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A Study on Communities: Urban, Rural, Suburban

A Second Grade Lesson PlanMaria Frey Griffin

September 28, 2009

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The Little House: an Arts Integrated Lesson on Communities

Students will identify the three types of communities: Rural, Urban and Suburn.Students will compare Rural, Urban and Suburban communities using the book, the Little House.Students will create their own story of moving between Rural, Urban and Suburban settings. Students will create their own community through drawing, 3-D models or collage to include correct attributes of either Rural, Urban or Suburban settings.

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Why Literary Arts Integration?

Teachers can bring to life content through engaging fiction and non-fictionLiterature deepens understanding and broadens connectionsStudents discover commonalities between themselves, what they are learning and fictional and non-fictional characters

Here is the Little House. How is it feeling?

Can you tell by the picture? Where is the Little

House?

Describe the setting- is it Rural, Urban or Suburban?

How do you know?

• Read the story The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton• Discuss what happens in the story. What changes about

where the Little House lives?• On chart paper, draw three columns. Have students

describe each of the communities that the Little House lives. Show them the pictures from the book and encourage them with guided questions like “What is around the Little House?” “Who are the Little House’s neighbors?” “What kind of plants and animals do you see?”

• Write down the responses in the proper column. Underlining terms, if provided, like city, country, farm.

• Write the headings for each column: Rural, Suburban, and Urban

• Tell the students that Rural, Suburban and Urban are types of communities. Ask them what type of community they live in.

• Have the students break up into groups or pairs to answer discussion questions.

“The House is

sad”

“It moves to the

country”

Rural Suburban

Urban

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The Lesson

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Rural Suburban Urban

Country

Cows

Trees

Farms

Houses

Cars

Trees

Backyards

Cars

Buildings

Trains

People

Traffic

Organizational Chart

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Work Centers

Students will rotate through three centers that focus on exploring types of communities. Each center should be for no more than 15 minutes each.Please Note: Writer’s Workshop is a week long process so students will have additional time to work on their stories.

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Brain POP! Jr.

Venn Diagram

Writer’s Workshop

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Materials Needed

Magazines

Paper

Pencils

Crayons

Scissors

Glue

The Internet

Click me

Assessments and Additional Resources

•Students will complete a quiz at the end of the Brain Pop! Jr. video with at least 8 correct answers.•The Writer’s Workshop story will include at least 3 details about each community; Rural, Urban and Suburban. It will contain a personified object, have a beginning, middle and end, and at least one illustration.•Students’ Final Project will represent one of the communities studied and include 5 attributes of the community. The student will verbally describe the choices they made, how they represented their community, and the artistic process.

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Discussion Questions• Whole Class

– Have students stay gathered on the rug or in a circle for the Read Aloud. Follow the Read Aloud with the following questions. Remember to build on their answers! • What kind of life does the Little House have when she lives in the

urban setting? What are some of the things she sees? • What are some of the changes the Little House goes through? Have

you ever gone through changes like the Little House? • What do you think the people are like in a rural setting? Urban?

Suburban? • Small Group

– Have students get in small groups and discuss the following questions for each setting: • Where might you shop ?• Where might you live?• What kind of work might you do?• What kind of animals would you find outside? Inside?• What happens when it snows?• What do you think is important when living in this setting?

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Project

Students will practice on the Smart Board creating their own community scene in order to reinforce their understanding of Rural, Urban and Suburban.Students will work at school and at home to create a collage, 3-D model or drawing of either a rural, suburban, or urban scene and can incorporate elements of their Writer’s Workshop storyProjects will be on display! Parents and select classes from the school will be invited to a formal presentation at the end of the month.

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