Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Design Document for Lesson Plan

Name: Meagan Gore

Grade Level: 1st
Concept/Topic: Community Engagement
Length of Lesson (in minutes): 35 minutes

Learning Objectives: What are your learning objectives? (What new understandings will the
students have as a result of this lesson? Make sure learning objectives are measurable.)

Students will be able to recognize and identify parts of their community.

Students will be able to label important businesses and identify their function within a
community.

Students will be able to come up with ideas for community projects.

Under which standards from North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NC-SCOS) do these
learning objectives fall?

1.G.1.2 Give examples showing the location of places (home, classroom, school, and
community)

1.H.1.1 Explain how and why neighborhoods and communities change over time.

Key Tasks/Activities: What are the key activities or tasks that you plan to use? What is your
rationale for why you have selected these particular tasks/activities to meet your learning
objectives?

We will read aloud a book to the whole class about different places in the community and
the importance of building community in students’ lives. We have decided to do this
because reading aloud is one of the most important ways to develop literacy for students
while also showing locations of important places in the community. It is a great
introduction to begin the lesson of community building and engagement.

One key activity that we plan to use is a classroom puzzle. Each student gets their own
puzzle pieces and must draw their favorite place to visit within the community (excluding
home). Once everyone is finished, we will complete the puzzle showing the
community/neighborhood! We have selected this task because this is a great way for
students to see the resources within the community and how they can make a positive
impact on the places within their neighborhood. It will also bring in student’s personal
experiences and ideas into the classroom and develop a critical consciousness about
making an impact locally.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Anticipating Students’ Responses: How do you anticipate that students will respond to your
planned activities/tasks? This does not mean their response affectively, but instead their
response academically (e.g., What prior knowledge or conceptions might they bring? How do
you think they will approach or solve the task(s)?). When necessary, please insert images of your
handwritten anticipated approaches/strategies. Be specific - use your anticipated responses to
help you plan your questions in the lesson plan.

We anticipate that students will bring prior knowledge of their homes being one of the only
important places in the community. They could also think that the neighborhood or
apartment complex that they live in is the community. They could potentially draw their
house on their puzzle pieces instead of a location in the community. They will also respond
to the book by not being able to recognize the fact that even if it is not in their community
then it does exist. They could think that certain places in the community are not as
important as others.

Responding to Students’ Responses: Describe how you will provide scaffolding for students
who are stuck, and describe how you will extend the thinking of students who have a firm grasp
on the target content/objectives.

We will explain that a community is comprised of a bunch of different neighborhoods with

buildings and businesses that are often frequented as well. Communities can be big or
small and can have a few or many public access locations, like libraries or schools.

We can also give examples of different communities within the town of Raleigh. We can
show pictures of businesses to give examples if the students have never experienced a
certain community location before.

Scaffolding:

• The text is read orally aloud, and students will turn and talk about their own
community to build confidence in their own community awareness.
• Maps and pictures/examples will be used to help the students with little or no
background develop places to identify within the community.
• Unfamiliar terms will be pre-taught before the lesson
• Puzzle pieces will be passed out for students to draw their favorite places
within the community. Examples of places to draw in the community will be
given.

Extension:

• Students will be able to come up with ideas to engage in their community.

Development of Practices among Students: Which disciplinary practices does your lesson aim
to develop? (e.g., “construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others”, “develop
and use models”) How do the task(s) develop the target practice(s)?
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

We hope that the disciplinary practices in thinking critically about how their actions impact
the community around them we continue to be developed in our students. Students will be
able to recognize and label buildings within communities. Students will also explain why
these locations in a community are important to their lives.

Assessment: Describe your assessment plan for the targeted learning objective(s). What specific
data/information will you use, and how will that data/information tell you that the students
have/have not met the objective?

In assessing the student’s knowledge of the community, we will provide them with a
worksheet that has pictures of important community locations. They will have to label each
building as well as write their own sentence on their favorite community location.

Vocabulary/Language Function: Define vocabulary that students will need to know in order to
access the content and goals of your lesson. Be precise and careful with your language. Please
attend to three types of vocabulary:
● Content vocabulary (e.g., obtuse, molecule, civil rights)
● Academic language (e.g., represent, model, compare)
● Key non-content vocabulary that is necessary to understand the task/activity

Community: a group of people who share something in common, such as the neighborhood
they live in, interests or hobbies.

Community Garden: a garden shared by members of a community. Sometimes people have

their own small area to take care of, and sometimes everyone works together to take care
of the whole garden.

Community Worker: someone whose job helps the community run safely and smoothly.
Crossing guards, sanitation workers, firefighters, paramedics and police officers are all
examples of community workers.

Donate: to give time, money or things to a charity or good cause.

Mural: a large painting on a wall or ceiling.

Public Building: a building that is used by everyone such as a library or a museum.

Recycle: a process that allows something to be reused. Many communities have recycling
programs for materials such as paper, plastic and glass.

Retirement Home: a building where only people live, usually in their own apartments.

Classroom Management Plan: Explain how you will motivate students to engage in the lesson,
how you will set and enforce expectations, and how you will ensure that transitions are smooth
and efficient.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Before beginning the read aloud, set the expectation of listening to the teacher and to the
information of the book while the teacher is reading. Remind them to make connections of
their own experiences to topics talked about in the book. To engage during the read aloud,
the teacher will select points in the book for turn and talks to have students share their
ideas and opinions. During transitions, the teacher will use the “if you hear my voice, clap
once etc.” phrase to get students’ attention and continue to give instructions.