This unit was a team teaching effort, as Technology Mentor Chris Rhodes, and Computer lab instructor Vicki Klein worked with Mrs. Swanson to enhance the unit with technology. In the classroom students used their Social Studies text to learn the basics of community. Each student chose an occupation, went online to research the job, and wrote a description about their findings. Mrs. Swanson worked with the kids in the classroom to write the text.
Students read their text, recording it onto the movie.
The same pictures were printed out onto card stock, and students made a model of the town of Mission. In the computer lab, Mrs. Klein had the students use the pictures as a reference source while utilizing the Tom Snyder computer program Community Construction Kit . Using this program, students replicated the buildings as closely as possible. Community Construction Kit allows the students to print the pictures on card stock, then cut and fold, so they have a 3-D model of the building. The second graders then created the town of Mission, adding streets, telephone poles and even toy cars.