How do you teach civics concepts to grade 1 children?

Question

not just about community helpers.. but like landforms, waterforms, globe, parts of the globe, ethnicity... civics books and references are very hard to find.. there are only a number of good books... please suggest activities, worksheets, websites, books, etc.

Answer 1

Active learning works best with 1st graders! Several strategies can be used across your curriculum to integrate learning concepts. Start with a “Culture Center” in your room. Focus on a general theme from your curriculum guide or textbook, such as “Mexico” and a subtheme “music”. Create the center. For example, put pictures (mariachi bands), tactile objects for the students to explore (mariachis), audio or visual cds with headphones (recording of Mexican music), and worksheet or art activity related to the subtopic. Incorporate compatible whole-group activities for that week: dance the Mexican hat dance, teach the class to sing La Cucaracha, learn 5 Spanish words related to the subtheme (one per day). Rotate children into the center so each has a chance to work there during the week. Each week, change the contents of the center to another strand of the theme and incorporate activities such as reading a familiar story in English then in Spanish and discuss which words are alike and different; watch a Spanish language version of a children’s show and discuss comprehension, paralanguage, choices, ethics, etc.

Create a similar “Geography Center” and relate it to your Culture Center, incorporating map skills, globe skills, computer skills, language arts, etc.: e.g., find Mexico on a globe, do a whole-group map study then center color or make individual clay maps of Mexico. Listen to a story about the founding of Mexico City in the center, then read a story set in Mexico and discuss the climate, plants, animals, and landforms. Complete center activities on a website. For weekly “homework” and classwork, do an ongoing “My World” keepsake journal. Begin with a “Myself” unit, move through family, class, school, neighborhood, city, county, state, and country - one per month. Incorporate into each unit vocabulary, writing practice, health concepts, art, math concepts, following directions, or other teacher chosen activities. Have each child choose other items to personalize the journal (e.g., photographs, artwork, stickers, stories or poems as weekly homework). Have a regular “Puppet Time”, using multicultural puppets (the students could even make their own) – great way to explore choices, problem solving, ethics, morals, even use to reinforce classroom rules and consequences. Expand to as many centers as you have time to handle and integrate them all! Look through your textbooks for additional activities. Also, your local school supply store or catalogs in your school and on-line should carry some good resources, such as the Mailbox Series that are leveled by grade.