Author
Gina
Stelmach
Title
Community Building
Grade Level
Grade 7 Junior High, Learning Center
Subject Area
Social Studies
Overview of
unit/lessons/activities (assumptions of prior knowledge/learning)
Students will:
- Use Inspiration, chart paper or a black board to make a concept map that defines the elements of a community
- discover
the similarities and differences
between cities, towns, and rural communities
- Work
cooperatively to develop a community (map) of a City, Town or Farm using Neighborhood Map Machine
- Work
cooperatively to build a 3-D representation of their community, using
templates from MapMachine along with paint, paper, toy planes, trains,
cars, buildings
- present
their Community to their peers emphasizing
what is unique about their community
Correlations to ICT and
curriculum outcomes
Information
and Communication Technology
Students will be expected to:
BOC 6.2 use and create information texts in a range
of media, using specialized text features of those media to support the
communication, with teacher assistance
BOC 6.3 demonstrate effective use of computer keyboards, mice, and
other input devices to produce final documents and presentations
BOC 6.5 safely exchange electronic mail and attachments with students
and others selected by the teacher for curriculum research and
communication purposes, with teacher supervision
BOC 6.6 understand and use with increasing facility, a wide range of
terminology related to the technology they employ during their studiesPTS
6.3 (relates to 3.3) collaborate with the teacher and peers to use
software to brainstorm, develop a thought web, and outline ideas under
study
PTS 6.4 conduct simple research, then plan and create a
representation of their learning, such as a storyboard, a multimedia
presentation, an audio recording, a web page, or a print publication
independently and in collaboration with others
PTS 6.5 record and edit still imaged, moving images, and sound to
represent their learning to particular audiences, with teacher assistance
CT 6.3 create, process, and represent their learning using
language, conventions, and procedures associated with educational media
and information and communication technology, with teacher assistance
CT 6.5 understand and apply basic principles of design and style in
representing their learning
RPSD 6.2 use appropriate technological tools for concept
mapping, problem solving, observation, measurement, calculation, graphing
and charting to explore concepts under study
Projected timeline for
preparation and for carrying out activities
These lessons will take approximately 11 periods over 2 weeks to complete.
Equipment Requirements:
(computers, software, etc)
Computers
Inspiration software
Neighborhood MapMachine
Teaching materials provided (Blacklines,
worksheets, templates, teacher materials)
- Photocopy
templates for buildings on to card stock
- Bristle
board
- Assorted
planes, trains and automobiles, houses, other buildings farm equipment,
animals (from the Dollar store)
- Scissors,
glue, markers , tempera paint and brushes
Neighborhood Map Machine (available on Authorized List of Resources
#51209)
Inspiration
Blackline
master of Venn diagram (
Venn
diagram)
Detailed instructions for each
activity or lesson (teacher notes, activity information, learning
strategies, teacher role, student roles)
Day 1 1 period: Introduce the idea of a community. A concept map works well to assess prior knowledge. Using Inspiration, develop a concept map of what makes a community; depending on the level of your students you could use only pictures or pictures and words. This activity can be done as a whole class or in groups.
Introduce
the idea of Urban and Rural communities or cities/towns/ farm communities
using a Venn
diagram to compare similarities and differences .
Day
2 1 period: Introduce the program Neighborhood Map Machine using
an LCD projector. You
can create your own map step by step, first streets then buildings, parks and
houses. If reading levels are low the program will read the
information to the student.
If you go to Explore and choose City and Country the students will see a combined map of city and country and can answer what they like about each. (see sample)
Next they are given a short assignment to get used to using
the program. See Assignment.
Day
3 1
period: Assignment instructions are passed out. See
Instructions
for example.
Groups are formed communities are assigned
.Students are given a list of buildings and services (ie; library,
stores, hospital etc) that are available to use in their community . They
need to discuss and negotiate what goes into
their community. Each group will divide the tasks between them. Each group
meets briefly with the teacher to ensure they are on the right track.
Day
4
1 period :
Students meet in groups and decide
on a name for their community as well as endeavor to answer the questions
from the assignment sheet. Students, in their groups go to computers and
start to design there communities. They should work cooperatively and each
member should design a part of the map.
Day
5 1 period: Continue with
designing the maps once the maps are finished the notes may entered
Students can give a list of their
requirements to the teacher to photocopy. All templates can be printed off
MapMachine and photocopied on to card stock which holds up well to
coloring, gluing and taping.
Day
6 2 periods: if possible use 2 periods together
to distribute and have the students color and cut out the
buildings. These are best glued together and reinforced with paper clips
until dry.
Day
7
2 periods: It works best if you can allocate a good chunk of time.
Using the student designed and Computer generated map the students start
drawing the roads and major land marks .Then painting in the roads ,
airports or train stations. Leave to dry overnight.
Day
8 1 period: Students can
assemble the communities. We used dollar store dinkies and craft foam to
bring a life-like quality to our communities.
Day
9 1 period:
Each group presents
their community to the class , and answers any questions about their
community.
Neighborhood Map Machine sample
Instructions
(Word document)
Samples (include teacher notes,
assessment information, student work if available)
Logistics (organization,
grouping, management issues, access to technology)
Requires at least 3 computers in the room. I have done this activity
in the learning center with 12 students so we were able to have manageable
groups of four. One consideration is how much room the communities will
physically occupy. The city can quite quickly grow to take over the class.
To keep them stable, buildings should be taped to the
bristol board.
Assessment information (e.g.,
rubrics for products and/or process)
The students were assessed at all stages of these lessons.
They were assessed on how well they followed
the directions for the project. I
looked at
·
Did they follow directions to create first sample
map.
·
How well they collaborated with the other members of
their group.
·
How well they followed the directions for the
project.
· How well they presented their community
Please see sample rubrics.
There are 2 sample rubrics for group work and one for the presentation.
Collaboration1
(word)
Possible extensions
Adaptations for students
requiring additional support
This project was done with students from the learning centre.