Identify relative and absolute location and make a connection between how digital programmers through an activity to help students practice absolute and relative location while working to debug or problem solve like programmers.

Second grade students in Michigan continue their integrative approach to social studies by focusing in on the local community. Students are introduced to a social environment larger than their immediate surroundings.

After learning about how a community functions and looking at how our local community works on a day to day basis.  Students work together to create an imaginative community including all the elements that make a community run smooth.  Students will use Google Draw to learn how to "draw" a house on a chromebook for the mural as well as using Kahoot! to take a survey about the naming the community, what materials to use, and what would students want to include to take the community complete.

Students are given their "Global Folders" and the teacher explains to them how it will be used throughout this learning unit. The teacher introduces the global issue of: challenges children face in trying to go to school around the world. This lesson was taught to my dual language students in English during their social studies content time. All available resources are provided in English.This lesson was developed by Gabriela Bermingham as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

Students will learn about organizations, campaigns and leaders who are making an effort to help children world-wide go to school and get educated. Such leaders include Michelle Obama with her program and Oprah Winfrey. The students will watch a video about an organization called "Transforming Education for Girls Project." Students will take a leadership role and begin to plan actions to improve conditions in the country of Guatemala by starting a fundraiser at the school level. The funds collected will be used to fund educational teaching materials and student learning resources. The fundraiser is supported by Teachers 2 Teachers Global, who will use the money collected to fund the classroom in which the teacher is connected with and is planning future interactive Skype lessons. (see Leson 6: Skype Lessons with Another Classroom).This lesson was developed by Gabriela Bermingham as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

Students will learn about new friends: Manju from Nepal, Wadley from Haiti, and Jednel from Tanauan. Students learn how different natural disasters, such as earthquakes and typhoons, have destroyed schools in various parts of the world due to their catastrophic nature, leaving children struggling go to school and get an education. These are cross-curricular lessons that include the teachings of science, social studies and the language arts. These lessons were taught in English during social studies/science content time.This lesson was developed by Gabriela Bermingham as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to be part of a Colombian legend. In this case, the legend of "El Dorado". Also they will get to know part of the history of a Pre-Colombian civilization. This lesson was developed by Carolina Vargas-Escobar as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

In this lesson students will have the opportunity to write their own myths or legends and share them with their parents in their own class. This lesson was developed by Carolina Vargas-Escobar as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

In this lesson, students will take action in their community by cleaning up the trash around their school and writing a reflection about how they feel after helping their school/community. This lesson was developed by Amy Smereka as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

Seterra is an online ultimate map quiz game that allows students to practice their map skills. It can also be used as a map quiz to give students a score. There are many options that students can choose to create an environment where map skills are fun!

The NC Kids' Exploration Journals are a fun educational tool to help youth explore their communities and natural surroundings! Each journal contains: 18 multidisciplinary activities with guided prompts, 6 lined journal pages for recording observations and reflections, and 4 blank pages for individual creativity.

The digital versions of the journal are designed to be printed out for students either as individual activities or in its entirety so that they can explore their school yard, local park, or own backyard. Though designed for 1st - 5th-graders, older audiences may enjoy them too! They are also available in both English and Spanish languages.

While supplies last, hard copies of the journals are currently available for free to teachers by contacting karen.ipock@ncdcr.gov.

After the whole class looks at maps and globes and explores legends/keys on the map and how symbols represent places/objects/meanings of drawings/details on the map, all students will work together in small groups to collaboratively draw a map of the school.  Each group of 3-4 students will create their own map of the school.  Then as a class, students will analyze and critique the maps and find the positive attributes of each map.  Then higher-level students will take the assignment further by analyzing the layout/structure/plan of the school and deciding what changes would make the school better.  They will then work collaboratively to create a map of a “new school” which makes changes to their school to make it more eco-friendly, easier to get around, a better layout for classes, with additions that make it a more enjoyable and functional place to be, etc.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

In third grade you learned about the geography of the state of Michigan. You may have studied the geography of Michigan by learning about what makes Michigan special. This year, in studying the geography of the United States, you will explore a similar question. It is centered around what makes the country in which we live special.

In this lesson, students explore where to find key locations within our school community (classrooms/playgrounds/ bathroom etc.)  and who are located in these school community location (teachers/office staff/community helpers) that the students will interact with daily/weekly.  

Group lesson - Who is located at home and what rooms are in your house? We will then create a simple chart to showcase our answers. Students then will decide on what rooms and people might also be located at the school.

Read aloud - PETE THE CAT: ROCKING IN MY SCHOOL SHOES

Scavenger Hunt - Students will go in groups of 1-3 (depending on behaviors) to complete a school walk to find key locations within the building.

Building a School Map - Students will take their knowledge from the scavenger hunt and transfer it to make a classroom map of his/her school.