Social Studies Lesson Transforms Classroom to Community
This fall, a Shuler Elementary School second-grade classroom brought its social studies lesson to life.
Classroom to Community
“During this Classroom Community Day, our classroom transformed into a vibrant community. The children had an important part to play as producers! We invited parents, grandparents, or special guests to join us for a fun and interactive experience where they toured our community, participated in spending and saving simulations, and asked students first-hand about their learning of our social studies learning objectives,” Teacher Amber O’Neill said.
Social Studies Curriculum Learnings
The events tied directly into the students’ understanding of topics they’ve been exploring in class from their social studies curriculum, including:
- Understanding the difference between needs and wants.
- Learning how community producers help meet the needs and wants of others.
- Discovering how to make tough choices when spending money.
- Identifying the skills needed for different careers within a community.
Applying the Lesson to Real Life
“Community Day gave students the chance to apply these concepts in a real-world setting, as they take on roles, interact with others, and make thoughtful decisions on how to spend their ‘money,’ what products and services they will provide based on supply and demand, and what price point they will settle on,” O’Neill said.
One of the most fun parts was choosing the name of their business. Students were also welcome to dress up as their character. The day even included three “town emergencies” requiring participants to dig into their savings.
While most of the lesson was pretend, the classroom did collect real items for the local food pantry to transition some of the lesson from imaginary to real life.
