TPS Mini-Unit Activity Template.

Note: Instructions are italicized and should be removed before submission. Bolded phrases in the
instruction boxes should remain.

Name:
Date submitted:

Title of Mini- 1. My Community and I

unit 2. What is culture?
3. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Overview This lesson is meant to get students to understand what a community is and their impact
and Theme within their own community, what culture is and how to celebrate it, and will end with who
Martin Luther King, Jr is and his impact within his community and culture.
Essential or 1. What makes up a community?
Investigative 2. What is culture?
Question(s) 3. What kind of an impact can people make on their community?
Grade Level This activity is best suited for students of the following grade levels: 2nd - 4th grade
and Content This activity integrates the following content areas: Social studies, civics, and language arts.
Integration
Time This activity will take three 45 minute long sessions, during social studies.
Required
Broad Goals Goals of the Unit:
and Specific 1. Students will understand what a community is and the guidelines that distinguish a
Objectives community.
2. Student will understand what culture is and who represents a culture.
3. Students will know who Martin Luther King, Jr was and how he impacted his
community and culture.
Objectives of the Unit:
1. Second grade students will be able to define community and explicitly give features of
their own community as well as others, with accuracy.
2. Second grade students will be able to define culture and give examples as to what
characteristics are important within a culture and give examples of their own culture.
3. Second grade students can accurately explain pieces of Martin Luther King’s history,
his impact on his community, and point out obvious changes from his impact.
Standards Your lessons should reference one or more teaching standards:
● Common Core
o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.2: Determine two or more main ideas of a text and
explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text
o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.3: Explain the relationships or interactions between
two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or
technical text based on specific information in the text

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 o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.5: Compare and contrast the overall structure of
events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts
Digital 1. Primary sources from loc.gov:
Resources a. Community Chorus, Central Park
Documentati b. ca 1915-1920
on c. Bain News Service
d. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014702738/

2. Primary sources from loc.gov:

a. Chinese New Year Celebration
b. ca. 1980 - 2006
c. Carol M. Highsmith
d. https://www.loc.gov/item/2011632718/

3. Primary sources from loc.gov:

a. Martin Luther King Delivers the “I Have a Dream” speech

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 b. 1963
c. Bob Adelman
d. https://www.loc.gov/item/2013645765/

Classroom 1. Map of your state, chart paper, white paper, pencil.

Materials 2. Tape, colored pencils, colorful index cards, chart paper, My Culture worksheet, pencil.
3. Copy of Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen
Rappaport and copy of Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr worksheet (one completed
ahead of time as an example).
Preparation 1. Prepare a chart paper for definitions of words such as community, school, city, etc.
Ensure students are in pairs or have easy access to a shoulder partner.
2. Create 8 colorful index cards labeled “where I live, how I dress, my language, what I
eat, what I play, my family, celebrations, and art/music”. Prepare chart paper with
“Ms. Taylor’s Culture” written in a circle in the middle of the page. Print out enough
copies of the My Culture worksheet. Ensure open, comfortable seating is available for
the students to begin the lesson.
3. Pre-read Martin’s Big Words. Print out enough copies of Celebrate Martin Luther King
Jr worksheet. Complete one copy of the worksheet before hand as an example. Create
a KWL chart labeled “Martin Luther King Jr” on the board.
Instructional Day 1.
Procedures 1. Begin the lesson by asking students to draw a picture of their community on their
blank piece of paper.
2. Have the students turn and talk to their shoulder partners about what they drew.
3. PIck a drawing to share with the class. These pictures will likely show people and
things within the community without explicitly showing the location.
4. Display the drawing on the board. Ask students to give examples of what they see in
the picture - they should point out only specific details and not make inferences.
5. Next, students should make their inferences about the drawing/
a. What do they think about it?

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 6. Students should then think to themselves about questions they have about the
picture. Use the “I wonder…” statement to encourage thoughtful thinking. Students
should share their questions and wonders with their shoulder partner.
7. Bring the class back together, and ask them to think about the activity we just did.
a. Brainstorming, what is a community?
8. Using the chart paper, we will together come up with a definition for community.
a. A community is a place where people live, work, and play.
9. Ask, “What things do a community share?”
a. Geographic location, weather, and government.
10. If the students drew important people in their drawings, talk about who they are, what
their jobs are, and how they are important to a community. As well as any buildings
that may have been drawn and discussed.
11. Discuss other vocabulary terms such as school and city.
12. Define the word school on the chart paper, together. Ask questions, such as “Where is
our school located at in our community?” and “How does the school help our
community?”
13. Using the map of the state, show the students where our city is located. Help the
students define a city together.
14. Hand out another sheet of white paper to each student and leave a stack at the front
of the room for easy access.
15. Instruct students to draw a picture of their community. They should include people,
places, the location, and other important features of a community. Their name, school,
city, and state should be present on their paper.
Day 2.
1. Gather students on open, comfortable area.
2. Explain that today they will be exploring all of the things that makes them unique and
special.
3. Ask each student to share something that they believe makes them special.
4. Ask students to think to themselves about the other students who may have shared
similar responses or shared something that they also enjoy. They should also think
about those students who answered differently than they did.
5. Explain to the students that everyone is different, and that our differences make us
unique. Ask students to think of what the world would look like if we all looked, spoke,
and acted the same.
6. Place the chart paper on the board, labeled “Ms. Taylor’s Culture.”
7. Ask students what culture means. Allow students to share their individual ideas.
a. Culture is the way a person speaks, dresses, celebrates, plays, and lives.
8. Scatter the eight index cards on the ground and pick one student to choose a card.
9. Read the card aloud and tape it to the chart.
10. Draw a line from the card to the culture circle. Discuss what My Language means, such
as how language is how we communicate with each other. For an example, some
people can speak in English, but may have someone hard of hearing at home, so they
also use ASL (American Sign Language) at home.
11. Continue with all eight cards. Explain how this shows all of the characteristics of your
culture, and all of the things that make you unique and special.

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 12. Allow students to go back to desks and pass out the My Culture worksheet (below).
13. Explain to students that they will be making their own culture chart. Help students
read the words in each box. Explicitly show where pictures should be drawn.
14. Allow students to independently work on the activity.

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 Day 3:
1. Place the chart paper on the board that is labeled “Martin Luther King, Jr.” with
columns for “What I Know”, “What I Want to Know”, and “What I Learned”.
2. Ask students what they already know about MLK. Add what they say to the chart.
3. Ask students what they would like to know about MLK. Add what they say to the chart.
4. Explain to the students that we’re going to read a story about MLK so we can learn
more about him.
5. Read the story, ask questions, and listen to statements from students.
6. Share the worksheet with the students that has already been filled out.
7. Talk to the students about your dream / wish, and why you chose it
8. Explain to students how they will be doing the same thing on their own worksheet.
9. Students may share with the class what dreams or wishes they put on their worksheet.
Assessment Day 1.
Review all of the community maps created by each student. A rubric will need to be created to
ensure students are accurately graded based on their knowledge of features within a
community. Check for mastery of the concepts and completion of the objective.

Day 2.

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 Call the students back once the activity is complete and stand in a circle. Explain to students
that we are all going to share one piece of information from our sheets. Express that they
should be kind and listen to what their classmates share, and make notes of those who are
similar and different from us. Allow students to share their work.

Day 3.
Ask students any question about Martin Luther King, Jr. that goes along with the reading.
Allow the students to talk with their shoulder partner and discuss their answers. Explain that
you will be randomly choosing pairs to share, so they should all be hard at work. Choosing at
random ensures all students are actively participating.

Reflection Due to time restrictions, I was unable to teach any of the lessons to my students. I feel that
these lessons would have been great for my second graders, and I fully intend to keep these in
my back pocket for the next time I have an opportunity to teach a social studies or civics
lesson. Although I was unable to teach this lesson, I did go over it with my Cooperating
Teacher to get their feedback. We felt that the students would be able to comprehend and
participate actively in the lessons. There are the select few students who may struggle with
understanding the specifics of a community, but the overall lesson would have gone over well.
Culture is something that the students are already somewhat aware of, it is a topic that gets
brought up on occasion. With this lesson, it would bring more emphasis on the importance of
diversity and cultural awareness between students. This could be a very beneficial lesson,
primarily because this school is located in a very small town where the elementary school and
the high school are both connected. This means the students are not as exposed to a vast
diversity or cultural difference. As for the MLK lesson, this is something already taught within
the school. Typically this type of lesson would be taught near MLK Day, and could be
introduced as well with other historical figures such as Ruby Bridges or Rosa Parks. Overall I
feel that this lesson could have gone really well and been very informational to myself, the
students, and my cooperating teacher.

Please submit final version in Word format so that the lesson plan can be vetted for publication.

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