Our Community: THINGS ARE JUST NOT THE SAME!

UNIT SUMMARY: Children are often under the impression that the way things are in their world is the way things have always been. It is important that children realize that, over time, things do change. It is also important that children recognize what influences change, including new inventions and changes in jobs, houses, and population. This unit will show Front Royal/Warren County from the past as well as what our community is like in the present. Using what we have learned, we will try to make predictions as to what our community will look like in the future!

HOW LONG WILL WE SPEND LEARNING ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY? This activity is a culminating activity for our unit on the study of Our Community and the Changes it has experienced over time. It is anticipated that the entire unit will take approximately 2 weeks to complete. The first week will be spent completing the whole group discussions/activities as well as small group discussions and activities. During the next week, the groups will complete their portion of the project. Therefore, 5 class periods of 45 minutes each will be used in preparation for completing each group’s poster.

WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS FOR THIS UNIT OF STUDY? ESSENTIAL QUESTION AS DEFINED BY THE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (2001) FOR SECOND GRADE IN VIRGINIA: How and why have communities changed over time?

WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS FOR THIS UNIT OF STUDY? ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDING AS DEFINED BY THE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (2001) FOR SECOND GRADE IN VIRGINIA: Communities change over time for a variety of reasons.

WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS FOR THIS UNIT OF STUDY? ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AS DEFINED BY THE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (2001) FOR SECOND GRADE IN VIRGINIA: Terms to Know: Community: A place where people live, work, and play Population: The number of people living in a community Transportation: A way of moving people and things from one place to another. The way people live today is different from the way people lived long ago. New inventions have led to changes in buildings, jobs, transportation, and populations of communities over time

What questions will be addressed during this unit? Essential Questions: WHY DOES CHANGE OCCUR, AND IS CHANGE ALWAYS GOOD?

What questions will be addressed during this unit? Unit Questions : What has our community looked like and what has its lifestyle mostly been like in the past? What kind of jobs did people have? What kind of houses did they live in? What was the population of our community in the early years compared to right now? How did people travel? How are things different today? How are jobs, houses, travel, and population different?

What questions will be addressed during this unit? Content Questions: What does the word “community” mean? What does the word “population” mean? What does the word “transportation” mean? Do people in our community live the same way today as they lived in the past? What are some inventions that have helped change to occur? What changes occurred as a result of these inventions?

21 st Century Skills: The following 21st Century Skills will be addressed: Creativity and Innovation Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Communication and Collaboration Information Literacy Media Literacy ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy Flexibility and Adaptability Initiative and Self-Direction Social and Cross-Cultural Skills Productivity and Accountability Leadership and Responsibility

The Following ISTS Standards will be Addressed: The following ISTS Skills will be addressed: 1. Creativity and Innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students: a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. 2. Communication and Collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: c. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. 3. Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: a. plan strategies to guide inquiry. b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. 4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems. Students: a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project. c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.. 5. Technology Operations and Concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students: a. understand and use technology systems. b. select and use applications effectively and productively. c. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

Gauging Student Needs Assessment: Using Quizmo, the students will take a multiple choice quiz. While the students will not know each other’s identity, the students will be able to view a class graph of class knowledge and needs for this unit of study. Using Lesson Plans Tool Kit for Smart Board 10, the students will participate in matching vocabulary to definitions as well as indicating true or false on statements about our community over time. The students will do a written pre-assessment.

Gauging Student Needs Assessments: Student Assessments:

My Goals for this Course: Encourage students to become interested in the community in which they live. Help students form a sense of pride over the progress and accomplishments as a result of the changes that have occurred over time Help students recognize how important it is to respond positively and productively to changes in jobs, houses, populations, and transportation. Give students experience working collaboratively to accomplish a common goal Give students experience using available technology and practice with desktop publishing Give experience in collecting information (research) and communicating what they have learned in a form (poster) that gives the reader information about our community over time To be able to participate in discussions as to what causes change and whether the change was positive or negative.

Request for Feedback: Websites to use Research resources Ideas for helping students take more responsibility for their own learning Organizing the groups into the most desired way to produce a Poster about our Community and the changes it has experienced over time. How to make instructional process more clear and complete

THINGS I KNOW STILL NEED TO BE FINISHED: Quizdom questions (before, during, after) Invitations to our presentation (principal, librarian) Volunteers: to come in and help put the posters together (cut and paste) and laminate them for the groups. Copies of rubrics, checklists, etc. for individuals and groups. Other???