of it.
• Each student will type in his/her sentences into a PowerPoint slide and insert the picture into the slide as directed by the teacher. (The teacher will need to add all student slides into one presentation).
• View the Seeing the Sights (MS PowerPoint) presentation.

Activity 9: Street Stories

• Listen to (or read) the story, And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss
• Write your own "street story" and illustrate it. Option: Have students write stories on paper, edit them, and then put into Kid Pix or PowerPoint and illustrate or use another writing program such as Storybook Weaver Deluxe, The Amazing Writing Machine, or Ultimate Writing and Creativity Center.

Activity 10: Improve your Community

• Discuss: What do you like about your community? What don’t you like about your community? What could be done to improve your community? What could you do to improve your community? What could we do as a class to improve the school or other public community area?
• Adopt a park, street, etc. and clean up once a week, biweekly, or monthly. Grow seedlings and plant trees, flowers, etc. in the schoolyard, at home, or the park. (The town/city should provide orange vests and garbage bags to volunteers).

Flip Chart

Activity 1:

• Book: Disney’s Winnie the Pooh A Bear-y Good Neighbor(ISBN#: 0-7364-1108-9)
• Small scrap pieces of paper and pencils
• Crayons (optional)

Activity 2:

• Blow-ups or large map(s) of several communities and/or town/city.
• Foam core board(s) or cork board to glue/staple maps onto
• Toothpicks
• Large sticky address labels (or paper cut into that approximate size and glue)
• Small plastic houses (like those from a Monopoly game) – optional
• Sample flags that mark the school location and teacher address.

Activities 3-4:

• Sample file Community Collection Data (MS Word)
• Small paper, plastic, or cloth collection bags
• Scales/balances (1 per pair of students)
• Magnifying glasses (1 per pair of students)
• Art materials as needed for the types of collages, etc. such as glue, cardboard, string, small boxes or containers with lids, paint, paper, etc.

Activity 5:

• Community related books such as: Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy Town; Busy Day, Busy People by Tibor Gergely; Berenstain Bears on the Job, Berenstain Bears New Neighbors.
• Guest/Visitor or class field trip
• Art materials to build a model community

Activity 6:

• BINGO card file, see sample Bingo Card (MS Excel)
• Crayons, markers, community stickers
• Flat tokens/objects for Bingo cards

Activity 7:

• Community pictures of places students should be able to recognize taken several or many years ago (one different picture per student if available)
• Drawing paper and crayons/markers

Activity 8:

• Sample file Seeing the Sights (MS PowerPoint)
• Pencils and paper
• Drawing materials
• Community pictures

Activity 9:

• Book: Dr. Seuss, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (ISBN#: 0-394-84494-7)
• Line paper
• Pencils
• Drawing paper and drawing tools

Activity 10:

• Town Hall, Town Maintenance, Parks Supervisor

Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (or other word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation applications)

Microsoft Paint or other simple drawing program such as Kid Pix.

Community Map Resources:

• Microsoft Streets Plus (CD-ROM)
• Maps.Com: http://www.maps.com

Other Resources:

• Search for your local Chamber of Commerce and/or a town/city web site
• Using Yahoo!, click the "More cities Yahoo" link http://www.yahoo.com

Multimedia Computers

Projection Device and Screen

Students will be assessed as follows:

• Informally during group discussions and outings for participation, observations, ability to work with others, and communication skills
• Understanding of addresses and the parts of an address and the appropriate use of a word processing application
• Understanding of map keys and the ability to locate places on a map
• Comparison of collected objects and use of scientific tools for observations
• Participation in and creation of a model for the model community project
• BINGO cards for proper spelling of community words and use of a spreadsheet application
• Ability to compare and contrast community buildings, old and new; use of descriptive words
• Presentation slide for appropriate picture or photograph, text content and accuracy, text for spelling and grammar
• Stories for creativity, spelling, grammar, and accompanying illustrations
• Participation in Improve the Community projects.