Kellie Conner's Unit Planning
I. Title: Community
Helpers and Transportation
This unit is appropriate for a Social Studies
Kindergarten class. Students will be recognizing and
applying
basic economic concepts within their families and communities. We
will also explore transportation and how it is used at home and around
the world. Technology application by the students will be
integrated
throughout the unit.
III. Enabling Objectives
- I. Social Studies Competency Goal
6: The learner
will apply basic economic concepts at home, school, and the community.
- II. Social Studies Competency Goal 7: The
learner
will recognize how technology is used at home, school, and the
community.
- III. Computer/ Technology Skills
Competency
Goal 1: The learner will understand important issues of a
technology based
society and will exhibit ethical behavior in the use of computer and
other
technologies.
- IV. Computer/ Technology Skills
Competency
Goal 2:
The learner will demonstrate knowledge and skills in the use of
computer
and other technologies.
IV. Introduction
- Higher Order Thinking Skills (used throughout the
lesson)
- Recall:
Who can tell me how they have traveled before or how they traveled to
school?
- Analysis:
Have you seen other modes of transportation and where?
- Comparison:
How are cars and buses different? How are they alike?
- Inference:
What do you think would happen if we didn't have buses or cars?
- Evaluation:
What mode of transportation is the best? Why?
- Introductory parent/child newsletter (info):
- Disk Name: Mini Cruzer
USB
- Introductory electronic slide show (info):
Community Helpers and
Transportation Mini Cruzer
USB
V. Development
- Lesson 2: Explore Community
Helpers
- In this lesson, students will learn
about different
community helpers. This lesson will be an introduction to how
people
in our community provide goods and services (Social Studies Objectives
6.03 and 6.05). I will read a book about community helpers and
ask
the students if they know anyone else that helps our community.
We
will be using Kidspiration software to make a concept map about what we
know about community helpers (Computer Goal 2.01). This lesson
will
be presented whole group in the classroom. Students will explore
children's literature and other activities during center time to
further
their understanding of community helpers.
- Lesson 3: Goods and Services
- This lesson is a continuation of
lesson 2
(Social
Studies Objectives 6.03 and 6.05). We will discuss why people
work
and how those occupations help provide for a families needs and
wants.
We will visit a web sites as a class where we will identify goods (http://www.facsnet.org/tools/ref_tutor/econo_term/glossary.html#g).
This is an interactive web sites that we will complete as a whole class
(Computer Goal 2.05). This lesson will be presented whole group in the
classroom. Students will explore children's literature and other
activities during center time to further their understanding of goods
and
services.
- Lesson 4: Buy and Sell
Goods
- In this lesson, we will
discuss how we buy and sell goods in our
communities
and communities around the world (Social Studies 6.03, 6.04, 6.05, and
7.03). Each student will have to produce something and sell it to
another student. This lesson will demonstrate how we have to work
for our money, buy for our needs first, and not spend more than we
have.
This lesson will be done in the classroom as a whole group instruction
but then individual work when they are purchasing and working for their
goods.
- Lesson 5: Build a Community
- In this lesson, we will discuss what is important for a
community to be
productive and efficient (Social Studies Objectives 6.04, 6.05,
7.03).
We will talk about different things that are in our community that we
could
not do without. We will build our own virtual communities at http://pbskids.org/rogers/R_house.build.htm
(Computer Objectives 2.05 and 2.06). This will be developed
further
using various art materials. We will save the communities we
develop
to place in our portfolios. This is an interactive web site that
we will complete as a whole class in the computer lab. Students
will
explore children's literature and other activities during center time
to
further their understanding of goods and services.
- Lesson 6: Why Do We Need Transportation?
- In this lesson, we will continue where we introduced the unit
and
discuss
why we need transportation (Social Studies Objectives 6.03, 6.04, 6.05,
7.01, and 7.02). This lesson will link the prior lessons about
community,
goods and services, and occupations. Their prior experiences will
aid in their understanding of why we need transportation. We will
look at how other communities use transportation on the internet
(Computer
Objectives 1.01 and 1.13). We will look at photographs that
display
modes of transportation they haven't seen before. We will compare
them to other various modes of transportation and evaluate their
efficiency.
This lesson will be done whole group in the classroom. Students
will
explore children's literature and other activities during center time
to
further their understanding of transportation.
- Lesson 7: Invent Your Own Mode of Transportation
- In this lesson, we will look at various modes of
transportation on the
internet (Computer Objectives 1.01 and 1.13). These will be the
same
photographs as in the prior lesson. We will look back on their
differences
and similarities. We will discuss the reasons for their
characteristics
and why transportation is important in our communities (Social Studies
Objectives 6.05, 7.01, and 7.02). The students will then create
their
own model of a unique form of transportation. Students will be
expected
to discuss the characteristics of their model and how it could benefit
their community.
- Lesson 8 and 9: Interviews
- The final two lessons will be set aside for individuals to
come into
our
classroom that we will interview. The volunteers will discuss
what
their role is in their families and in our community (Social Studies
Objectives
6.03, 6.04, 6.05, 7.02, and 7.03). The kids will photograph the
volunteers
and role play significant details of their occupation (Computer
Objectives
1.01, 1.13, and 2.01). We will load the photographs onto our web
site and make them part of our portfolio. We will work together
to
write stories to go along with the photographs to explain how each
volunteer
has an important role in our community.
VI. Conclusion
Lesson 10:
Conclusion of Community Helpers and
Transportation
Unit
- Students will have a "Keep on Rolling" celebration to
display
their
portfolios to their collaborative work during this unit. We will
invite our parents and volunteers to come back so that we may share
what
we learned about them, our communities, and communities around the
world.
We will continue to discuss transportation and community helpers
throughout
the remainder of the school year.
- Higher Order Thinking Skills (used throughout the lesson)
- Recall:
Who can tell me some ways that people travel or commute in our
community
or communities around the world?
- Analysis:
What do we need for efficient transportation?
- Comparison:
How are our modes of transportation different from modes of
transportation
around the world. How are community helpers occupations different
around the world?
- Inference:
What would happen if we didn't have different occupations (community
helpers)
and various modes of transportation?
- Evaluation:
What mode of transportation or community helper is the most important?
VII. Materials/Resources Available/Needed
These information resources include references to people, items on
shelves and items in computer storage (diskettes, hard drives, and
networks).
- Expert from the United States: North Carolina
Department of Transportation/
Helen Dickens -- [email protected]
-- (919)733-7686
- Email Conferences
Shelves
Set of Books for BK-12 students: -A set of age appropriate
books and/or instructional materials for this unit plan.
- Reading Center Resources: A
list selected of relevant books located in the Reading Center.
- Chancellor, Deborah. (2001). Traveling on Land. Princeton,
New Jersey: Tow-Can Publishing LLC. This is a wonderful
non-fiction book that is gives tons of useful information about various
modes of land transportation.
- Graham, Ian. (1993). Cars, Bikes, Trains, and Other Land
Machines. New York, New York: Kingfisher
Books. This is also a wonderful non-fiction book with lots of
pictures and information about cars, bikes, trains, and other land
machines.
- Morris, A. (1990). On the Go.
New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. This book is a
wonderful
book that has photographs from all around the world showing ways that
people travel. This is an excellent book to talk about various
cultures. Pictures were shot in Peru, India, Ghana, Hong Kong,
Bali,
Greece, Egypt, Nigeria, Germany, United States, Denmark, Somalia,
Australia, and the moon.
- Curriculum Library Resources (info):
A list selected relevant curriculum library resources.
- Baer,
E. (1990). This is the
Way We Go to School: A Book About Children Around The
World. New York: Scholastic. THis is a short story
about children from thirteen different countries and how they get to
school. Their methods include walking, skating, jogging, hoping,
skiing, ridding the bus, ferry, cable cars, horse-and-buggy, trolley,
vaporetto, skies, trains, radio, bicycles, boats, metro line, and
helicopter.
- Pluckrose,
H. (1998). Machines at
Work: On the Move. Connecticut: Franklin
Watts. THis book talks about ways that people can travel and why
they would travel certain ways. SOme of the methods of
transportation discussed in the book include walking, cars, bicycles,
motorcycles, streetcars, buses, vans, trucks, trains, ferry boats,
airplanes, and many more.
- Video Resources (info)
(TV/Cable, videotape, videodisc, online digital video): A list selected
relevant video resources. A variety of resources for finding video are
found at the "info" link.
- Transportation [VHS -
Closed Captioned] by Schlessinger Media A Division of Library Video
Company. (15 minutes) (Commercial Free) This video
highlights different ways people travel and move in their
community.
- Transportation: Train
Videos for Kids: Big Trains; Little Trains [VHS - Closed
Captioned]. This video highlights trains of all sizes including
model trains, miniature railroads, and modern trains.
Drives
Web sites This is a list of useful web site
addresses for this unit plan found
using the web search engines from each of these headings.
- Expert database (info):
(Encyclopedia Britannica Online).
- General Catalog database (info):
(e.g., Yahoo.com).
- Web site Robot database (info):
- (e.g., hotbot.com) .
- Web sites from Child Safe search engines (info):
- Instructional Software (info)
- Shareware (info):
- Source: JoWood Productions, Technologiepark 4a, A-8786
Rottenmann, Austria. www.download.com
- Software requires student to establish and maintain routes
of transportation through various towns. This is a great
simulation that will raise inquiry questions!
- Commercial (info):
- Kidspiration www.kidspiration.com
- This software is wonderful! It requires the students
to organize information and represent it with graphics. This
requires higher order thinking skills and can be applied to every
subject.
- Unit Plan Topic Database: This database file will not
display on
a web page. To see and use the database, you must download it to your
computer
and open it running the same application as was used to create it.
- Comparison Spreadsheet:
- Application file. This spreadsheet file will not
display
on a web
page. To see and use the spreadsheet, you must download it to your
computer
and open it running the same application as was used to create it.
- File Name: comparisondata.xls
- Web page view.
VIII. Equipment Needed
Tasks:
- This is a list specific equipment needed and where equipment
will be
secured
in the room or returned after its checkout.
-
Computers with online access available to the students. The
computer lab will be utilized in the unit as well.
- Supplementary books/resources will be checked out from the
school media center, reading center, and curriculum resource
center. These books will stay on the shelves in the classroom.
- Television with VCR which is located in the classroom year
round.
- Instructional software such as Kidspiration which is already
installed on the classroom computer.
- Digital camera and scanner which I own personally.
These will be brought in when needed.
- Classroom layout.
- In
order to increase the productivity and asseccabilty of the computers,
they need to be moved to separate work stations with internet
access. The size of the room limits these options. My
preference for placement of these computer areas would be inside my
read zone.
IX. Evaluation
- To assist in this evaluation, one
can use the video composition begun and
continued from section IV. above. Use an easy to use video editor such
as iMovie which uses your added footage from this experience to create
a video composition that tells the story of the teaching of this unit.
From time to time in your editing add your own narration to the
videotape
reflecting on things that went well and deserve repeating and those
things
that need modification or deletion from the plan. Keep this video on
file
for the following year to review before you teach the unit again or
"burn"
the digital video version of the file to a CD or DVD disc. Keep the
disc
in your teaching and technology portfolios and reuse the videotape.
- Further technology integration:
- Grading Spreadsheet:
- Application file. This spreadsheet file will not
display
on a web
page. To see and use the spreadsheet, you must download it to your
computer
and open it running the same application as was used to create it.
- Web page view. Click this file name to see a web
view of
this spreadsheet.
- Student information Database: (used for grades,
comments
on assignments
and general student information such as emergency phone numbers and
health
issues) This database file will not display on a web page. To see
and use the database, you must download it to your computer and open it
running the same application as was used to create it.
X. Time Period
This unit will involve ten thirty
minute class periods within the regular school day. Additional
time
will be needed throughout the day for the students to be involved in
remediation and enrichment activities that will take many forms.
This time frame will allows us to cover most of the economics
objectives
many of the technological objectives for kindergarten.
Unit Plan Author: Kellie Conner/ Back
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