5.01 | WHAT IS COMMUNITY?

A community is a group of people who live or work in the same area or place. People in communities might go to the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, shop in the same stores, and use the same local service providers.

A community is composed of people who can learn from one another, help each other solve problems, and offer support when needed. When a child recognizes that they are a part of a community, they are more likely to experience a sense of belonging.

SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING (S.E.L.) COMPETENCIES

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

The ability to establish meaningful relationships with others who are different from oneself

Work well with others to achieve a common goal

RESPONSIBILITY

The ability to recognize, evaluate, and determine behavioral choices and options that align to one’s own personal standards and social norms

Recognize one’s own social and civic responsibilities

SOCIAL AWARENESS

The ability to recognize and control one’s own emotions, thoughts, and actions in peaceful and turbulent situations and environments

Respect one’s own community and discover the importance of communities

LEARNING OBJECTIVES | MATERIALS & PREPARATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Children Will Be Able to:

Define community
Explain the importance of community
Recognize that communities work together to accomplish a goal
Acknowledge the importance of teamwork

MATERIALS & PREPARATION

Introduction | Duration: 2 minutes

Tell children that they will learn about what it means to be a part of a community in today’s lesson.
Explain to children that a community is a group of people who live or work in the same place.
Tell children that they will learn more about the elements that make up a community by reading the book Look Where We Live by Scot Ritchie.

Read-Aloud: Title of Book by Author Name | Duration: 20 minutes

Explain to children that you will read the book Look Where We Live
by Scot Ritchie. Tell children that reading this book will help them learn about different elements that make up a community.
Let children know that they will participate in a discussion where you will stop reading, so they can discuss what it means to be a part of a community.
Begin reading the book on page 6. Continue to read each page of the book. After reading page 30, end the read-aloud. Stop on the following pages to say and/or ask the statements and/or questions in the chart.

After Reading Page	Say or Ask	Exemplar Student Response
6	The text says, “A community is a group of people living together in one area. You live in a community.” What is a community? A community is also a group of people who work together in the same place. Is this class a community? Why do you think that?	A community is a group of people who live or work together in the same area. Yes, this class is a community. I think this class is a community because we learn and work together in our classroom, and I know that a community is a group of people who live or work together in the same place.
14	Look at the illustration on pages 14 and 15. What is happening in the illustration? The text says, “Being part of a community means helping to keep it clean and looking nice.” Our class is a community, so why is it important that we keep our classroom looking nice and clean? It is necessary for everyone to do their part and keep their workspace and shared spaces clean so that everyone will be able to access the materials they need to learn.	The children are cleaning up their community. It is important that we keep our classroom looking nice and clean because we will not be able to learn and work in our classroom community if it is not clean and organized.
16	The text says, “Working and playing together help make a community strong.” A community is strong when everyone in that community knows and respects one another. Do you think working and playing with your classmates help make our classroom community strong? Why do you think that?	I think working and playing with my classmates help make our classroom community strong. I think that because when we work and play together, we can get to know one another, and we can practice caring and respecting one another.
24	The text says, “Being on a team is a lot like living in a community. You have the most fun when you treat others fairly and work together.” A team works together to accomplish a goal or complete a task. Look at the illustration on page 25. What type of team are the children playing on, and what goal are they trying to accomplish? Playing on a soccer team or participating on any team is like working in a community. We know that our class is a community, so what goal are we trying to accomplish as a classroom community? Our goal as a classroom community is to learn to respect and understand one another so that we can learn from one another. We are striving to become better readers, writers, scientists, mathematicians, historians, friends, and people in our classroom. In order for us to accomplish this goal, we must learn to work together.	The children are on a soccer team, and they are trying to win the soccer game by scoring the most goals. I think that we are trying to learn from one another; we are trying to get smarter and prepare for the next grade level; we are trying to learn how to treat one another; we are trying to get better at math, science, social studies, and reading; we are trying to learn about the world around us; etc.

Whole Group Activity: Communities Work Together | Duration: 15 - 20 minutes

Tell children that they will participate in a group activity outside called Parachute. Explain that the purpose of this activity to understand the importance of teamwork. Tell children that after they have completed two rounds of the activity, they will discuss what they observed.
Take children outside. (If you are unable to take children outside, utilize a large empty space inside the classroom, such as the read-aloud area.) Place the parachute flat on the ground.
Instruct four children to move around the parachute on the ground. Tell the remaining children to sit and observe. Tell the four children to grab one handle or the edge of the parachute.
Use the chart below to explain to children the goal they are trying to accomplish for round one of the activity.

Round	Descriptions
1	The goal or object of this activity is to lift this parachute as high as you can into the air. When I say “go,” lift your part of the parachute as high as you can. Do your best. Go! (Children will not be able to lift the parachute. Have the four children place the parachute back on the ground.)

After completing round one with children, explain to children that they will experiment to see what will happen if they try to lift the parachute with everyone in the class.
Instruct children to move around the parachute on the ground. Tell children to make sure there
is enough space between themselves and their classmates.
Have children grab one of the handles on the parachute. Explain that there may not be enough handles for everyone to grab. If they do not have a handle to grab, they should tightly grab the edge of the parachute.
Use the chart below to explain to children the goal they are trying to accomplish for round two of the activity.

Round	Descriptions
2	The goal or object of this activity is to lift this parachute as high as we can into the air. If everyone does not do their part, we will not be able to reach our goal. Everyone will need to follow the directions I give you, so we can reach our goal. When I say “go,” lift your part of the parachute as high as you can. If everyone does not lift their parachute at the same time, we will not be able to accomplish our goal. Once the parachute is in the air, everyone will have to gently pull down the parachute at the same time. Remember, we need to work together. Go! (Have children lift the parachute 3 to 4 times.)

Round

Descriptions

The goal or object of this activity is to lift this parachute as high as we can into the air. If everyone does not do their part, we will not be able to reach our goal. Everyone will need to follow the directions I give you, so we can reach our goal.
When I say “go,” lift your part of the parachute as high as you can. If everyone does not lift their parachute at the same time, we will not be able to accomplish our goal.
Once the parachute is in the air, everyone will have to gently pull down the parachute at the same time. Remember, we need to work together.
Go! (Have children lift the parachute 3 to 4 times.)

Discuss the following questions with children after completing the parachute activity:

What happened when only four people tried to lift the parachute? Why weren’t they able to lift the parachute

What happened once everyone in the class attempted to lift the parachute? How were you all able to accomplish the goal of lifting the parachute? Why is it important that everyone did their part to help lift the parachute?

Remind children that like a team, communities work together to accomplish a goal. Explain to children that everyone’s contribution makes a difference in their classroom community.

Independent Work Time: Community Flower | Duration: 15 minutes

Tell children that they will create a flower that represents their classroom community. Explain to children that you will display the completed community flower to remind them that they belong to a community.
Give each child the Petals of a Flower handout, scissors, crayons, and a black marker.
Show children the cut-out Flower Center Template. Tell children that the circle represents the center of the flower.
Explain to children that they have all received a flower petal. Explain that the class will use everyone’s individual petals to complete the community flower to show that they are all important members of the classroom community.
Tell children that they will use a black marker to write their first name in the center of the petal in large letters. Explain that they will color their flower petal with crayons and use scissors to cut out the flower petal. Tell children that after they have cut out their flower petal, you will collect each petal to assemble the community flower. (Assemble the flower
by using double-sided tape to attach each petal to the flower center.)
Once all the children’s petals have been collected and attached to the center of the flower, leave a space for your flower petal. Show children the incomplete flower. Ask children if the flower is complete. (The flower is not complete because it is missing the teacher’s flower petal.) Insert your completed flower petal in the missing space. Remind children that everyone in the classroom is a valuable part of the classroom community.
Display the completed community flower in the classroom to remind children that they are all an important part of the classroom community.