Teaching 1st Grade Social Studies with Ways We Live
I remember a parent once asking me how I planned to explain to their child that other families might do things differently than they do at home. It is a fair question for any first grade teacher. The lesson Ways We Live approaches this by focusing on the core concept... read more
First Grade Social Studies Lesson on Building Our Community
Helping first graders understand what it means to be part of a group is a common challenge in social studies. The concept of community can be abstract for young children, but finding ways to connect their personal experiences to the broader classroom unit helps them... read more
Helping First Graders Connect Workers to Daily Needs
First graders often assume that the items they use every day just appear on shelves or that jobs are limited to what they see at the grocery store. It is a common misconception that work is only about money or specific uniforms. When we sit down to teach first grade... read more
Teaching 1st Grade Social Studies with Our Town Long Ago
When you ask a first grader what life was like long ago, you often get answers involving dinosaurs, knights, or black-and-white cartoons. They struggle to connect the concept of history to their own neighborhood, assuming that a town is a fixed object that has always... read more