My Community

Unit: Place-Based Learning Project

I have a first grade technology integrated social studies unit that addresses various ways to incorporate community aspects into a week-long study. This helps all learners, regardless of learning styles, to connect prior knowledge to new information learned. This unit focuses on family within the community, community leaders, and the community as a whole. Technology is integrated through Internet research, PowerPoint presentations, streaming video, educational software, etc. With a limited amount of computers in my classroom, it is important to set up a feasible schedule in order for all students to have a chance to use the computers.
Each activity emphasizes hands-on experiences, higher-order thinking skills, and the ability to connect their existing schema to the current information.
As a first grade teacher, I believe that technology is a vital part of all learning, and students should be proficient with technology skills. I learned this from a very skilled instructor that taught me the right way to use technology in a one-computer classroom!

Digital Mapping- Follow Me Through My Community by Jackie Whitlow

Unit: Community Helpers

The unit that I am teaching is for first grade students and is about community helpers. The students are learning about various types of people in the community, their jobs, locations, what they wear, and how they help make the community a better place. The students will learn about where to find these people in the community in relation to the school and their homes. The school is like a small community within the surrounding community, and the students are very familiar with this area. I will start with community helpers within the school and move outwards to better explain the concepts of community helpers to the students.

To incorporate technology into my unit, I am going to have the students make a map of the school using digital photographs. The students will take pictures of the places around the school where community helpers work including the principal, teachers, the nurse, janitors, librarian, lunch room staff, etc. After taking the pictures, the students will be able to upload these pictures to the computer with some assistance from the teacher and print them off. A bulletin board in the classroom will be used to make a map of the school and the photographs will be posted on the board in their correct location. Space will be saved on the board to expand the map outside the school. Students will be asked to take pictures of different community helpers outside of school on their own time, or they can simply do an internet search to find pictures with help from their parents. Parents can either print these pictures off for the students to bring in for the map or email them to the teacher to add to the map. When the bulletin board is full, the students will work in pairs to type a small list of facts about each community helper to place beside the pictures on the board.

Internet Scavenger Hunt for Government by Jill Pratt

Unit: Government: Using Ben's Guide for a Scavenger Hunt
My Social Studies unit is on our United States Government. By the end of the unit the learner will analyze political and social institutions in North America and examine how these institutions respond to human needs, structure society and influence behavior. The learner will do this many different ways. One is by analyzing major documents and understanding there importance. Another is by differentiating between local, state and national levels of government and finally by distinguishing how the government has changed overtime.
Technology will be integrated into the classroom by completing a website scavenger hunt. With help from the technology teacher, we are going to have a link connected to my website and the students are going to answer eight questions about the government through a scavenger hunt. The students will not only be practicing computer skills such as navigating a website but also gaining knowledge about the U.S. Government. These questions will be what they need to answer.
1. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/documents/declaration/index.html
2. Which Article of the Constitution establishes the Office of President? http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
3. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are called:
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/documents/declaration/index.html
4. Name two of the amendments.
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/citizenship/rights.html
5. What are the three branches of our government?
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/government/branches.html
6. Who appoints the justices to the Supreme Court?
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/government/national/scourt.html
7. What are the requirements to becoming President?
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/election/president.html
8. How many Senators are elected for each state?
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/election/senators.html
A hyperlink will be on key words and when the students click on it there will be an article or a website that has the answers on it. (http://pages.cms.k12.nc.us/karenlipski/usgov.html) The students will answer the questions by restating and then finding the answers online (see websites above) and putting them into their own words. This will be a helpful study guide for the end of the unit test.