Throughout the school year, we have been exploring the question, “What is a community?” During 1st Trimester, we learned about many different community helpers and their roles. We discussed our own roles in the community (and the different communities that we are each a part of). During 2nd trimester, we’re looking closely at urban communities. Before we left for break, students learned a “physical definition” using kinesthetic movements to help us remember how to define an urban community.
“An Urban Community is a BIG, LOUD city, with lots of things to do and see!” Ask your child to demonstrate the movements for this definition. I was so proud of our class for remembering this important definition over Thanksgiving break!
We also received a letter from “Mia” a 2nd grader in New York City, who wrote to us about the great things in her community. After reading the letter, we created a graphic organizer with some important words pertaining to urban communities. The kindergarteners did an excellent job discerning important descriptors! Their buzz words included: crowded, noisy, lots of people, skyscrapers, community, taxis, transportation, museums, stadiums, and apartments.
Yesterday, students brainstormed a list of many things we might see in an Urban Community, including businesses, physical features, modes of transportation, and more. We will use this list to determine your child’s role in our next project- building our own Urban Community. Look for an email coming from me in the next week with more details and important dates regarding this project. In preparation for this very exciting learning opportunity, please start saving your cereal boxes, oatmeal containers, shoe boxes, or any other materials that a young mind might see as brick and mortar.
This week, students are rotating through three exploration-based centers to explore Urban Communities a little further. Centers include: building maps online, playing with a city map using blocks and cars, and building a city using legos.
