We have wrapped up our third full week of school and we have been busy bees! I don’t know about your schedules, but in second grade it can be tough to squeeze in things like science and social studies. Because of the tight schedules, I try to pack as many science and social studies standards into my reading curriculum. The past couple of weeks, we have been working on these types of communities activities.
We started off with a close read. I call it a “treasure read” and we act like pirates searching for important treasure in the text. Sounds silly but I promise it gets the kiddos engaged!
Types of Communities Activity
The favorite types of communities activity was TRASHKETBALL! You just need three different sized baskets (small, medium, and large). I cut up strips of sentences from my Types of Communities Packet that described a community. Each student got a strip and took turns reading theirs aloud. The class worked together to decide which community it described, and then the student crumpled the paper into a ball. Then they shot their ball into the correct basket. Small=Rural, Medium=Suburban, Large=Urban.
Some of the strips of paper described more than one community, so they had to tear it into two or three pieces to place in the correct baskets. This is where we covered our reading standard of comparing and contrasting in a text. They LOVED it and definitely knew the difference between the types of communities by the end of the game. The students finished by completing a compare and contrast graphic organizer from my Types of Communities Packet.
Urban, Suburban, and Rural Community Activities
Later in the week, we used our close read to complete the Types of Communities Booklet. Their covers turned out cute! I love how some added chimneys.
You can find all of these activities in my Types of Communities Packet. Click below to check it out!
Next week we are working on author’s purpose. Check out this Author’s Purpose Blog Post to get some ideas for your classroom!
