In March, the first grade will celebrate their Social Studies Houses and Homes in an assembly with their families. They will showcase the homes they are building for their study of human shelter. The unit has two goals: to teach the children about human shelter on the six habitable continents and to teach them to work together as a team.
After a detailed guided study about the climate, housing, and resources in Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America, the first-graders were ready to form building groups, make a plan and construct their own models of homes. To prepare them to be members of a home-building construction team, everyone talked about Collaboration, Cooperation, Compromise, and Communication. They practiced using language that encouraged the children to find common ground. Their teachers improvised little skits to model the mannerisms, tone, and language people use to come to an agreement. They acted out numerous examples using respectful language to resolve opinion differences. Working together towards a common goal has been the focus of many of the discussions with the first grade students.
To learn about human shelter, the children began with a walk around the school’s neighborhood homes to point out unique features. This week, they formed construction companies, began their planning, and gathered the materials they will need. Next week, once the construction begins, the classrooms will be filled with lively activity as the children go about designing and constructing their models. Parents and teachers provide help with hot glue guns and cutting tools, while students lead the construction process. This year, the students are excited to use QR codes to share their group’s research videos. The models and the presentations will be on display in the library during the week of March 16th.
