INtroductory Unit 

Create your own sequence of community-building lessons:

Learning about your students, and establishing a strong classroom community is an essential step for students so that they may connect to the social studies curriculum, and participate in deep, meaningful learning. 

(Day 1) Getting to Know Each Other: What's in a name? 

• • • • • • Our Names and Our Place in the World Students will read Jennifer Wang's personal experience of being new in a school. Students will reflect on the importance of names and correctly pronouncing names as a part of building community and a sense of belonging.

          • Frame a Special Object Students watch Jason Reynolds model sharing about an object that has personal significance that represents his identity or family. Students will share/frame their own objects to get to know each other.

          • What's in a Name? Students can explore the relationship between names, identity, and society through a gallery walk of quotations and reflect on the Power of Names through a groupwork activity. This could also be used in conjunction with Words Matter

(Day 2) Exploring Individual Identity: Who am I?

• • • • • • Identity Chart Students create an identity chart to show the many factors that shape their identity. (There are many variations of this activity).

          • Dual Identity Students examine the tensions that can arise when we must navigate multiple, and sometimes conflicting, identities. Students write an Identity Poem

(Day 3) Complicating the Concept of Community: What does it mean to be a "community"?

• • • • • • Making Meaning of "Community" Students explore their and other's views about the meaning of "community" to collaboratively create a working definition of the word.

          • Little Things Are Big (a resource to help explore how stereotypes affect influence people's choices and decision-making.)

          • Universe of Obligation (a resource to help students explore what it means to be a member of a group/nation/community.)

(Day 4) Creating a Classroom Contract: How can we build community together?

• Looking Ahead Looking Back Students reflect on the past year and generate ideas for the kind of learning community and learning experiences they are hoping for this year.

• Contracting Students collaboratively establish norms for to healthy classroom learning environment. This  establishes student agency/responsibility in the classroom.

(Day 5) Introducing Historical Thinking: Where is the "story" in history?

• Unlocking the Secrets of a Time Capsule (coming soon!)

• Lunchroom Fight (requires login Stanford History Education Group)

• Use students' personal stories/history to explore what we mean by history:

  • Snapshot Autobiography (requires login Stanford History Education Group)

  • What is History? (from EDSITEment)

  • Note: these are variations on a Life Map Activity that infuses historical thinking into one's story. 

Helpful Opening and Closing Routines to start the year with an emphasis on social-emotional development and awareness (includes fist to five, mood meter, etc) and checking in on student well-being. 

Helpful Sources(links): 

Facing History & Ourselves: Back to School Toolkit & Activities for the 1st Days of School

Learning for Justice

Stanford History Education Group (SHEG):  Reading Like A Historian

• • Building Community Day by Day: Morning Meetings help students and teachers connect and start the day on a positive note.

• • What is community? In this lesson students will identify people and places that make their own neighborhoods special. Extension activities explore science elements raised in the story.