Engaging students using Social Studies Centers

I have always struggled with teaching Social to my first grade students. I found it difficult to keep them motivated, a challenge getting them to express their ideas, and frustrating to teach about things they hadn’t experienced.

I needed a change, so I thought about what made teaching Math or LA more enjoyable. Then it came to me: CENTERS!!!! 

I came up with 4 different centers to meet my objectives each week. 

REAL LIFE CENTER -It is challenging to get students thinking about topics in relation to their life. I chose to use technology, projects and interactive notebooks. Students acted out being responsible/irresponsible(haha, they love this) and recorded each other on the iPad at the center. I put all the clips together in a movie. They also brought clothing items from home and video taped their discussion about how it shows they belong.

We made poster wanted ads for GOOD CITIZENS to put up around the classroom. Students completed drawings and writing reflections in their Social notebook.

READ ALOUD CENTER- Developing vocabulary related to outcomes was my goal for this center. Social books are often not at a grade one reading level, so I made readers theatre plays about the topics and included lots of pictures. 

Students work in groups to read their parts and then read it to the class. I also use books (we don’t have a textbook but I’m certain you could use one) and have students look through them together and discuss what they have read.

GAME CENTER- Social can be a little, how should I say this, dry at times, so I decided games were the way to go! Have you ever tried to find games related to your Social topics? I couldn’t find much, so I created my own. I brainstormed a list of common games, and then figured out a way to relate them to my outcomes.  We played Symbol BINGO, I have/Who has Community Helpers, ‘My Rights’ memory match, and the ‘Groups I Belong To’ board game to reinforce concepts. 

To make sure my students understand how to play and the rules (so I don’t get the ‘he said/she said’), we play as a class before they play at the center. 

TEACHER CENTER- Assessment is challenging in its own way, and trying to figure out if my students got the Social topic we were learning about by looking at their notes was almost impossible. I decided that oral assessment would be a better direction, but how can you assess 20-30 kids orally during class time? It’s very difficult. By sitting with students at a ‘Guided Social Studies’ center, I can teach a mini lesson about the topic and ask questions. I can quickly tell who easily understands and ask higher level thinking questions, who gets the basics, and who is struggling and needs extra support for differentiated learning. I take anecdotal notes at this center, and quickly realized that my standard mark book format wasn’t going to work so I made a space for notes in my mark book.

Turning my curriculum objectives into centers took a lot of thinking ahead and detailed planning. I looked at my outcomes and sorted them into units and then weekly objectives.  Then I planned out how I was going to turn those outcomes into the four center based activities.

Try these ideas out for FREE here.

Do you do centers with your students? How does it work in your classroom? I'd love to hear from you!

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Urban and Rural

Sometimes I find Social slightly challenging to make... enticing shall we say... to the students. It usually depends on the topic and their experience with it, but making some things relatable to a six year old when they have never seen it before can be a challenge. I am trying to mix it into other subject areas, such as art, to achieve this. Our latest and greatest topic is centered around urban and rural. Of course we have discussed, read stories, made charts, watched videos but I wanted to tie everything together with a fun art project to go into our Social Alphabet book.

U is for Urban. In the city I can see...

Here is the art project: We painted the sky in yellow and red swirls and then glued the silhouetted buildings onto it. Next time I think I will have the students add other things we find in the city, but we are just plain running out of time!!

R is for Rural. In the country I can see...

We used straws and painted half the page blue dots and half the page with green dots.

Then the students picked an animal and made it out of these shapes.

Here is an example of what the project looked like when completed

Mrs. Dunn

Teaching Basic Mapping Skills

I find my students have a lot of difficulty understanding where we live in relation to the rest of the world, so I made these nesting maps out of different sized tin cans so they would all fit together.

We started with our school, and then put it into the Calgary container and so on. I used whole brain teaching to talk about each one, so we mirrored as we went and then the students taught each other. I think we are moving closer to understanding. I really feel that this skill is developmental, so I continue to look at different ways to present the concept throughout the year.

Mrs. Dunn

Back to School- Creating a Culture of Belonging

Setting the classroom climate at the beginning of the year is a key component to a successful year. I think that students will buy in to whatever behavior system, rules, and culture that you present to them if they feel that they BELONG.

Students are sometimes a bit nervous and worried to start school, especially in the first grade. They may not know the other students and they have to leave the safety of their family on this new adventure. They aren't sure if they will make friends, like their teacher or enjoy class. If as a teacher we can help them to feel that they belong with their school family, then everything else seems to settle into place. How can we do this?

FAMILY CONNECTION
The first place we feel that we belong is with our family. I think it is so important to include their family in the first days of school so they can transfer that feeling of belonging from home to school. I bring in pictures of my family and encourage my students to do the same.

After sharing pictures of our family and why they are special, many students like to keep them in their agenda, desk or backpack to look at throughout the day. It gives them comfort and makes them feel more able to take on whatever the day might bring.

LEADERSHIP

The next step in belonging to a group is that students feel like they are a contributing member of the group; that they have an important role to play in the classroom. I know that many teachers have a large job chart for each student, but I keep it simple. I put my students into groups of five and each student in that group has a special job to do for the week. We switch cards each week. Through these jobs students take ownership of their supplies, materials, classroom and behavior.

FRIENDSHIP

I find this area challenging to help students without seeming forced. I encourage partner work in the classroom, so we pair up by matching hands, feet or elbows and meet a new friend in the process! I love to do celebrity of the week, which celebrates each student in the class every week. We do warm fuzzies (sit in a circle and say one nice thing about each student) as well as Friendship lunches (sit with a new friend at lunchtime). Teachers can't make friendships happen but then can help students to manage relationships by creating a classroom of caring.

LEARNING

This theme of belonging also continues into our academic work. In Social Studies we talk about belonging to our family, school and community and different groups that we belong to. I like to reinforce these concepts through stories, discussions and hands on activities like this one. Click on the picture to use this activity in your classroom!

 How do you influence the climate of your classroom? What does belonging mean to you and your students?
Mrs. Dunn

Social Alphabet Book

I love to read alphabet stories to my students that are related to what we are studying. These two are my favourites to read in Social Studies class, and I thought, wouldn't it be fantastic if we could make our own Alphabet story? I made activities to fit with each letter of the alphabet that cover every outcome for the ENTIRE YEAR in first grade!

The first thing we needed to do was to get our notebook ready for the year. I like to use the Hilroy 1/2 plain 1/2 interlined books so they have room to draw pictures and write, but any notebook would work. I don't teach the letters in order, so they needed 2 pages designated for each letter prior to starting. When I first did these activities, I had the students write the letters in. At the very beginning of the year...in first grade...it didn't go so well. To solve this problem I made a page with all of the letters and we worked as a class to cut and glue the letter in at the top of the page. It is a great little assessment to see who knows their letters at the beginning of the year as well.

Once we have each letter in our book

I HAVE THEM LEAVE TWO PAGES FOR EACH LETTER

then it's time to get started!

I figured out an activity to do with each letter, and then grouped the activities into units that followed the Program of Studies. I used related literature, internet pictures/videos, discussions and real life examples to introduce a topic and then had students complete an activity in their notebook to accompany the lesson.

UNIT 1 I BELONG

1. F is for Family: Students bring in pictures of their family and we talk about how all families look different and why families are important. After looking at pictures students make their own family tree to show who belongs in their family. After they draw their family, students glue the picture into their Social Alphabet notebook under the letter F.                                                                

*CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO USE THIS ACTIVITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM!*

2. B is for Belong

3. S is for School

4. C is for Clothing

5. S is for Symbol

6. L is for Language

7. R is for Rights and Responsibilities

UNIT 2 MY COMMUNITY

1. K is for Key to Citizenship

2. I is for I take Care

3. E is for environment

4. J is for Job

5. D is for Decision

6. P is for Problem Solving

7. T is for Timeline

UNIT 3 MY WORLD

1. F is for floor plan

2. M is for map

3. X is for X marks the spot

4. A is for Alberta

5. G is for globe

6. O is for Oh Canada

7. W is for Where in the World

8. L is for land

9. U is for Urban

10. R is for Rural

11. P is for Postcard

12. Z is for Zoo

UNIT 4 NOW AND THEN

1. T is for tradition

2. C is for Changes

3. N is for Now and Then

4.V is for Venn Diagram

5. Y is for Young and Old

6. H is for Heritage

7. O is for Old Time News

If you would like to use the activities to go with each letter and try making a Social alphabet with your students click on the picture below!

If you make an alphabet book with your students, let me know how it goes and what it looks like in your classroom in the comments below!

Mrs. Dunn

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