Putting the Unity in Community

What does the word “community” mean to your class?

Investigate by sourcing a list of what your class thinks of when they consider community. Next, prompt them to think of where they find community: Is community a place for you? Is it a certain person? If so, where or who?

Afterwards, ask your students to go into their community and observe what makes it unique! Ask them to write down their findings in the form of words, phrases or quotes they hear people say to create a unique poem.

Afterwards, invite students to share their journal entries about their communities aloud. As they listen, students will start creating a communal city landscape on a large piece of butcher paper. They can draw buildings from their communities, sketch people they know or write down words from everyone’s poems. Students can even lay down on the butcher paper and strike a pose, letting others outline them, so they are a part of the landscape!

When you’ve created your city landscape, hang it in your classroom or the hall to celebrate the community around you!