Concept set 9 for Community

Target students: Grade two class who is studying space in science and community in S. S. In particular, I will be using the drama Planet Nardo to teach the children about community.

A. Definition: A Community is a group of people who share common interests, live in a specific locality and are perceived as being distinct from the larger society.

Synonyms: Neighbourhood, centre of population, district, area

Grade two words: A community is a distinct group of people that live close together, share similar interests and follow common rules.

The Random House Dictionary: A social group whose members live in a specific locality, share government and have a common heritage.

Webster’s dictionary: A body of people who have something in common.

  1. Samples
  1. Examples of Community/Justification of examples: The following are examples of different types of communities that include all three of the essential attributes: live in a specific locality, distinct from larger society, share common interests and laws.

    2. ~ A group of scholars from the University met every Tuesday night to discuss the impact of pollution on the environment. This is an example of a community where a group of distinct people (scholars) from a specific area (University) met to discuss similar interests (effects of pollution).

    ~ A letter was sent out to all the businesses in the Victoria district warning them about a possible computer virus. This is an example of a business community where a specific group of people (business) from a designated area (Victoria district) look out for each other’s needs.

    ~ Everyone from the Catholic Church united at the parliament buildings to protest abortion. This is an example of a church community where a specific group of people (Catholic) join together to stand up for a specific belief (against abortion).

    ~ A group of elderly people bought property just outside of Phoenix Arizona and build houses, a golf course and a hall to play bridge in. This is an example of a retirement community where a distinct group of people (elderly) designated a certain area (just outside of Phoenix Arizona) for their specific interests (golf, living and bridge).

    ~ A group of settlers from Ireland came over to North America in hopes of establishing an agricultural settlement in an area near the Hudson Bay. This is an example of a distinct group of people (settlers from Ireland) who are hoping to establish a community in a specific locality for the function of farming.

  2. Non-Examples of Community /Justification of examples: The following are non-examples of community because they miss one or more of the essential attributes.

    3. ~ There are people in Ireland who share similar characteristics with people living on Vancouver Island. This is not an example of a community because there are two distinct groups of people and they do not live close together.

    ~ Those two people are neighbours but they share absolutely none of the same beliefs: One is catholic and the other is Jewish. Although these people live in the same area, they are not a community because they do not share common interests or beliefs.

    ~ That group of scientists believe that the world is flat, but so does almost every person in the world. This is not an example because the specific group of people are not distinct from the larger group of people. They are all one community of scientists.

  3. Borderline Examples of Community /Justification of samples as borderline cases: I think the idea of borderline communities depends on whether or not you agree that all three specific criteria (live locally, common interests/laws, and distinct from larger society) must be present for the concept of a community to be used.

~ I believe that I live in a community called Saanich. Although I do not share common interests with the whole community, we shares common laws, locality and we are distinct from the Victoria district. From this example, I might amend my definition by saying that a community must have at least two of the attributes. But for my purpose of teaching the students what community is, I think they need to understand that a community is a distinct group of people that live together and share common interests. This will apply to Planet Nardo because the students will become a group of settlers that go to Planet Nardo with the hopes of establishing a community. In order for the community to prosper, the settlers will have to share common interests and rules. In real life a community can exist but not prosper because of personal views and differences about how the community should be run.

~ One lady lives in Sidney and the other lives in Sooke, but they both are apart of the teacher’s union. In this case the two women belong to a community of teachers, but do not live in the same community. So, from this example you can conclude that you do not have to live in the same area to be part of a community. However, these women work in the same area.

~ All the people living between Shelbourne and Cook street came together and established a set of rules for the parking in that area. In this case the community is made up of all the people living between Shelbourne and Cook Street who share a set of common rules. These people are also part of a larger area called Victoria where people in the whole area follow common rules.

~ They all moved to Cook street village but only some of them follow the set of laws established for the area. This is a borderline example of community because they live in a specific area of town, and although they do not chose to follow the law, it is established for the community. The residents who choose not to follow the law in a sense choose not to be part of the community.

Lesson Plan

Target students: Grade two students of mixed ability (gr.1- gr.4). The class has recently finished a series of lessons on planet Nardo where they developed a space community and role played being the first settlers in the community. Throughout the lessons there was little or no intervention from the teacher. This lesson is the last lesson of the series and follows the "arrival on planet Nardo" role play where the various settlers arrived on Planet Nardo and toured the facilities which they had established in Lesson #1 and #2.

Vision of the educated citizen: I want the students to become reflective and learn how to assess their own work. I want to encourage them to work together and critically think about what they could have done better or added to their experience. Their commitment to reflection will help them learn more and improve their experiences in the future.

Goals of lesson:

Content- I want the students to develop a stronger understanding of the concept of community; as well as, brainstorming facilities and professions that would help a community prosper.

Critical thinking- The students will reflect on their first arrival on planet Nardo and develop a list of facilities, and professions that they forgot about. We will also touch on the things we need to sustain life on a planet, i.e. water, air, food, heat ext.

IRP learning outcomes:

The students will:

~ Identify and implement strategies to address class problems or projects

~ Describe ways members of a community meet one another's needs

Tools that the students will need to be successful:

Background knowledge- The students will have all of the background knowledge they need because they have already discussed communities in reference to a school community. The month before I discuss space communities, the students will have talked about the professions that are in the school. They also will have interviewed various members of the school community and shared with the class why the person they interviewed is important in the school community.

Critical thinking vocabulary- In the first lesson of Planet Nardo we discussed expectations of being a first settler in a new settlement. The lesson before this lesson we will discuss how the expectations did not meet the realizations (what we really experienced when we arrived).

Habits of mind- The students are being asked to reflect on what they previously did.

Thinking strategies- The students will brainstorm ideas and T.T.Y.P (turn and tell your neighbor)

Materials/teacher prep:

The Lesson

  1. Lesson Introduction: Yesterday boys and girls we became settlers and took a space ship to planet Nardo, the settlement we created. Put your finger on your nose if you enjoyed our little voyage. Raise your hand if you want to go back to planet Nardo and live there? Why or Why not? I will then ask the students and find out why or why not they would stay on the planet. Do you think that our settlement was a community? What aspects must be included to have a community? I would circle the word community on chart paper and do a web chart for what the students think. I would make sure to condense their ideas to simplify our definition. I will share with the class my definition.
  2. Body of Lesson:
    1. Did anyone notice anything that was missing from our settlement that would make it hard for survival? We would brainstorm a list of ideas under a title called "what a community needs to survive?"
    2. We would make an extensive list and I would ask questions to make sure things like water and heat were said.
    3. Now that we know what we need for survival, I want you to go back to your desk and in your journals write our three things that you would add to our planet Nardo settlement.
    4. After the students finished, I would get them to T.T.Y.P. and discuss why you chose those things to add to our settlement.
  3. Closure: Thank you boys and girls for your hard work. Everyone kiss your thumb and then kiss your brain because you did a lot of brainstorming today. It is important for us to reflect and think about what we do so that next time we are creating a settlement or community we will know what to include.
  4. Assessment: Participation and completion of journals. I will look at the depth of responses when they are telling each other why they chose those three particular aspects of a community to add to our planet Nardo settlement.

 

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