Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students use the mixed media masterpiece by Jeannie Baker to take a detailed look at how people can transform their communities.  From urban blight to urban paradise, the gradual unfolding of home and community takes place under Baker’s masterful designs.  The text is wordless, so children work out and tell the story as they go.  It is a challenge, but they love it and are drawn into the story through their own efforts to understand the images.  I use the same text in Grade 3’s Urban Planning unit, but this version is adapted for younger students.

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

K-1 

Objective:

To understand that people’s actions influence the communities in which they live and that it is possible to create a lovely neighborhood through hard work and care for the environment.  (AASL 3.1.5, “Connect learning to community issues.”)

Suggested Time:

35-40 minutes

Success Criteria:

Working individually, make a simple sketch to show how an unkept urban neighborhood can become an attractive and healthy neighborhood.  (Key Concepts: Change and Responsibility.)

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Welcome the children.  Ask them to tell you about some of the things they have been learning in their Unit of Inquiry on communities.  Remind them that they have learned both about people and places in communities.  Explain that in today’s lesson, they will take a close look at a city neighborhood that was not a nice place to live.  But, something happened, and the community changed.  Ask the children to look carefully at the pictures.  They should look for what has changed in the community and what caused it to change.

Inform the children that the book has no words, so they will need to provide the dialogue to tell the story.

2. Main:

Teach Home by Jeannie Baker.  If you can enlarge the pictures, please do.  The mixed media images are full of intricate detail, and the better the children can see the city, the easier it will be for them to make contributions to the discussion.

For each two-page spread, the reader is looking through a window at the city beyond.  There are two-page spreads representing approximately 24 years.  Discuss each of the illustrations with the children.  Let them look and see what is going on in the picture and what changes from picture to picture.

• Couple w/newborn: (Old fence, concrete, roads, urban blight, neighbor planting a bush.)
• Toddler Child:  (Green grass in the yard.  Baby pool, neighbor’s bush has grown.)
• Tracy at 4: (New fence, play area, curious neighbor boy.)
• Tracy at 6: (Garden path, neighbor gives Tracy a plant.)
• Tracy at 8: (Part of old fence removed, Tracy is gardening, Old man and boy planting a tree across the street in the abandoned lot.)
• Tracy at 10: (Lot across the street is now a gathering spot.  Graffitti gone. “Reclaim Your Street” sign.)
• Tracy at 12: (Garden replacing concrete across the street.  Tracy’s garden flourishing. Neighbor making a new wall.)
• Tracy at 14: (Tracy discovers make-up, her garden is thriving.  Birds, children, elderly enjoying safe outdoor spaces.)
• Tracy at 16: (Park and lake in distance.  Tracy has a boyfriend.)
• Tracy at 18: (Tracy is considering universities.)
• Tracy at 20: (Red-haired boy is the new friend.  Neighborhood looking healthy and green.)
• Tracy at 22: (Tracy gets married in her neighborhood.)
• Tracy at 24: (Tracy and her husband welcome their own baby to a much different neighborhood.)

Pass out the student assignment sheet and ask the children to make a drawing that shows an urban neighborhood they believe would be an attractive and healthy community space.

Extension Class Project.  Using a paper roll, sketch the basic outline of a simple city.  During breaks and in free time, have the children transform the community just as Ms. Baker does in her books.  This would be a project that might stretch a week or two, but if you have a table to dedicate to the effort and some scraps of cloth, paper, twigs, sandpaper, etc. the kids could make their own mixed media neighborhood.  They could add trees, birds, potted gardens, murals, lakes, sculpture, lawns, playgrounds, children, just as Ms. Baker did in her text.

3. Conclusion:

As the lesson wraps up, ask the children why the people worked so hard to change their neighborhood.   Was their result worth the effort?   What is our responsibility as citizens and neighbors?  Should we wait for someone else to make a nice neighborhood for us, or should we contribute to the effort?  What do you think you can do to make a positive difference in your own community?  (Key Concept: Responsibility)

Resources:

1. Copy of Home by Jeannie Baker.  (In the UK Market the book was sold under the title Belonging.)
2. Student Handout (attached).
3. Paper, pencils, and art supplies to support your extension project.

Notes:

If you have already used this book in another lesson, use another of Ms. Baker’s mixed media books.  She has several that could be adapted for this lesson within the Communities Unit of Inquiry.

Recommended books for this lesson:

Home by Jeannie Baker.  (In the UK Market the book was sold under the title Belonging.)

Key Terms:

Urban Renewal, Cities, Neighborhoods, Neighbors, Plants, Home, Families, Change, Responsibility

Student Handout, Home

Lesson Overview:

The last lesson looked at places in the community (Katy and the Big Snow).  In contrast, this lesson focuses on people in the community.  By now the children should have some understanding of the kinds of jobs people do in communities.  Using this understanding and some of the nonfiction collection, children will create a five-petal foldable to illustrate the diversity of jobs needed in a community.

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

K – 1

Objective:

Using a five-petal foldable, students will make a 3D graphic organizer to show their understanding of helpers in our communities.  (AASL 2.1.6, “Use the writing process, media and visual literacy and technology skills to create products that express new understandings.”)

Suggested Time:

45-50 minutes

Success Criteria:

Each student will complete a petal-shaped foldable to show his or her understanding of important people in the community.

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Remind the students that last week they read Katy and the Big Snow and drew maps that included important places in the community.  This week, instead of considering places in the community, students will consider people in the community.  Explain that first they will play a short guessing game, and then they will create a “foldable” that shows their ability to name at least five people in the community.

2. Main:

Play a community helper guessing game with the children.  Choose a few of the community helper roles below and give a few clues so that the children can guess who the community helper is.  

Example 1:  “The community helper I am thinking of likes to work with his or her hands.  This person should probably be strong.  This person knows a lot about engines and can use many tools.  This person also might get a bit dirty at work.  This person helps us all stay safe when we are on the road.  Who is this community helper?”  (Answer:  Auto Mechanic.)

Example 2:  “This person works in a studio.  He or she uses cameras and printers every day.  This person probably also uses lights and props.  He or she helps all of us look our best.  He or she also helps families remember special times like weddings, anniversaries, or birthdays.  Who is this person?”  (Answer:  Photographer)

Possibilities for the game include:

Construction Worker	Rubbish Collector	Police Officer	Chef
Farmer	Photographer	Teacher	Mechanic
Mayor	Baker	Computer Technician	Dentist
Pilot	Bus Driver	Coach	Plumber
Librarian	Teacher	Tailor/Seamstress	Shopkeeper
Veterinarian	Firefighter	Landscaper	Painter
Doctor	Nurse	Minister/Rabbi/Imam	Journalist (Writer)

Once you have played the guessing game a few times, point out the library’s print collection of books or magazines about jobs/community helpers.  Ask the students to work with a partner to write three clues about one of the community helpers.  Give only five minutes for the children to write clues.  This should be relatively straightforward.  Ask the children to keep their clues so that they can help each other with the next activity and perhaps play the game again at the end of class.

Next, explain to the children what a “foldable” is and how it works.  Show the petal foldable template and a foldable that has been cut out and folded.  (See attached photos.)

Ask the children to cut out and fold one foldable each.  On the outside of each petal, they should write the name of a community helper.  On the inside of each petal, they should write one clue about that community helper’s job.  Their friends can help them fill in all five petals with their clue-writing earlier in the lesson.   In the middle of the flower, they should write the words “Community Helpers.”  (See attached photos.)

Example:  On a five-petal foldable the children could write:

Outside Petal:	Inside Petal:
Stylist	Cuts Hair
Principal	Leads the School
Chef	Prepares Food
Coach	Teaches Sport
Photographer	Takes Pictures

3. Conclusion:

Make sure that the children have shown one another their foldables and tidied the tables.   Collect the foldables so that they are not damaged while returning to the classroom.  Give them to the teacher so that they can become part of the children’s language or Unit of Inquiry notebook.  If there is time, let the kids quiz each other on the clues they prepared for a few of their community helpers.

Resources: 

1. Library print collection on community helpers, jobs, and occupations.
2. Foldable template, “Petals,” found here: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/lapbook-templates.php
3. Copies of the “Petals” template, five or six petals, one for every student. (Slightly heavier paper is best.)  You may need to enlarge the foldable.  Some of the petal foldables come out rather small when printed.
4. Pencils, colored pencils
5. Glue sticks
6. Children’s scissors

Notes:

There are several sites that offer foldable templates and instructions.  In my experience, children enjoy working with paper and building a manipulative keeps them actively engaged while supporting course content.

Sincerest thanks to Mr. Mike Morales of GEMS World Academy, Dubai, for introducing his colleagues to foldables and their many uses across the curriculum.

Recommended books for this lesson:

1. Busytown by Richard Scarry
2. Busiest People Ever by Richard Scarry
3. Jobs People Do by Dorling Kindersley

In my former library, we had a Scholastic book series called “Our Neighborhood.”  In this series, students were introduced to people with a variety of jobs who work in the community.  Unfortunately, this series is out of print.  There are newer series, but I do not have any personal experience with them.  Hopefully your library has career-related material for early elementary students in stock.  If I were ordering today, I would consider:

4. People Around Town, Set 1 and Set 2 by Gareth Stevens Publishing
5. First Step Nonfiction: Work People Do by Lerner Publications

Key Terms:

Community Helpers, Jobs, Occupations

Completed Foldable

Completed Foldable, Folded

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students will listen to a classic Virginia Lee Burton story, Katy and the Big Snow.  Then, using their own knowledge and some new understandings gained from the text, they will draw a small city and populate it with important community resources and buildings.

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

K – 1

Objective:

Students will be able to retell the basic plot of Katy and the Big Snow.  Students will also draw a small city and fill it with landmarks or buildings representing important places in the community.  (AASL 2.1.6, “Use the writing process, media and visual literacy and technology skills to create products that express new understandings.”)

Suggested Time:

30-40 minutes

Success Criteria:

Each student will draw a simple map and label it with important places or buildings in a community. 

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

In this unit, students will examine communities and the people who live and work in them.  Before we can learn about a community, we need to know what makes up a community.  We will start by reading about one community, the make-believe city of Geoppolis.  Then, after the story, the children will draw simple illustrations of their own communities.

2. Main:

Read/teach Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton.  Work slowly through the text.  Each time the illustrations show, or the text mentions, an important part of a community, make a note.  If the children are not yet readers, use simple illustrations.  For example, instead of writing the words “electric company,” use a lightning bolt to symbolize electricity.  Make sure that the children can understand the class notes.  You can do this together on a flipchart, whiteboard, or data projector.  The kids can take their own simple notes by copying your words but also by making their own basic illustrations.  Parts of a community referenced in this story include at least these 12 places:

City Hall, Police Station, Post Office, Railway Station, Phone Company, Electric Company, Water Department, Hospital, Fire Department, Roads, Homes, Airport

Once you check for understanding, challenge the students to draw a community that has these and other places in it.  Children may wish to add parks, schools, a lake or the ocean, a favorite restaurant, a bakery, the public library, etc.

Give the children blank pieces of paper.  It is rare that I start kids off with blank sheets, but in this case, I think it is best.

Model drawing a network of roads.  You can use a nonfiction resource showing simple maps to help with this – I have made a suggestion in the “Resources” section below.  Put in a few roads and encourage the children to do something similar.  Then, one by one, begin adding some of the important places in a community.  Refer to your notes and check off each place when you use it in the city drawing.  If you do this on the whiteboard, the kids will soon get the hang of it.  They are essentially “tuning-in” by making a drawing of a small city with important community locations.  Allow enough time for the children to finish their work.

3. Conclusion:

Conclude by having the children share their pictures with a partner.  Have each of them point out a few highlights to the other.  Lead the children to the conclusion that every community looks different, but communities all have certain features in common.  Example: All communities have hospitals.

Resources:

1. Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
2. Blank Paper
3. Pencils and colored pencils
4. Clipboards if kids are taking notes while in the story circle
5. Mapping Your Community: First Guide to Maps by Marta Segal Block and Daniel R. Block

Notes:

It is nice if this lesson can be taught during the winter months when there may be snow on the ground.   The work samples also make a lovely “Places in Our Community” display for the corridor or classroom.

Virginia Lee Burton’s work is timeless.  I love teaching at least one of her works every year because it gets kids hooked on her books.  Be sure to point them towards Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel or The Little House, also by Virginia Lee Burton.

If you don’t have or can’t get a copy of Katy and the Big Snow, consider substituting Only One Neighborhood by Marc Harshman and Barbara Garrison.  It’s not as well-known as Burton’s work, but will accomplish the same objective, and you can use the same extension activity.

Recommended books for this lesson:

1. Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
2. Mapping Your Community: First Guide to Maps by Marta Segal Block and Daniel R. Block
3. Only One Neighborhood by Marc Harshman and Barbara Garrison

Key Terms:

Communities, Cartography, Cities, Snow, Helping, Snowplows, Virginia Lee Burton

 

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students are “tuning in” to their new unit on Communities.  Homes are an important part of any community, and they are the focus of this vocabulary-rich, masterful, creative classic by Mary Ann Hoberman and Betty Fraser.  I like to include this lesson for the sheer joy of the language, but it is perfect in Early Elementary when children are quickly acquiring vocabulary.

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

1-2 

Objective:

To understand that a community is filled with plants, animals, objects, and people, and to understand that “The Earth is a house for us all.”  (Key Concept:  Perspective).

Suggested Time:

45-50 minutes

Success Criteria:

Each child will create a “House” that he will fill with an animal, object, and food item from the story.  Together, these “Houses” will form a “Storybook Community” to display in class.

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Remind the children that they are learning about communities.  Ask them to tell you what they have learned about communities thus far.  The main idea should be that a community is often described as (Key Concept: Form):

• A group of people
• With something in common (interests, location, etc.)

Explain that today you’ll be looking at a wide variety of objects and their homes within a community.  Ask the children to listen and look for things that they have in their homes and communities, and things that they do not have in their homes and communities.

Also, ask the children to listen for animals, objects, people, and food items in the story.

2. Main:

Teach A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Betty Fraser.  Work slowly through the text, checking for understanding as you go.  The illustrations are very detailed, so take your time.  If you have a way to project or enlarge the illustrations, that would be helpful for this lesson.

From time to time, check to make sure that the kids are keeping track of some of the objects, animals, and food in the story.  There are a lot!

From the text, I have come up with:

Objects: Car, truck, plane, ship, train, glove, stocking, shoe, boot, teabag, cartons, body, head, reflections, hum, pennies, ink, peach pits, garbage, envelopes, earmuffs, eggshells, bathrobes, baskets, bins, ragbags, rubbers, roasters, tablecloths, toasters, tins, story, smell, secret, flower.

Animals: Ant, mole, mouse, bee, spider, bird, bug, chicken, sow, sheep, cow, horse, dog, flea, rabbits, mule, bedbug, mosquitoes, whales, fish, snake, shellfish, oysters, lobsters, clams, snail, lions, lambs, monkeys, worms, germs, donkey.

Food: Corn ear, pea, hickory nut, tea, crackers, pickles, jam, potatoes, ham, cookies, bread, peaches.

Kinds of Homes: Hill, hive, hole, web, nest, tree, rug, coop, sty, fold, barn, kennel, hutch, shed, castle, bed, mud holes, puddles, ocean, sea, lake, shell, tree, river, igloo, tepee, pueblo, wigwam, garage, hangar, dock, slip, terminal, husk, pod, nutshell, box, teapot, barrels, bottles, pot, sandwich, cookie jar, breadbox, coat, hat, mirror, throat, pockets, pens, trashcans, book, rose, head, garden, stall, earth.

People: Me, Duchess, Eskimo, Cree, Hopi, Mohee, kings, “us all” or everyone.

To extend this lesson, I like to have the children create a little vocabulary or story village by doing the following:

• On a blank piece of paper, draw one type of home. This could be a tepee, log cabin, apartment block igloo, or yurt.  (Use anything you have been studying.)  Sketch in only the outline and try to enclose as much of the page as possible.
• Inside the outlined structure, have the children glue down “tabs.” This is a small piece of paper that can flip up and down or side to side.
• One on side of each tab have the children write one of the words from the “Home” list, for example, “sea.”  On the flip side, have the child write what makes its home in the sea, in this case a “fish.”  Have them do this three or four times on three or four tabs so that each house is filled with lift-the-flaps.  Then, illustrate the house and tabs to show some of the homes and creatures.
• Make sure that the children draw themselves in their homes. They can draw themselves as a king or queen if they like!
• As an extra challenge, you could see how many of the animals and objects from the story the children can weave into their illustrations.

The result should be a village of houses, each with lift-the-flaps showing the homes of many of the earth’s people or animals.  If children do not have time to finish in one period, they can work on the project during indoor recess or when they finish assignments early.

3. Conclusion:

Draw the children back together.  Let them share their progress on the projects.  Find a child who drew a castle, one who drew an igloo, and perhaps another who chose a skyscraper.  Have them share their tabs and illustrations.

Emphasize that no matter where our home or community is, “the Earth is a house for us all.”

Resources:

1. A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Betty Fraser.
2. White paper
3. Scrap paper
4. Scissors
5. Glue
6. Crayons, colored pencils, and markers

Notes:

The storybook village pieces would make a great display for the Communities Unit of Inquiry or for Eco-Week or Earth Day. 

You may wish to use the vocabulary from this book to make a word wall.  You may also wish to weave some of the words from the story into spelling or writing assignments.  For example, who can think of a sentence using the words “cookie jar” and “ants?”

There are quite a few teaching resources for this book available online.  It is a classic, well-known and well-loved in education circles.  If you adapt any of those materials to a PYP framework, as I have done, please consider sharing your work here so that others can benefit from your experience.

Recommended books for this lesson:

A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman and Betty Fraser

Key Terms:

Homes, Houses, Communities, Earth, Stories in Rhyme