In my elementary Social Studies class, I’m teaching about
community and map skills. An extremely
helpful teacher knew this and sent me a link for a paper craft town (http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/2028/list_15_1.html). I immediately loved the idea and decided to
base the whole unit around it.
Little did I know that the construction of the town would
take months! (That’s what happens when
you only have class twice a week and students are regularly absent.) Each building is extremely detailed and
complicated to make, so each student only made one. I quickly realized that I would need more
builders than myself and my class of three, so I enlisted the help of everyone
I could get.
Casey made the coffee shop
and a house, Rebekah made the hospital and town sign, Saúl and Gaby made some vehicles,
and Kevin and Kristian made the church. As
for the actual class members: Larimar made the school, Kioney made the flower
shop, Mizael made the fire station, and I made the gas station, police station,
post office, and a house.
This was truly a school-wide effort!
After the buildings were finished, we had to plan the
town layout. This included some great discussions
using critical thinking skills. When the
roads, sidewalks, parking lots, green spaces, and crosswalks were in place, we
painted. Then we glued. Then we celebrated and took lots of pictures!
So here it is…Sunny Peace Town! (We voted and compromised a few times to get
this name.)
 |
| The mean streets of Sunny Peace Town! |
After all that hard work, I had to give the kids time to
play. It was amazing how much they
enjoyed maneuvering the little people and vehicles. They really got into it!
 |
| The kids are signing the word "fire" above the house! |
Since this project took months to complete, I have vowed
to work it into every Social Studies lesson for the rest of the school year…we’ll
see how long that lasts.
Right now, we’re using it for map skills. Our first skill is using a map key. Here is first of many maps…I hope!
