Peer+Additions

== = = = = =//**PEER ADDITIONS:**//=

Third Grade Community Unit Idea
By: Kimberly Porter

===**Social Studies Standards for Grade 3** === **3.2 Students will explain what it means to be citizens of their community, state and nation; be able to identify the functions and major services provided by local governments; use a variety of resouces to gather information about local, state, and national governments; and demonstrate understanding of democratic principles and practices.**  3.2.1 Foundations of Government: Discuss the reasons governments are needed and identify specific goods and services that governments provide.  3.2.3 Functions of Government: Identify the duties of and selection process for local and state government officials who make, implement and enforce laws.  3.2.5 Roles of Citizens: Explain the importance of being a good citizen of the state and the nation. Identify people in the state who exhibit the characteristics of good citizenship.  3.2.7 Roles of Citizens: Use a variety of information resources to gather information about local, state and regional leaders and civic issues.

Activity Ideas
To build upon the second grade unit, students in third grade should realize where the rules (laws) come from, why they are important, and who is expected to carry them out. There are several different types of people in a community that are affected by laws in some way. There are people needed to make the laws, enforce the laws, carry out the laws, interpret the laws, and abide by the laws. Everyone is affected by them in some way. Students could spend some time exploring different types of community members and the part each one of them plays in using the laws.

Besides learning about the laws of a community, students should also be exposed to the many different parts of a community and learn how each part helps to make the community function properly. There are many people and places that work hard to make their community successful. Some of these people might include: police, firemen, nurses and doctors, librarians, bankers, and council members. Some places might include: town hall, police/fire stations, hospitals/health clinics, the library, and banks. Students could spend some time researching these different people and places to find out what they provide for the community. Students could be paired or grouped together and sent on short field trips to one of these locations. They could conduct an interview with someone that works there, and then provide a short presentation of some kind to present to the class about their place in the community.

While the groups are sent out on their field trips, the groups that are waiting their turn could participate in small literature circles. The teacher/media specialist could pre-select books for each group to read that are related to their place in the community. Students could hold discussions about what they read and how it relates to their place in the community. Students could also complete vocabulary activities and chapter questions.

**Community Inquiry Flyer**


Maturation
This activity idea is provides one example of how students can mature in their understanding of governing laws of the community. In second grade, the students learned that their is a local government and why it is important. In third grade, the students could learn about the people within their local government and ways in which they keep the community functioning. Finally, in fourth grade, the students can learn the responsibilities of the government and how they can participate.

By: Angie Towle
 * Kindergarten Community Idea **

Karen, Overall, I love your community ideas! You have hit so many standards and have great resources and examples for teachers and media specialists to use. I especially like the use of comic life, because I feel it is a great tie in to what kids want to be doing daily. We all know they love __Diary of a Wimpy Kid__ books and if we can relate whatever we are doing to their likes, we will get much farther in our purpose! My idea would be to take your focus and adapt it to a kindergarten classroom toward the beginning of the school year.

The media specialist would start by reading the book __How Do Dinosaurs Go To School__ by Mark Teague. Booklist describes this book by saying, "Questions arise when the dinos are put in common school-day situations. Would dinosaurs walk to school or carpool? Would they stomp and make a fuss on the bus? Would they roughhouse and punch and disrupt the class by yelling or fidgeting with their tails in the air? Of course not. Before they leap out the door at the end of the school day, readers will realize that these dinosaurs are helpful, tidy, and protective, "growling at the bullies till the bullying ends." Yolen's short, rhyming text and Teague's irresistible, cavorting dinosaurs perfectly convey how dinosaurs could behave in school, large and powerful though they may be. Fans of the other titles in the series will welcome this new lesson on how to behave properly yet manage to remain a true dinosaur."

After reading the book, the media specialist and teacher would open up a conversation about the rules that occurred in the story. For example, the yelling and disrupting the class page would be a great page to make a list of things that students should do so that they do not disrupt the classroom. Once the poster of good ideas is created, students would be separated into two groups. A group to stay with the media specialist and a group to work with the teacher. At such a young age, students need a lot of guidance in their inquiry and spiting the class into two groups would help facilitate this need.

The goal of each group is to pick one page of the text and figure out a way to share what they learned from the book. Both leaders will be assisting by reading scenarios that go along with the pages to help facilitate discussion. One group might try to figure out the best way to keep kids from stomping and fussing on the bus. The leader would share a story about Sam who always gets on the bus and yells and screams and students would need to come up with ways to be different from Sam.

Once groups have come up with some ideas about how to improve the situation. They will be creating a video modeling the wrong behavior and then the correct one. The videos will be created with the media specialist to share what students have learned with the school. These videos might be shared with all grades during lunch or through the website.

I think it would be neat to have the 2nd graders share their rule books with the Kindergartners at the end of the unit as book buddies. This would be a great culmination for both grade levels!

Standard of focus: K.2.3 Functions of Government: Give examples of classroom and school rules and explain how each helps us.

**GRADE LEVEL ADDITION: High School**
Submitted by: Carol Sanders More mature high school students may also explore rights, responsibilities, and laws by first reading the William Golding's 1954 classic //The Lord of the Flies//. This Nobel Prize winning author's tale explores the fictional situation of school children stranded on a deserted island and who must govern themselves. Students will discuss how societies are established and explore cultural differences in laws via research.

A valuable resource for Golding's novel is @http://wdb.sad17.k12.me.us/teachers/bburns/com/documents/literature/lof/index.htm. The above website contains descriptions of main characters, chapter summaries, guides to themes and symbolism and even a 3-dimensional digital rendering of the island to explore. Additional links are provided.

Research into societies around the world may be chosen by each student according to interest level. Another possibility is to look at the World Movement for Democracy Defending Civil Society website using Habits of Mind thinking strategies.