Preserving Community:A Second Grade Unit Lesson on Community

Samantha Kiss

SST 309. December 15, 2015

Table of Contents:

Stage I:

- Unit Overview, Unit Rationale, Considering the Learners……………………………….2- Enduring Understanding, Compelling Question,

Behavioral Objectives, Key concepts, Important Knowledge and Skills………………...3Stage II:

- Descriptions of Informal and Formal Assessments………………………………………4- Overview and Rationale for Informal, Formal, and Performance Assessments………….4- Performance Assessment…………………………………………………………………5- Check list for Performance Assessment………………………………………………….6

Stage III:

- Unit Calendar…………………………………………………………………………….7- Catalog of Lessons and Book List……………………………………………………..8-9- Recycling Lesson Plan………………………………………………………………10-11- Attached Recycle Worksheet…………………………………………………………...12- Littering Lesson Plan…………………………………………………………………13-14- Attached Littering Worksheet…………………………………………………………..15- Importance of Trees Lesson Plan…………………………………………………….16-17- Attached Photos about Trees…………………………………………………………18-19

Stage IV:

- Reflection………………………………………………………………………….…20-21- Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………….22

Stage IUnit Overview

- How can I preserve my community? For this unit of instruction, I will be focused on teaching my students the importance of preserving community and how that can be attained. I will help students gain knowledge about what it means to help and preserve a community. Students will be able to demonstrate ways in which a community can be saved including: recycling, keeping the community clean by not littering, and by learning the importance of planting trees. These are all activities that I would like to have my students participate in order to further understand the meaning of preserving a community.

- Students will have already learned the meaning of community. They would also already be informed of who is in a community. I plan to teach this unit of instruction towards the end of the unit of community. I would also plan this week of instruction around the time of National Green Day.

Unit Rationale- The reason to teach how to preserve a community is so students understand how to

interact with their environment to help better the world. Right now, there is a lot of talk of environmental issues and it is important to teach students at a young age on how to responsibly act with the environment.

- I will be teaching my students on how to clean up the environment in which they live. If students can get this mindset that they need to keep their community clean all of the time, they will hopefully grow up with the same mindset and will be able to teach future generations. I expect this unit to be fun for the students since I am planning on getting them out of the classroom and into the natural world so they are able to actively participate in their environment. In the Michigan State Standards, there is a section of standards titled Environment and Society and I will be fulfilling those standards, plus others from different sections of the social studies standards.

Considering the Learners- Students will already understand the concept of community since I will have already

taught that. They will also have a few vague ideas on recycling and planting trees. Each classroom at Hamilton Elementary has recycling bins and students are constantly putting paper into those bins. Students also plant a tree one day a year for National Tree Day.

- To get the students engaged in this topic of keeping their community clean, I will have to use examples close to home for them. I will ask how many students have seen garbage in their lawn or how many students have seen a tree get cut down. I could also ask whether any students have actually recycled. I want them to get thinking about their own lives and experiences before I present the whole picture of community.

- I think students will find the idea of why our environment is struggling quite difficult. There are big topics about the environment and I will need to use lots of pictures as to why the environment is being harmed. I think that will be my best chance at getting this topic through to their minds.

Enduring Understanding/Big Idea:Students should have the knowledge of how to preserve a community environmentally.

Compelling Question: How can we preserve

our community?

Supporting Questions: What does preserve mean? How do I act in my environment to help preserve it? What harms the environment in our community?

Behavioral Objectives:

Students will be able to: S.IP.02.11 Make purposeful observation of the natural world using the appropriate

senses.-I can observe my communities environment

L.OL.02.14 Identify the needs of plants.-I can understand what a tree needs to survive: water, sun, and soil.

2-G5.0.1 Suggest ways people can responsibly interact with the environment in the local community.-I can say how humans interact with the environment in a good way.

2-G5.0.2 Describe positive and negative consequences of changing the physical environment of the local community.-I can talk about what changes the environment and how it affects it.

2-G2.0.2 Describe how the local community is part of a larger region.-I can say how our community is part of a state which is part of a country.

2-C5.0.3 Design and participate in community improvement projects that help or inform others.-I can create an informational poster on recycling. I can plant a tree and understand how that is helping the community.

Key Concepts:-Community-Environment-Recycling-Littering

Important Knowledge:-Students will know…. *What a community is * What the environment is * How recycling helps the environment *How littering hurts the environment * How planting trees can help the environment

Important Skills:-Students will need to know how to construct a basic poster- Students will need to know how to write basic sentences- Students will need to follow directions- Group discussion and group participation are needed, as well

Stage IIAssessments: Performance Assessment Overview, Rationale, and Objectives (see attached):

- For this performance assessment, I want the students to get creative and teach other students about the environment. The students will already have the knowledge and sources they need to create a poster about the environment. This project will help the students’ knowledge grow and will also inform others of an important issue in today’s environment.

Description of Informal Assessments:- I will be asking informal questions

including: What is a community? What is the environment? How can we help the environment? What is recycling? What is littering? How can we keep our community clean? How does planting trees help the environment and our community?

- I also think group discussions work great after given a prompt or question. Then I walk around to observe the conversations.

- I will also have a few simple worksheets for the students to complete. These are for their benefit and I will observe what they wrote and give suggestions. They will keep these for further study purposes.

- The students will also complete a KWL sheet on recycling during the first day of instruction.

Description of Formal Assessment:- Students will be asked to answer a

question that I will have written on the board about planting trees. They will write the answer in their reflection journals and turn them in for a grade. The question will be: Why are trees good for the environment?

Overview and Rationale for Sample Assessment (see attached):

- Students will complete a KWL worksheet about recycling during the first day of instruction.

- One worksheet is for a lesson plan about recycling. It asks the students to list what they can recycle.

- After the lesson is taught, they will hopefully have the knowledge of why only certain materials can be recycled and renewed.

- Another worksheet will be given to them about littering. It asks to list three reasons why littering is bad for the environment. It also asks the students to write down what they should do instead of litter.

Performance AssessmentTitle: Environmental PosterGrade: 2nd Compelling Question: How can we preserve our community?

Objective: The purpose of this assignment if for students to use their creativity to make a poster about the environment. Having the students make posters allows for me to understand what each student knows about what is good for the environment and what I have missed as a teacher.

Materials: Poster board, Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencils, Glue, Construction Paper, Scissors, Magazines

Steps: 1) First, I will split the class up into groups of two or three, depending on numbers.2) I will then describe the project. The focus of this project will be to inform others around

the school about what is good for the environment and how we can preserve our community. Before we do anything with the posters, the students will have already learned about recycling, littering, and the importance of planting trees and will have a basic idea on the knowledge needed to be used on the poster.

3) I will ask students to make a title of their poster. 4) Next, the students will write at least three bullet points on ways we can preserve the

environment of our community (recycling, not littering, planting trees). Students will also be asked to write one sentence on why that item is good for the environment.

5) I will also ask for students to cut out pictures from magazines that pertain to any idea of recycling, littering, or planting trees.

6) Once the students are finished with their poster, we will hang them around the hallways for others to see.

Guiding Questions: What is recycling? How does it help our environment? How does it help Hamilton? Why should people recycle? Who all recycles? What happens if we don’t recycle? Why should people not litter? What does littering do for the environment? What should people do instead of littering? How does planting trees help the environment? Who all plants trees?

Check List Yes No

1) Do you have a title? _______ _______

2) Do you have at least three facts about the environment? _______ _______

3) Do you have three sentences on why each item is good for

the environment? _______ ________

4) Do you have pictures on your poster? _______ _______

5) Did you check your spelling? _______ _______

6) Do you have all names on it? _______ _______

Stage III: Unit Calendar: Preserving Community

Day 1

Introduction to Recycling

Day 2

Creating Recycling Posters

Day 3

Introduction to what littering does to the environment

Day 4

Clean-Up Playground Day

Day 5

Planting Trees

KWL Chart

Book, Worksheet

Creative Informational Posters

Book

Worksheet

Cleaning up the School Playground

Book, Integrated Literacy Lesson, Plant Trees

Informal Assessment:

KWL chart

Class discussion

Guiding Questions Worksheet

Formal:

Guided Questions Posters

Informal:

Group Participation

Informal:

Worksheet

Group Discussions

Informal:

Group Discussion

Group Participation

Informal

Group Participation

Formal:

Reflection Journal Question

Stage III

Catalog of Lessons:

Day 1) Introduction to Recycling: This lesson will act as an introduction into the unit. We will start off learning about recycling. Students will complete a KWL worksheet about recycling. After filling out the first two portions of the worksheet, I will read a book titled Recycle! A Handbook for Kids. We will have a class discussion about what recycling is and why it is good for our environment. Lastly, I will have the students complete another worksheet on recycling. We will go over this worksheet as a class so the students can refer back to it throughout the unit. (30 minutes, Elaborate Lesson Plan)

Day 2) Performance Assessment on Recycling: During our second day of instruction, students will be asked to create an informational poster about recycling. They will be put into groups and will be asked to create a title for their poster and list three ways why recycling is good for the environment. I want the students to be creative in making these posters. Once everyone is done, I will allow students to find a place in the school to hang their posters. This will inform other students of the school about recycling. (30-45 minutes, Performance Assessment)

Day 3) Introduction to Littering: Now, I will introduce a new concept of littering. I will begin by gathering the class together and asking them whether they have ever seen trash on the ground and what their reactions were. Then, I will read the book What if Everybody Did That?. After I read the book, I will ask the students a few more questions about littering and what it is and what would happen if everyone threw their trash on the ground. Next, I will have the students go back to their tables to complete the worksheet on littering. They will be allowed to work with the people at their tables. Once the worksheet is complete, go over the worksheet as a class so every student has the main ideas of why littering is bad. (30 minutes, Elaborate Lesson Plan)

Day 4) Cleaning Our School: After learning about littering and why it is bad for the environment, I will take my class outside to the school playground and have them clean up the trash that they see. This will allow students to get outside and actively participate in cleaning up the environment. Once the trash is picked up, I will ask the students why we cleaned up the school. We will have a brief review on why littering harms the environment. (20 minutes)

Day 5) Planting Trees: The last day of our unit will be the importance of planting trees. I will start off by reading the book Who Will Plant a Tree?. I will ask students to make predictions about who plants trees before reading. Then after reading, I will ask them once more who plants trees. Next, I will show two pictures about trees. One will have

them answer the question about who lives in trees and what would happen if we cut those trees down. The other picture will show statistics about what a difference one tree makes. Next, show the YouTube video “Learning About Trees” by PBS Parents. I will ask the students if they heard any other reasons why trees are important by watching this video. Lastly, I will take the students outside to plant a tree together. At the very end of this lesson, students will be asked to write a few sentences about why trees are good for the environment. These sentences will be a formative assessment. (60 minutes, Elaborate Lesson Plan).

Book List:

1) Recycle! A Handbook for Kids written by Gail Gibbons. This book is an informational book about recycling written for children. This book has great information about what recycling is and why it is important. This book will be used to introduce the topic of recycling. Students will have class discussions about this book and why recycling is important for the environment. Once the book is read, students will complete a worksheet while referring back to the book.

2) What if Everybody Did That? Written by Ellen Javernick. I would use this book to introduce the topic of littering This book answers the question about what would happen if everyone littered. I would want my students to be able to answer that question once the book is done. We will participate in a group discussion about littering once the book is done. After the discussion, students will work in groups to complete a worksheet about littering.

3) Who Will Plant A Tree? Written by Jerry Pallotta. I will read this book to my class to introduce the topic of planting trees and why trees are important for the environment. Before reading this book, I would ask students to make a prediction about who plants trees. After I read the book, I will ask the students once more about who they think plants trees. This book is great for getting students to think outside the box of how trees get planted.

Recycling Lesson Plan

Your Name(s): Samantha Kiss

Length of lesson: Approximately 30 minutes

Title of lesson: Introduction to Recycling

Overview: This lesson is the beginning of our unit plan. We will first learn about recycling. First, I will start out with a KWL worksheet and have the students fill out what they already know about recycling and what they want to know about recycling. We will do this as a class and I will write everything on the board for them to copy. Next, we will read a book about recycling. Once that is finished, we will have a group discussion on why recycling is good and what recycling is. Lastly, I will have the students fill out a worksheet about recycling.

Objectives: 2-G5.0.1 Suggest ways people can responsibly interact with the environment in the local

community.-I can say how humans interact with the environment in a good way.

2-G5.0.2 Describe positive and negative consequences of changing the physical environment of the local community.-I can talk about what changes the environment and how it affects it.

Anticipated student conceptions or challenges to understanding: Recycling is a hard concept to understand. Why do people recycle and what exactly is recycling? I hope to better inform students about the importance of recycling and what recycling means. I do not want students to think that everything goes back into landfills so I will be sure to explain what recycled material goes back into.

Materials/Evidence/Sources: - The book Recycle! A Handbook for Kids by Gail Gibbons- KWL worksheet (in Stage II)- Recycling worksheet (in Stage II)

Assessment: Students will be informally assessed through group discussion and the worksheet about recycling. This worksheet is for the students to keep and study.

Instructional Sequence: 1. First, introduce the topic of recycling simply by saying today we will be talking about recycling.2. Next, pass out the KWL worksheets and explain to them what they will be doing. As a whole class, discuss what the students already know. Write the answers on the board so the students can copy them into their own KWL worksheet. Then, ask the students what they want to learn. Also

write those answers on the board so students can copy. Last, tell the students that they will finish the rest after today’s lesson. (10 minutes)3. After the KWL, have the class gather together and read the book Recycle! A Handbook for Kids aloud. (5 minutes)4. Once the book is done, start up a group discussion about why recycling is good. Also ask the students what recycling is. Refer back to the book as needed. (5 minutes)5. Lastly, have the students go back to their seats and hand them the worksheet about recycling. Ask them to fill it out to the best of their ability. Once everyone is done, go over the worksheet as a class so students can fill their entire worksheet out. Tell the students to put these worksheets in their folders for later uses. (10 minutes)6. This lesson is now concluded, tell them that tomorrow they will be doing a performance assessment of creating a recycling poster.

www.mpmschoolsupplies.com. Web

Littering Lesson Plan

Your Name(s): Samantha Kiss

Length of lesson: 30 minutes

Title of lesson: Introduction to Littering

Overview: During this lesson, students will be introduced to the concept of littering and how it is bad for the environment and our community. First, I will ask the students if they have ever seen trash on the side of the road. I will also ask them what they think when they see trash on the ground. We will have a short group discussion of why they think people do that. Next, I will read a book about littering. After I read the book, we will have another group discussion about what littering is and how we can stop our environment from being filled with trash. Lastly, they will complete a worksheet about littering.

Objectives: S.IP.02.11 Make purposeful observation of the natural world using the appropriate

senses.-I can observe my communities environment

2-G5.0.1 Suggest ways people can responsibly interact with the environment in the local community.-I can say how humans interact with the environment in a good way.

2-G5.0.2 Describe positive and negative consequences of changing the physical environment of the local community.-I can talk about what changes the environment and how it affects it.

Anticipated student conceptions or challenges to understanding: Students may not understand the concept of littering and that it means people throwing their trash on the land instead of a trash can. I want to really make sure students understand what littering is by giving plenty of examples and asking them if they have other examples.

Materials/Evidence/Sources: - The book What if Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick.- Worksheet on littering

Assessment: The students will be informally assessed during group and class discussions. They will also be informally assessed through the worksheet on littering.

Instructional Sequence: 1. First, start a class discussion about littering. Ask the students if they have ever seen trash in their yard or on the side of the road. Ask the students if they know what littering is. I will ask students their opinions of seeing trash on the road or wherever else they see trash.2. Then I will read aloud the book What if Everybody Did That?

3. After reading the book, I will ask them the question so what is everybody threw trash on the ground? What would our environment look like? How would that harm the environment? What are ways to keep the environment clean? Refer back to the book as needed.4. Lastly, I will have the students go back to their seats and complete the worksheet about littering. Read the directions aloud. Students can work in groups with the other students at their tables.5. Once everyone has completed the worksheet, ask students to come back together and have one last class discussion about the worksheet. Write answers on the board so students can copy answers. Tell students to keep this worksheet for further reference.6. Inform students that tomorrow they will be cleaning up the schools playground and front lawn by picking up trash.

LitteringInstructions: Below, I want you to list three reasons why littering is bad for the

environment and bad for our community.

1)

________________________________________________________.

2)

________________________________________________________.

3)

________________________________________________________.

Further Instructions: Now I want you to answer the below question with a

complete sentence.

Question: What should we do with our trash instead of littering?

1)

________________________________________________________.

Integrated Literacy Assignment

Your Name(s): Samantha Kiss

Length of lesson: Approximately 60 minutes

Title of lesson: Why are trees good for the environment?

Overview: During this lesson, students will understand the importance of trees. First, I will read a book to the class about the importance of trees. After this book, I will ask comprehension questions and observe their answers. Next, I will show a picture of a tree to the class and ask them various questions about what the picture shows. Third, I will show a YouTube video talking about the importance of trees. Once the video is done, I will ask more comprehensive questions. Lastly, I will take all of the students outside where we will be planting a tree. That will conclude this lesson. A formative assessment will come at the end of the lesson to see what knowledge the students gained. The formative assessment will come as a reflection question about the importance of trees and they will hand these in to be graded.

Objectives: - Students will responsibly interact with their environment by planting a tree in their

community. (2.G5.0.1)- Students will be able to describe the positive impact on the environment by planting a

tree. (2.G5.0.2)

Anticipated student conceptions or challenges to understanding: Many students probably think the only way trees are planted are by humans. The book Who Will Plant a Tree? Will address this misconception. Students may also wonder whether a single tree can really improve the environment and that is why I added the second picture with the statistics about a single tree and what it does for the environment.

Materials/Evidence/Sources: - The book Who Will Plant a Tree? Written by Jerry Pallotta- The books All About Trees Written by Jane Dickinson, Tree Written by David Burnie, I

Wonder Why Trees Have Leaves Written by Andrew Charman, and Discovering Trees Written by Douglas Florian. These books are for the students to read if they have extra time or any other questions about trees. These will not be a part of the lesson.

- The YouTube video “Learning About Trees” and a computer - The picture of a tree (attached below)- A small birch tree- A small shovel- A bag of soil

Assessment: This lesson will include informal and formal assessment. For the informal assessment, I will be asking the students various questions throughout the lesson and will observe their answers. For the formal assessment, I will have the students answer a reflection question. I will ask students to write three sentences explaining why planting trees helps our environment and our community.

Instructional Sequence: 1. First, get the book Who Will Plant a Tree?.2. Before reading the book, and without showing the students the cover of the book, ask the students to make a prediction on who plants trees. Then, show the cover of the book and ask the students if their predictions have changed based on the cover. 3) Read the book aloud to the class, pointing out along the way if their predications have come true or not. 4) Once the book is over, ask them to list all of the different animals and ways they planted trees. (15 minutes)5) Next, show the picture of the tree with all of the different animals inside. 6) Ask the students why they think trees are important based on the picture. Who all lives in trees? What happens if we cut the trees down, where would these animals go? Make a connection to the students’ homes. For example, ask them how they would feel if their home was destroyed. 7) Next, show the picture with statistics on it about trees. For this picture, just read the facts aloud to the class and stress on the importance of trees. Not only are trees homes for animals but they are healthy for our environment. (5-10 minutes)8) Now show the PBS YouTube video “Learning About Trees.” Before playing the video, tell the students to be listening for more reasons why trees are important. After the video, have a class discussion about why trees are important for our environment. (10 minutes)8) Lastly, take the students outside in the front of the school, and plant a birch tree with the students while reiterating the importance of trees and how planting a single tree is really preserving our community. (15-20 minutes)9) At the very end of this lesson, a formative assessment will be given. Ask each student write three sentences about why trees are important for the environment and have them turn it in. (10-15 minutes)

Learning About Trees | Adventures in Learning | PBS Parents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abVvZLyZAIg

Stage IV

Reflection:

Quite frankly, I was nervous about creating this unit plan for our final project. After

reading the rubric, I knew how much work was going to need to go into this unit plan. Overall

though, I think everything went well. I chose the topic of preserving community in a second

grade classroom and focused on ways to help the environment. I am taking two classes this

semester that teach topics of the importance of saving the environment so I thought it would be

convenient to tie three of my classes together. I have always found interest in saving the

environment and I think it is very important, as a future teacher, to teach the next generation on

ways to help the environment. This topic happened to fit nicely with learning about community

and how, as a community, we can better the environment in which we live. I had fun with this

topic while creating a unit plan.

The first thing I needed to think about what which topics to include while thinking of

ways to help the environment. I chose recycling because I am sure the school recycles and the

students would have basic knowledge of what it means. The second topic I chose was littering

because I figure many students would have seen trash on the side of the road before. I want to

teach students to responsibly act in the environment and throwing trash in a trash can is a good

way to act responsibly. Last, I chose planting trees because this would allow the class to get

outside and actively participate in betting the environment by planting a tree. Those are the

reasoning’s behind my unit plan.

I understand the importance of social studies and I feel like the bettering the environment

will soon be a huge topic in the social studies and why people are doing the things they are

doing. It also brings communities together while working towards the goal of betting the

environment. I would definitely use this unit plan in my teaching in the future, especially around

national tree day or green day. Learning about the environment is fun and teaching about ways to

make the environment better is important. The biggest challenge for this unit plan was Stage III.

There was a lot of lesson planning and getting everything together but I am also very proud of

my Stage III. It was a lot of work but I finished it. I know that teaching will be difficult and I also

understand that lessons change based on how the class is reacting to things. I think lesson

planning is a very crucial thing for a teacher to be able to create.

Works Cited

Photos:

Lizzote, T. (2013, February 2). Animal Tree. In Tracy Lizzote Studios. Retrieved December 14,

2015, from http://tracylizottestudios.blogspot.com/2013/02/animal-tree.html

Plant a Tree Today (2014, November 10). Retrieved December 14, 2015, from

http://compassionkindness.com/2014/11/10/the-best-time-to-plant-a-tree-is-now-each-

one-plant-one/

Books:

Gibbons, G. (1996). Recycle! A Handbook for Kids. N.p.: Little, Brown books for Young

Readers. Boston.

Javernick, E. (2010). What if Everybody Did That? N.p.: Two Lions.

Pallota, J. (2010). Who Will Plant A Tree? N.p.: Sleeping Bear Press