Kindergarten - Social Studies: My Home in My World

Overview

Students study the world around them by taking a walk around the school and the schoolyard to explore the physical environment and to locate important structures in the yard or just around the school such as a playground, homes, store, fire hall, etc. Students learn about how the natural environment and man made structures help to meet their needs.

Activate

Students browse maps, globes, and picture books about Canadian communities, and locate Canada on a map and globe. Discuss what a community is, the important aspects of communities, and have students draw a picture of an important aspect of a community [Plan and Question].

Locate Canada on a world map, then read a picture book about Canadian communities, and discuss the important natural and man made features that help people to meet their needs.  Brainstorm and make a list of important features. [Plan and Question] Students draw a picture about playing in the local natural environment and dictate a sentence to a scribe, about their play.

Acquire

Discuss the list of important features of a community. Ask students to name the structures and natural features close to the school. Take a walk around the school to look closely at the natural features and structures.  After a discussion about the natural features and why they are important, students draw pictures of the important features they remember.

Teacher Tip:
Take digital pictures of natural features as students point to them. Scan and make a file of the students' drawings. Each student dictates a sentence to a scribe who types it at the computer, or the student records the sentence into the computer.

Read a story or view a CD Rom or a selected website about homes in different parts of the world and the needs they fulfill. [Gather and Make Sense]  Locate places mentioned on a map or globe. Point out how these homes are similar or different from the students’ homes. Students draw a picture of their homes and include the needs that are met at home. Discuss homes around the world and how the same basic needs are met there.

Apply

Print some of the structures and natural features pictures. Put them on a wall and ask students to place the drawings of their homes, in relation to the school. In small groups students share their work and explain why each item is important to fulfill basic needs. [Communicate]

Suggestions for Assessment:
Assess student’s drawings of the important natural and man made features of the local community.
Assess student’s ability to match basic needs with natural and man made features of the local community.
Assess student’s ability to share and explain their final products.

In small groups, students choose and organize a few digital pictures of natural features and structures around the school, leaving out those that are not related, and inserting them into a multimedia presentation. [Gather and Make Sense] For each slide, they record a short sentence, which is also typed in by the scribe. [Produce to Show Understanding]

Teacher Tips:
Ask a parent to help, either at the computer with a group of students or watch the class during an activity while you are at the computer.
Import several pictures or sketched-and-scanned drawings. Use the slide-sorter view to sort pictures, re-order them, and remove those not needed.

Suggestions for Assessment:
Assess students' ability to select related pictures and to sort them appropriately to reflect their understanding of their environment.