Wish List Wednesday: Communities!!!

Communities are one of my favorite lessons to teach in 2nd Grade. I throw the teacher's guide out the window (okay, I really only put it on the shelf, shhhh) and I grab one of my favorite units ever:

I uploaded this unit to TpT a few years ago, but I used the concept of the unit long before I even knew TpT existed.  (yes, there was life pre-TpT... hard to believe, I know!)

This unit uses letters from (imaginary) pen pals to introduce the 3 types of communities students will be learning about.

Letters are provided in the unit, but I always write them on chart paper and put them in a manilla envelope and have the secretaries deliver the envelopes to our class.

It's much more exciting that way!

Here's an example of a letter included in the unit.  There is a version of this letter that contains blanks for students to fill in after learning a little bit about this particular community.

 Posters, graphic organizers, and community sorts are also included in the unit.

As are extension sheets, activities, writing paper (for students to write about their own communities) and even an assessment.

It really is one of my favorite units to teach. You can read more about it here!

You can grab it for 20% through Friday here.

And you can win it below TODAY ONLY!!!

-Halle

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Community Fun

Hi Ya’ll!

I can say that now.  I just spent 4 beautiful days in magical Charleston.  

Obsessed wouldn’t begin to cover it.  I am southern at heart.  I just know it.

The Mr. and I at House of Brews in Mt. Pleasant.  If you’re in town & love craft beer, check it out!! 

As hard as it was to come back from Charleston, we’ve been having so much fun at school, that I didn’t drag my feet in the sand too much…

{I lie. I totally did.}

We’re learning about the 3 types of communities in our classroom.  I always really enjoy this unit, because we do so many fun things to learn about them. 

Time has been an issue all year, so in an effort to save some of it, I whipped up a little communities lesson that combined letter writing with the types of communities {although, there are soooo many activities you could neglect the letter portion all together if it doesn’t suit your fancy}

Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to…





My student teacher used the picture cards from the unit as a sort.  Our kiddos loved it…they love anything that seems like a game.  Skip counting SPARKLE?  Count them in!

After we reviewed communities by doing the sort, it was time to write some letters.



My student teacher handed out the small picture cards {these exact ones are NOT in my unit, but others are}.  She had a visual representation of all three communities.  Students had to use that picture to write a letter to someone about their assigned community.  They were allowed to use their graphic organizers {provided}.





Some of them pretended they lived in their assigned community, and wrote from that perspective.  Others wrote from a more informational angle.  We left it up to them.

Once they were done writing their letter, they used the {provided} checklist to make sure their letter had all its parts.

Then it was time to mail them.





As you can see, we didn’t go the route of addressing the envelope.  That’s a WHOLE OTHER lesson for another time.  {3rd Grade, maybe?}

We also stamped our letters, and sent them to our mailbox for delivery.



The letter portion of the unit was designed to be the culminating event, but we have a little extra time before moving on to the next unit, so this week we’ll be going on a magazine photo hunt for image representations of the different communities.  We’re just having too much fun!

If this looks like something that would be up your alley, click the picture to check it out!  And in case I forgot to mention, it's ON SALE till Wednesday :)



Have a good night {ya’ll}

-Halle