My Perfect Neighborhood

 

Second Grade Social Studies

 

Objectives:

• The students will be able to make a map of their neighborhoods and identify their homes as being East, West, South, or North from the school on the map.
• The students will be able to identify at least six local landmarks on a map of their town.

 

Materials Needed:

• The book "My Perfect Neighborhood" by Leah Komaiko
• A large piece of tag board for each group to make their maps on. This board will have the main streets of the town marked on them, a small school in the center of the map to represent their school, and the directions North, East, South and West noted on it.

 

Procedures:

• To introduce this lesson and capture the children's attention read the colorful book called "My Perfect Neighborhood", to the children.
• Look at the colorful illustrated cover and discuss what a perfect neighborhood might be like, and what might be included in a perfect neighborhood.
• Asked the children to pay special attention to the colorful pictures.
• Compare the type of neighborhood in the book with their own neighborhood through class discussion as you read the book.
• Discuss some of the places in their neighborhoods that are important to them. (A good way to do this before this lesson is taught is to read the book "All the Places to Love" by Patricia MacLachlan and then have the children, as a class, create a web of all the places that they loved in their neighborhood, then you can refer to their web for this discussion.)
• Make a web on the chalk board of what a neighborhood is. The purpose of this web is to identify the vocabulary that is needed. (Vocabulary: neighborhood, directions, historical sites, community landmarks).
• Explain to the children that they will be in groups and that each group will be making a map of their neighborhood that we will be displaying. The display will be called "Our Perfect Neighborhoods".
• Then the teacher demonstrates on a map how they will need to identify where their homes are on the map, using the school as a starting point.
• Identify the directions of North, South, East, and West on the map. Identify some common landmark that will help the children relate with what is in each of those directions, (i.e. mountains are to the East, and so forth).
• Explain that once they have put their homes on the map, that each group needs to identify and draw at least six other places (on their map) that are important places in their neighborhood. Each child in the group needs to identify at least one place. Then as a group they will need to decide which place each child will draw on the map.
• Divide the children into groups. One way to do this is by having them count off to four. Then each child is randomly assigned to a group.
• Let the groups begin making their neighborhood maps on the floor in different places in the room.
• As the children make their maps the teacher in the class will visit with each group, checking for understanding of the concept of directions (East, West, North and South), and what types of places they are going to note on their maps.
• As the children have finished their maps, they will return to their seats and each group will share with the rest of the class their map and the important sites that they have noted on their map.
• We will then hang the maps in the hallway of the school.

 

Evaluation:

• Check to make sure each group has identified the location of their homes and at least six places of importance in their neighborhoods on their map.
• The children have drawn their neighborhood places in the correct quadrant of the map (East, West, North and South of the school).

 

Submitted by Julie Allgood

 

 

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