The students will understand which communities they are a member of and how their involvement in each community will make it better for all of its members.
	Social Studies 2nd Grade
	Social Studies 18.B.1A, 18.B.1b

You are a very important part of many communities.    Can you name five communities to which you belong? Here are some examples of communities to which you may belong.
 
 
 

	This is a classroom community.  Its members include students and a teacher.
	This is a family community.  Its members may include mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents.
	This is a sports community.  Its members include a coach and members of the team.
	This is a neighborhood community.  It includes all the people who live and work in your neighborhood. Its members include neighbors, storekeepers, police officers, mail carriers, fire fighters, librarians, church members and your family.
	This is a church community.  Its members may include priests, pastors, rabbis, and the congregation.

You belong to many different communities.  Identify the communities of which you are a part. Explain your role in each of these.  How would you contribute to make each of these a better community?

Develop headings for each community of which you are a part (family, school, sports team, neighborhood,religious, or other ). Depending on how many community groups are generated by the students, students will be divided into an equal number within each group. Each group will compile a list of characteristics that uniquely distinguishes each community from one another.
 
 

The teacher together with the whole class will describe the various communities of which they are a part. Then,the teacher will write the names of these various communities on separate chart papers. After assigning each group a community, the groups will discuss the role,contributions and rules necessary for their particular community to function. Those groups assigned to sports and school communities will use the digital cameras to capture pictures which illustrate the characteristics of their community.  Other groups, supervised by the teacher, will look for pictures on the internet which would illustrate their specific community. Pair the groups and have them create a Venn Diagram on paper which will compare and contrast their communities. Finally, using Kidspiration, have them present the Venn Diagrams to the whole class.

	Digital Camera
	Multimedia Presentations
	Venn Diagrams

Identify for the students which other resources they may use to complete their task(s). Other resources may include:
 

PowerPoint software to develop an informative slide show

Northlake Franklin Park Melrose Park

Classroom Encyclopedias/Online

Books/Newspapers Northlake Herald-Journal Franklin Park Herald

Kidspiration Live Interviews

Students will be evaluated based on the completion of the project and also on their cooperation within the group.

Click here to see the rubric.

 

Did the students learn to differentiate among various communities and identify roles within each?