Aly Boyd

Social Studies Lesson

Goals/Objectives: SWBAT increase their understanding of how to cooperate with their peers.
Standards:
5.2.1.C.3 Explain what makes someone a good citizen in the classroom and school
5.4.1.B Describe how classrooms can work together
Rendell Center Civics Program: We the Civics Kids Scope and Sequence: Rights and
Responsibilities: Working cooperatively class/school citizenship
Materials and Preparation: chart paper and chart markers, plastic cups, rubber band and
strings (enough for 3 groups of 4 students and one group of 5 students)
Classroom Arrangement and Management Issues:
I plan to do this activity as a whole class. The class is seating in clusters of four or 5 so they will
remain in their groups for this activity. If there seem to be social behavior issues within groups
on the day of the lesson I will switch students seating as needed.
Plan: (35 minutes)
The Hook: (7-10 min.)
Ask students what they know about cooperation. I will share at time that I have
cooperated then ask a few students to do the same. Using a web format, we will brainstorm and
record as a class ways that we can cooperate.
The Body: (15-20 min):
While students remain seated, I will introduce the materials saying, heres the activity,
Im going to give each group one blue cup and one rubber band with strings. There is one rule:
you can only touch the strings. Your job, as a team, is to cooperate to figure out how to pick up
the cup using the strings but not your hands. You have two jobs (jobs and rule will be written on
the whiteboard for reference). Your first job is to discuss as a team three ways you will
cooperate to complete this task. After you tell me your 3 ways, I can give you your cup and you
may begin. Who can tell me what can you touch during this task?
Student: the strings
T: Can you touch the cup?
S: No
T: Remember we are working on cooperation. Ok, when youre group is ready to tell me 3 ways
you will cooperate; you can quietly put your thumbs up.
I will circulate around the room as students work together to figure out how they can
work as a team to lift the cup. (This task is achieved if all students pull their piece of string in
four directions with equal pressure). If students need reminders about how to cooperate I will
direct them to the anchor chart or conversation we had at the beginning of the lesson.

Closure: (7-10 min.)

Groups will congratulate one another on their cooperation, rather than their achievement, and
pose for a cooperation picture with their groups. Students will discuss how they can continue to
cooperate as a class. Ideas will be added to the anchor chart.
Assessment of the Goals/Objectives: Students will be assessed based on teacher
observations of cooperation as the teacher walks around. Each group will be asked to share out
how they cooperated to pick up their cups as an exit ticket.
Anticipating Students Responses and Teachers Possible Responses:
a) Some students may resist working with others, as this is not a common practice in this
classroom. I will ensure groups of students are broken up into heterogeneous groups
including students who excel at cooperation and those who need extra scaffolding.
b) I will also guide students using direct instruction or guiding question should they need
additional scaffolding.
Accommodations:
a) Early finishers will be given additional cups and asked to make a pyramid using
what theyve learned about cooperation.
b) Students who are appearing to reach frustration level will be allowed to take a
break until they are feeling better.
Extension: I will take photographs of students cooperating, print them and add them to the
displayed anchor chart so student can see evidence of their cooperative efforts for the
remainder of the year.

What?
To keep with the civics practice that is being emphasized at Stanton this year, I will
facilitate a lesson that focuses on cooperation and what can be achieved when students work
together. Students have created a classroom bill of rights and have repeatedly written and
spoke about how to act on their rights and responsibilities. I intend to give them a tactile,
tangible example of what it looks like when students are cooperating and working together,
which is one of their responsibilities. I will assess the students understanding through Levstik
and Bartons idea that [a] teachers kid-watching skills and a willingness to document her
observations are the best tools she has for assessing this process (2011, p. 30) by
photographing the experience and displaying this documentation with their recorded thoughts in
order to have a specific record of their learning.

How?
Discussion, inquiry and concrete modeling will be used to convey cooperation. Through
these varied modalities I am putting Gardners theory of multiple intelligences into practice.
Through enabling student discussion before and after the students concretely model
cooperation, I will be able to use a constructivist perspective to support our classroom discourse
and access and build upon their prior knowledge. The norms in this classroom do not attend to
cooperation so this task will be used to begin to support the norm of cooperation and community
within the first grade. The most important tools in this lesson are the students themselves. The
cup and strings serve as a physical representation of cooperation, which may seem abstract to
first graders.
Why?
As I am in a first grade classroom in a school where there has been little introduction to
social studies until this year, I decided teaching overarching concepts that will cater to the
students historical and contextual understanding later in their education was most beneficial.

Since the school is focusing on civics in order to increase the citizenship in their school and
decrease violent incidents, I saw a need to address cooperation as a predecessor to
compromise in order to build on the students knowledge about rights and responsibilities. By
asking students to participate in a cooperative activity it increases the norms from cooperation in
this classroom. I do not observe collaborative work in this classroom and, by aligning with the
pilot civics program at the school; cooperation is a necessary skill in building a positive
classroom community. I observe a high need for students learning how to work with and solve
problems with one another. Participating in cooperative activities seems to be the first step in
building a unified classroom. Ultimately it serves to build a foundation of mutual trust and
respect, and freedom from some of the constraints of coverage (Levstik & Barton, 2011, p 31).