Molloy College 

Division of Education 
 
 
 
Student​: Melanie Purificato Professor​: Danielle Rosenberg 
Course​: EDU 527 Date​: 4/21/18 
Grade​: 2 Topic​: Communities Content Area​: Social Studies 
 
 
 
Unit Essential Questions: ​What are the similarities and differences among rural, urban, 
and suburban communities in the United States? What are the different landforms and 
waterways located in the United States and where are they located?  
 
 
Lesson 1​: ​What is a Community? 
 
Instructional Objective​:  
After a shared reading of the poem, “Homes” by Betsy Franco, students will develop 
their own list poems based on the elements that make up a community. 
 
 
Standards/Key Concepts​: 
New York State Social Studies Framework 
● Standard 3: Geography 
● Key Ideas and Conceptual Understandings 
● 2.1 A community is a population of various individuals in a common location. It 
can be characterized as urban, suburban, or rural. Population density and use of 
the land are some characteristics that define and distinguish types of 
communities. 
 
Social Studies Practices​: 
○ Comparison and Contextualization 
■ Describe an historical development in his/her community with 
specific details including time and place. 
○ Gathering, Using and Interpreting Evidence 
■ Develop questions about the community. 
■ Identify and explain creation and/or authorship, purpose and format 
for evidence. 
 
 
Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy 
● RL.2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how 
to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. 
● RL.2.4: Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, 
repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song. 
● RL.2.9a: With prompting and support, students will make cultural connections to 
text and self. 
● SL.2.1: Participate in a collaborate conversations with diverse partners. 
● SL2.2: Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text Read-aloud or 
information presented orally. 
● L.2.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words 
and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an 
array of strategies. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word 
or phrase. 
 
 
Motivation​: 
Students will watch a YouTube video which shows children their age trying to define 
what a community is. My class loves watching YouTube videos and will be very excited 
to start off a new unit this way. 
 
Materials​: 
Smart Board 
YouTube video on Communities- ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tcix328XmU 
Poem, “Homes” by Betsy Franco 
List poem template 
 
Strategies​: 
Direct Instruction​: I will define “community” after some discussion amongst students. 
Turn and Talk​: Students will turn to their partner of the week to discuss the meaning of 
the word “community”. 
Modeling:​ This will be evident when I model a “Community” list poem. 
Independent Work​: After a shared reading of the poem, “Homes”, students will develop 
their own list poems based on the elements that make up a community. 
Small Group Instruction​: Three students with special needs will work closely with our 
classroom aide to create the list poem using assistive technology. 
 
 
 
Adaptations​: 
The adaptations for this lesson are specific to three students in the class with IEP’s:  
Student 1: ADHD (non-medicated) 
Student 2: ADHD (non-medicated), Learning Disabled (2 grade levels behind) 
Student 3: ADD, Learning Disabled (Dyslexia, Math Dyscalculia, Anxiety Disorder)  
Poem will be reread, directions for the list poem will be repeated, and the aide will 
brainstorm ideas with the group prior to starting the poem. 
Student 1 will need redirection and help staying on task. 
Student 2 and Student 3 will use Assistive Technology (iPads) and utilize an app called 
“Easy Spelling Aid “. It will record their voices and then show them how to spell each 
word for their list poem. Reassurance and positive feedback will be given to Student 3. 
*All 3 students are slated for an ERR (Extended Resource Room) placement next year.  
 
Differentiation of Instruction​: 
The lesson will be differentiated by ability level. 
The students performing below grade level will create a 1-2 stanza list poem. 
The students performing at grade level will create a 3 stanza list poem. 
The students performing above grade level will create a 4-5 stanza list poem. 
 
Developmental Procedure​: 
1) Introduce the students to the new Social Studies topic “Communities” by sharing the 
YouTube video. 
2) Have students “Turn and Talk” to their partners about what a community is. ​What do 
you think a community is? What kinds of things do you see in your community? 
3) Present the definition of a community as a place where people live, work, and share 
common interests. 
4) Conduct a shared reading of the poem, “Homes” by Betsy Franco (on Smartboard). 
5) Discuss each stanza for student comprehension. ​Stanza 1- What types of homes are 
mentioned? How is a home defined?, Stanza 2- What types of homes are listed here? 
What types of materials are used to make homes?, Stanza 3- name the adjectives used to 
describe homes. Stanza 4- What do you think the writer is trying to tell you here? What is 
the underlying message?  
6) Ask students to describe what different types of homes look like. ​What does your 
home look like? Can you describe other homes you’ve seen? Think about words used in 
the poem to help you. 
7) Facilitate a discussion about homes being part of a community. ​ Are homes part of a 
community? Why/why not? 
8) Reread the definition and brainstorm what the definition means to students. ​What 
does community mean to you? R ​ eflect on lesson, poem and YouTube video 
9) Model creating a list poem from these ideas. Students will then work independently 
to create individual poems and illustrate them with images of homes around their 
poem. 
Example: Communities… 
● Have homes, 
● Have neighborhoods, 
● Have stores, 
● Have schools, 
● Are places to have fun! 
10) Students share their completed poems with the class by recording them on FlipGrid 
as they finish. Two students (Student 2 and Student 3, mentioned previously) will work 
with the aide using their iPads to create and record their poems on FlipGrid. 
 
 
Assessment​: 
● Individual list poems including ideas about communities. 
● Presentation of FlipGrid list poems to the class. 
 
 
Independent Practice​: 
For homework, students will use dictionaries (book or online) to define the following 
words on index cards: community, home, neighborhood, social group 
*Two students will take their iPads home (assistive technology) to complete the 
homework task. 
 
community  a place where people live, work, or have fun together 

home  the house in which a person or family lives 

neighborhood  an area in a community where people live near one 

another 

social group  a group of community members who come together to 

share common interests 

 
 
Academic Intervention​: 
If a student is struggling with this task, I will provide a worksheet that contains pictures 
of what we see in communities similar to their town. They can use the pictures to 
create their list poem. 
 
Academic Enrichment​: 
If a student needs to be challenged, they can create a list poem entitled “Community 
Helpers” ​or​ draw a detailed picture of their community. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
References​: 
 
Franco, Betsy, H ​ omes​ (poem) 
 
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tcix328XmU 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lesson 2​: 
Students will learn that there are 3 types of communities (rural, urban, and suburban) 
and each has distinct characteristics. They will use this knowledge to discover which 
type their community is as they explore a text to self connection, and then write a 
paragraph.   
In the story, “The Little House” by Virginia Burton, the students will focus on the little 
house and discuss how the community around it changes. Using the Smartboard, we 
will create a triple T-chart describing the 3 types of communities. Students will need to 
decide what type of community they live in and give reasons to support their answer. 
The students will fill in a pre-writing graphic organizer, which includes the name of their 
school, the community in which the school is located, the specific type of community 
(rural, urban, suburban), a brief description of three characteristics that make up their 
community (supporting it with information learned), and a concluding sentence. While 
students are filling in their organizer, I will have 3-4 students using FlipGrid to answer 
the questions, “What type of community do you live in? How do you know?” (This will be 
used at the beginning of tomorrow’s lesson as a review.) For homework, students will 
complete a paragraph entitled, “My School and Its Community”, using today’s graphic 
organizer.   
  
Lesson 3​:  
Show FlipGrid videos to review yesterday’s lesson.   
In this lesson, students will explore the characteristics of rural communities, with a 
focus on farming, through a read aloud and a PowerPoint with rural photographs. 
Students will then complete a “Rural Rebus”.  
Refer back to the Triple T-chart made by the class the previous day on the Smartboard. 
Review what the students believe are the characteristics of a rural/farm community. 
Discuss the word “rural”. Show students a PowerPoint with photographs of a rural 
community. Ask students, ​What do you notice about the photographs?, Who do you 
thinks lives in this community?, What are some other things you may see in this 
community?, What can we add to our chart?​ (Record any new responses on the chart.) 
Introduce and read the book, ​Walk Around a Farming Town​ by Peter and Connie Roop. 
As a whole class, define a rural community as a community with open land, few 
buildings and businesses, often farms, and low population density. In pairs, have 
students complete the rural community rebus story. 
As a homework assignment the students are to cut out pictures from magazines, 
newspapers, or the internet that represent a rural community. The students will bring 
them to school in a labeled Ziploc bag. These will be saved for the culminating activity 
to be used in Lesson 6.   
  
 
Lesson 4​: 
Students will discover the characteristics of an urban community through poetry, a read 
aloud, group discussion, and a video. They will analyze text, add to the on-going T-chart, 
and illustrate and present a stanza of “City Child.”  
Refer back to the triple T-chart previously created by the students and review what 
characteristics of an urban community or city were listed. Explain to the students that 
they will continue to add to the T-chart as they learn new information. 
Show the following video to the class and record new information. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh2x4dWqkig 
Read, ​A Walk Around a City​ by Peter and Connie Roop. During the reading, stop after 
each section and discuss. Look at each picture, compare and contrast the cities in 
various states. Refer to the vocabulary words in bold print and discuss their meaning. 
What do you see in an urban community? What kinds of homes and buildings do you 
see? How do people get from place to place in the city? What do you notice about the 
schools in an urban community? How are they similar or different from our school? 
Compare and contrast the public places (library, police station, post office, shops) in an 
urban community to those in a suburban community. What is different about where you 
play from where people in an urban community play?​ Add new information to the 
T-chart. 
*During ELA time, conduct a shared reading of the poem “City Child” projected on the 
Smartboard. Each child will choose his/her favorite stanza from the poem and illustrate 
it.   
As a homework assignment the students are to cut out pictures from magazines, 
newspapers, or the internet that represent an urban community. The students will bring 
them to school in a labeled Ziploc bag. These will be saved for the culminating activity 
to be used in Lesson 6. 
 
 
Lesson 5​: 
Students will understand the components of a suburban community after hearing a 
Read Aloud and adding information to the on-going T-chart. They will apply this 
information in a fill in the blanks exercise and in a written paragraph that is based on an 
illustration. Read aloud L ​ iving in Suburban Communities​ by Kristen Sterling. While 
reading the book ask the following questions to facilitate discussion on suburbs: W ​ hat 
do you see in a suburb? What kinds of buildings are there in a suburb? How do people get 
around in a suburb? How do people get the things they need?   
As the book is read, elicit from the students the characteristics that comprise a suburb. 
Show the following video of a Long Island suburban community-  
http://www.nextvista.org/moriches-shirley-mastic-and-mastic-beach/   
Add any new student ideas to the T-chart.  
Have students participate in an interactive Smartboard Notebook activity to apply the 
knowledge they learned about suburban communities. 
*During writing time, pair students with a partner to plan and draw a picture of a 
suburban community including significant components of a suburb. Below the picture, 
each pair of students will write a paragraph describing the details in their picture. Have 
the students share their pictures and writing with the class. 
As a homework assignment the students are to cut out pictures from magazines, 
newspapers, or the internet that represent a suburban community. The students will 
bring them to school in a labeled Ziploc bag. These will be saved for the culminating 
activity to be used in Lesson 6. 
 
 
Lesson 6​: 
Students review the characteristics of urban, suburban and rural communities, and then 
have a choice of one of three projects to illustrate the characteristics of each type of 
community. Show this video to quickly review the 3 communities: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcEY8l8Ix2E  
Read aloud, ​Where is My Home?​ By Robin Nelson, and review concepts of rural, urban 
and suburban communities. Discuss, ​What are the similarities of each community? 
What are the differences of each community? How would your life be different in each 
community?  
Students have a choice of three projects :  
1) Students create a “Community Flipbook” by gluing their 
magazine/newspaper/internet pictures to the appropriate section in the flipbook. On the 
last page of the flipbook students reflect on the question, “Does where you live affect 
how you live?” 
Enrichment: Access the Read, Write, and Think Flipbook 
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/flipbook  
2) Students create a “Three Communities Web” on K ​ idspiration​. 
3) Students compose a sensory poem describing the three communities after filling in 
the “Five Senses” graphic organizer on​ ​Google Drive​. 
 
 
 
 
The completed projects will serve as an assessment. See rubric below: 
 
Rubric​: Rural, Urban, and Suburban Communities Project 
 
Exceeds expectations​: 
The information is accurate, complete, and fulfills all the requirements of the task. The 
three types of communities are identified and the characteristics of each are 
demonstrated. The necessary support and/or examples are included, and the 
information given is accurate. Any extensions beyond the project are relevant to the 
task.  
 
Meets expectations​: 
The project includes some correct information, but may be too general, overly specific, 
or lack some of the key characteristics representing the communities. Some of the 
support and/or examples may be incomplete or omitted. 
 
Does not meet expectations​: 
The project includes information that is inaccurate, confusing, and/or irrelevant, or the 
student failed to respond to the task or complete the project.