Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Lesson Plan

Name: Meagan Gore

Grade: 1st
Topic/Concept: Community Engagement
Materials/Resources:
• Look Where We Live! A First Book of Community Building book by Scot Ritchie
• Paper Puzzle Pieces
• Markers
• Crayons
• Tape
• Worksheet with Community Building Pictures and Fill in The Blank Sentences
• Pencils
Teaching Behavior Focus:
Our teaching behavior focus will be to “acknowledge learners’ interests and experiences
and integrate into discussion.” Since our topic is something that most everyone in the class
has a little bit of experience, especially being in school which is a community of its own, we
really want to hear the experiences of each of our students. We will do this by having
adequate wait time so that our students can gather their thoughts before sharing. We can
also help attend to equity by making sure we call on different students each time and not
having the same 3 people share. This can also be achieved by randomly picking puzzle
pieces with numbers when it comes time to talk as a class. That way anyone will have a
chance to share and there is equal opportunity.

Learning Objectives (measurable):

Students will be able to recognize and identify parts of their community.

Students will be able to label important businesses and identify their function within a
community.

Students will be able to come up with ideas for community service projects.

Standards:

1.G.1.2 Give examples showing the location of places (home, classroom, school, and
community)

1.H.1.1 Explain how and why neighborhoods and communities change over time.

Assessment Plan (How will you know that your students met the objective?):
Students will be able to successfully label important community buildings and locations on
the given handout. They will be able to explain their favorite location within the community
to the teacher and their peers.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

New Vocabulary: “Look Where We Live! A First Book of Community Building” by Scot Ritchie)

Community: a group of people who share something in common, such as the neighborhood
they live in, interests or hobbies.

Community Garden: a garden shared by members of a community. Sometimes people have

their own small area to take care of, and sometimes everyone works together to take care
of the whole garden.

Community Worker: someone whose job helps the community run safely and smoothly.
Crossing guards, sanitation workers, firefighters, paramedics, and police officers are all
examples of community workers.

Donate: to give time, money or things to a charity or good cause.

Mural: a large painting on a wall or ceiling.

Public Building: a building that is used by everyone such as a library or a museum.

Recycling: a process that allows something to be reused. Many communities have recycling
programs for materials such as paper, plastic, and glass.
Retirement Home: a building where older people live, usually in their own apartments.

Lesson Development (hook/engage/launch, step by step in real time, include questions you will
ask in real time, closure/revisiting learning objectives):

Launch (5min):
“Alright class, today we will be talking about community engagement and look at different
places in communities. Does someone want to tell me what they think community
engagement means?” (The teacher will then call on students to have them share their
thoughts. The teacher will then use what the students have said to come up with a
definition of community engagement.) “Turn and talk to the person sitting next to you and
share what you think is an important place in a community.”

“Ok, so the book we will be reading today will show us many different places within a
community. There might be some places that you know and have visited before, and there
might be some new places.”

“Before we get started, let’s talk about some new words that we might hear. Does anyone
know what it means to donate something?” (the teacher will use wait time to ensure
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

students can answer) “Great! There will be a lot of points in this book where we will be
thinking about donating and its importance in the community.”
“Another word we might hear is mural. Does anyone know what a mural is?” (wait time for
students to answer) “A mural is a large painting. You can usually see it on the side of a
building somewhere. They can have words, pictures, or just a bunch of colors.”

“Alright, now let’s go ahead and start reading our book Look Where We Live! A First Book of
Community Building.”

I Do (10min):
After the launch, we will ask the students to join us on the carpet (if they are not already on
the carpet). “It is time to begin our story time.” Once the students are all on the carpet, they
will listen as I read the text “Look Where We Live! A First Book of Community Building” by
Scot Ritchie. I will explain to the students that they must listen closely because they will
have to explain their favorite place in their community and identify community locations
and buildings. I will read the title and take a quick picture walk. The following are stopping
points/ think aloud points.

Pg. 4: I will stop at this page and let the students answer the question asked on page four
and give wait time and then allow them to share. Ask them “What community do you live
in?” The Joyner community?” I live in the NC State Community. Also, explain what a
community is here.

Pg. 12: I will stop and read the statement at the bottom of page twelve. Then, ask students
questions on some places in their community that they could clean up.I will give them some
wait time and then have 1-2 people share out.

Pg. 20: I will stop at this page and let the students answer the question asked on page
twenty and give wait time and then allow them to turn and talk to their partner. Also,
explain what a community garden is here.

Pg. 26: I will stop at this page and let the students answer the question asked on page
twenty-six and give wait time and then allow them to share with a new partner.

Pg. 28: I will stop at this page and let the students answer the question asked on page
twenty-eight and give wait time and then allow them to share out.

After the read aloud, the students return to their desk for the next portion of the lesson.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

We Do (10 min):
After the read aloud, we will pass out a worksheet that has pictures of different locations
within a community and fill in the blank sentences. “As a class, we are going to go through
each fill in the blank sentence and figure out together what building the picture is and label
it.” The students will fill in the blank themselves with the correct label of the building.
Throughout the activity, students can share their reasons as to what they think the building
may be using personal experience and knowledge from the read-aloud.

You Do (5min):
After finishing the worksheet, we will give each student a paper puzzle piece and let them
pick and draw their favorite place in the community. Make sure that they know they cannot
draw their own house; it needs to be a location other people visit regularly. They can use
examples from the book, worksheet, or another idea they may have.

Closure (5min):
Once everyone has a chance to draw their favorite place on their puzzle piece, the teachers
will call out random puzzle piece numbers (1-20) for the student to explain their favorite
place. After the student has shared, the lesson will conclude with the teachers calling each
student (1-20) in sequential order to connect their puzzle piece and build the community
puzzle on the whiteboard in the front of the classroom. Then, we will end with reminding
students to think of a way they can implement a community project.