Dear Parents or Guardians,
Your child will soon be starting an integrative unit to study the roles of families within a community and how variety within families are what makes a community special. Your child will become a member of a neighborhood community to learn how to solve problems by working together respectfully, make their neighborhood a caring community, and make decisions to create change within their community. Students will also be developing literacy skills as they talk, write and read about their experiences.
The teaching approach I will be using is called Storypath, which was originally developed in Scotland. The approach is built on the key principle that learning, to be meaningful, has to be memorable, and that we can use children’s enthusiasm for story-making to teach important content and skills. Active learning, cooperation, critical thinking, and reflection are essential components of the process. As the Storypath develops, children will gain a sense of ownership for their learning as they tackle the problems presented. As events unfold, ask your child to share with you what is happening in the Storypath. You may find that they will want to learn more about particular topics by discussing the neighborhoods they have created or the kinds of features they would like in a neighborhood.
You are welcome to visit out classroom during our Storypath time. You will be pleased to see children confronting important issues that relate to how communities are built and how they come together to solve problems. I hope you will discuss these experiences with your child. At the conclusion of the unit, we will be having a celebration for solving problems in our neighborhood. I hope you will be able to join us for this event.
Sincerely,
Corinne Schicchi
Student Teacher
The following is a video to help your child with some vocabulary throughout this unit:
Guidesheet 1:
Parents: Please complete the following worksheet with your child. Feel free to include anyone you consider to be part of your family tree. I encourage you to engage in conversation surrounding your familiy’s culture/values. This assignment is meant to be fun, creative, and open to your interpretation!
Parents: Please complete the following worksheet with your child. Feel free to include anyone you consider to be part of your family tree. I encourage you to engage in conversation surrounding your familiy’s culture/values. This assignment is meant to be fun, creative, and open to your interpretation!
Guidesheet 2:
Parents: Our students have created their own imaginary neighborhood, now they need help with the concept of navigating around the neighborhoods, what kinds of things are unique to certain neighborhoods, and reflecting on their own neighborhood. Please go on a short 10-15 minute stroll with your child and create a neighborhood map. This map does not need to be detailed or perfectly accurate, it is just for your child’s own understanding.
Parents: Our students have created their own imaginary neighborhood, now they need help with the concept of navigating around the neighborhoods, what kinds of things are unique to certain neighborhoods, and reflecting on their own neighborhood. Please go on a short 10-15 minute stroll with your child and create a neighborhood map. This map does not need to be detailed or perfectly accurate, it is just for your child’s own understanding.
WOW! Follow this link to use google earth to look at satellite images of your neighborhood, find your home :)
https://www.google.com/earth/
https://www.google.com/earth/
Guidesheet 3:
Dear Parent/Guardians:
In celebration of our completion of the Families in Their Neighborhoods Storypath, your child will be bringing an invitation home for you to join us for a celebration! Your children have done an excellent job through this Social Studies unit and would love to share their achievements with all of you. When your child brings home the invitation please have them read it to you, then have them bring back the RSVP notecard. Please don’t feel obliged to come, I understand you all lead busy lives. We would love it if you could join us!
Sincerely,
Corinne Schicchi
Student Teacher
Dear Parent/Guardians:
In celebration of our completion of the Families in Their Neighborhoods Storypath, your child will be bringing an invitation home for you to join us for a celebration! Your children have done an excellent job through this Social Studies unit and would love to share their achievements with all of you. When your child brings home the invitation please have them read it to you, then have them bring back the RSVP notecard. Please don’t feel obliged to come, I understand you all lead busy lives. We would love it if you could join us!
Sincerely,
Corinne Schicchi
Student Teacher