Families and Communities: What We Share and How We Differ

Families and Communities: What We Share and How We Differ

Grade 1 · Social Studies · NYS SS Framework 1.1 / 1.1a · 45 Minutes

NYS-Aligned Standards

Key Idea 1.1 — A community is a place where people live, work, and play. Communities have common features and are found in different settings (urban, suburban, and rural).

Conceptual Understanding 1.1a — All families and communities share certain common characteristics, but each community is unique and has its own identity.

NYS K–12 Social Studies Framework (2014)

Learning Objectives — “I Can” Statements

• I can name things that all communities have in common (homes, schools, places to work and play).
• I can describe the difference between urban, suburban, and rural communities.
• I can explain something unique about my own community.

Essential Question

What makes a community — and what makes OUR community special?

Vocabulary

Lesson Sequence

Hook / Warm-Up (8 min)

1. Show 3 photos (teacher-sourced or teacher-drawn): a city street, a quiet neighborhood, a farm road. “Where could you live?”
2. Students tell a partner which they’d choose and why.
3. Ask: “Do ALL of these places have homes? Schools? Stores? What else do they have in common?”

Direct Instruction (10 min)

1. Introduce: urban, suburban, rural — brief descriptions, visual anchor chart.
2. Class sort: show 6 image cards (city apartment, farm house, suburban neighborhood, subway, tractor, shopping mall) — students decide: urban / suburban / rural.
3. Key message: “All communities have homes, work places, schools, and places to play — but they LOOK different.”

Guided Practice (12 min)

1. Read a teacher-written original story (1 page) about two children: one from an urban community in NYC, one from a rural community in Upstate New York.
2. Venn diagram: “What do both communities have? What’s different?”
3. Class completes together on chart paper.

Independent Practice (10 min)

Students draw “My Community” — a picture of their own neighborhood/town — and label 3 things they see there. Write one sentence: “My community is special because ___.”

Closure (5 min)

Exit ticket: “Circle ONE: My community is urban / suburban / rural. Give one reason.”

Original Story (Teacher-Authored):

Maya lives in Brooklyn. She walks to school, rides the subway with her grandmother, and plays in a big playground where kids from all over the neighborhood come together. On weekends, the streets fill with music and the smell of food from nearby restaurants.

Noah lives in Franklin, a small town in the Catskills. He rides the school bus for 20 minutes, helps his dad with the garden, and plays baseball on a field behind the church. On weekends, he and his friends explore trails in the woods.

Maya and Noah both go to school. They both have families, homes, and places to play. But the way their communities look and feel is very different.

SDI & Differentiation Block

Supports for MLLs/ELLs

Entering/Emerging (NYSESLAT Levels 1–2):

• Provide the story with picture supports beside key nouns
• Bilingual vocabulary cards: community/comunidad, home/hogar, school/escuela
• Allow drawing instead of writing for independent practice
• Sentence frame: “My community is ___. I see ___ there.”

Transitioning/Expanding (NYSESLAT Levels 3–4):

• Pre-teach urban/suburban/rural with labeled photos before the lesson
• Sentence frame for closure: “My community is ___ because ___.”

Supports for Students with IEPs

SDI Adaptation Dimensions: content, methodology, delivery

• Content: Focus on one community type; reduce Venn diagram to 2 similarities and 1 difference
• Methodology: Use picture-sort cards instead of written Venn; allow student to match pictures to community type labels
• Delivery: Read the story aloud in small group; allow extended time; accept drawing with verbal label

Suggested Placement: ICT, Resource Room

Answer Key / Model Response

Exit ticket model: “My community is suburban because I have houses, schools, and some stores, but it’s not a big city and not a farm.”

Alignment Record