In Social Studies, grades 1 and 2 students have started their
yearlong exploration of the concept of community. Students
started by thinking about the groups of which we are members.
This helps the children focus on what it means to be a member
of a group. We talked about how a community is a group of
people who have something in common. The children realized
that they are members of many different communities. The
family is the first community that came to each child’s mind
and then they thought about the other groups important to
them, such as the soccer team, the after-school class or the
Portuguese neighborhood to which they belong. We focused on
what it takes to make a community work well. We read the
books
Amos and Boris and
Amigo, which helped children think
about how to develop and sustain friendships. We read
Jamaica’s Blue Marker as a springboard to a discussion of the
school as a community of which we are all members. We
discussed how the actions of each individual contribute to the
well being of the whole community. We also discussed the idea
that although the people in a community share a common
interest they also take pride in their differences. These
differences enrich the community.
After the students developed an understanding of community,
we moved to studying the King Open School community.
During this study the children learned about all the people who
work hard every day to keep the community running smoothly
so children can learn. The students interviewed important King
Open School community workers. We focused on the non-teaching
staff in an effort to reveal the “behind the scenes”
work of the school. The children learned the best part and the
hardest part of each job. They learned how many people are
here to help them. They get so excited when they see the
people who visited the class because they now understand each
person’s role and know how their work contributes to their life
as members of the King Open School community.
The children did some exciting projects to support their
learning. They painted portraits and wrote about the people
they interviewed. They painted hand prints using multicultural
paint to demonstrate the wonderful diversity in the King Open
School community. They painted and wrote about one of the
many communities of which they are members. Finally they
developed a mural that depicts the various neighborhoods in
Cambridge. This mural helped us transition to our study of
neighborhood communities.
The 1st /2nd Community Gathering and Breakfast was held on
Thursday, December 4th. During this event we celebrated our
students accomplishments thus far. The children presented
some of their projects in the gym. Families returned to the
classroom to enjoy a potluck breakfast. The students created
some exceptional portraits. This was a joyous event!