Geography
• Begin to differentiate “right” and “left.”
• Explore the use of toys to create “map” perspectives.
• Construct personal experience maps of home and school.
• Locate Alaska and own community on a globe and several different maps.
• When discussing other places and cultures, locate their origins on maps and globes.
• Experiment with various media and tools to create maps.
• Begin to identify and create models of various local landforms.
• Observe and record seasonal changes at school and home.
• Explore and examine artifacts, music, costumes, languages, stories, food, and art of varied cultures.
• Learn names, locations, and uses of various places within the school.
• Learn the name of local community and state.
• Create a visual representation of our community.
• Brainstorm similarities and differences between local and nearby communities.
• Discuss and graph daily weather.
• Investigate local environment and the plants, animals, and other natural resources that it provides and supports.
• Investigate activities that occur within local environments.
• Learn about clothes and activities appropriate for local weather and seasons.
• Examine transportation and how it impacts our community.
• Investigate and record various kinds of shelter in our community.
• Share personal experiences surrounding travel and living in other geographical locations.
• Survey classmates and family members about favorite places to vacation and/or work. Organize information in a way to make comparisons and discuss results.
Government
• Throughout the year, discuss ways to make life in the classroom more comfortable, pleasant, and productive by
• sharing and responsibly using materials and equipment;
• taking responsibility for assigned classroom jobs;
• respecting others’ rights and property;
• caring for classroom, school, and playground; and
• using respectful language and behavior.
• Participate in setting classroom rules to accomplish the above.
• Review, practice, evaluate, and revise classroom rules throughout the year. Draw and write about the rules. Role-play situations involving the rules.
• Learn, practice, and review school, playground, and bus rules throughout the year.
• Make a class list of ways to be a good learner at school.
• Explore through role-playing, discussion, and literature what is involved in being a good friend.
• Work cooperatively in a variety of group structures to accomplish many different kinds of tasks.
• Learn the name of the President of the United States.
• Conduct class interview of the school principal.
• Explore the roles of family members and how families work through literature, role-playing, and sharing personal experiences.
• Explore election process by voting on a variety of classroom choices and discussing pertinent local/national elections.
• Celebrate cultural diversity within the classroom by having students and families share their own cultural heritage through food, costumes, traditions, stories, music, and art.
• Share multi-culture literature, music, and art.
• Participate in class survey on pertinent class or school issues. Discuss results.
• Learn the “Pledge of Allegiance.”
• Learn patriotic songs, “George Washington” and “When the Flag Goes By.”
• Use media sources to follow current events of interest to students.
• Select a school problem and identify possible consequences and solutions.
• Learn about service and volunteering. Participate in a school or community service project such as clean-up or recycling, collecting or volunteering at food bank, helping with community projects.
• Explore how money is used to meet needs at home and at school.
• Role-play buyer, seller, producer, and consumer.
• Develop and practice disaster drills at school and at home.
History
• Explore and share personal and family stories as history through speaking, drawing, dictated stories, role-playing, and dramatizations.
• Interview family and community members to learn how our lives have changed and/or remained the same over time.
• Practice asking and answering questions about own and classmates’ stories, experiences, observations, and literature.
• Make a personal record of significant life events using a variety of formats.
• Maintain a class calendar or timeline throughout the year, noting significant events.
• Keep a class photo album arranged in chronological order.
• Build time awareness (today, tomorrow, yesterday) into classroom activities.
• Observe and record own physical changes throughout the year with photos, growth charts, tooth loss records, etc.
• Record and celebrate academic growth throughout the year through collections of student work.
• Share literature representing different places and time periods, observing and identifying past and present through text and illustrations.
• Compare different authors’/artists’ records using art, literature, or children’s own memories of a common experience.
• Explore the traditions of family, cultural, and world holidays.
• Use newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, multimedia, and Internet access to follow current events of interest to students.
• Explore the arts to better understand personal, family, or community history. |