1st - 5th Grade Community and Culture Lesson Plans

Students will learn about the different kinds of houses people live in around the world and how they relate to a culture, environment, and country.

Teach your students to recognize systems in the world around them by identifying systems that exist in their classroom.

Help your students become global citizens with this lesson that teaches the about culture. Students will explore their culture and the cultures of their classmates in this engaging, hands-on activity.

Aid your students in becoming the best citizens they can be with this lesson that teaches students how to be, and what makes, a good citizen.

In this hands on activity students will explore the advantages and disadvantages of specialization and interdependence through their creation of paper bugs.

Have your students experience the act of trading goods and services with bartering. In this activity, students will have the opportunity to make a deal, in order to get what they want. Better yet, make a deal without spending a cent!

In this lesson, your students will use their imaginations to picture why all communities need laws. Help them brainstorm the important role that laws and rules play in a variety of communities through these engaging activities.

In this lesson, students will develop an understanding of communities and will learn how to locate their communities on a map.

How? In this lesson, your students will become familiar with using this question word to investigate how things work.

What kinds of homes do we live in? In this lesson, students will explore and describe different types of homes. By the end of this lesson, students will have created a visual of their own homes and write about them!

Students will use their artistic and directional skills as they practice drawing maps and giving directions. By the time it’s done, everyone will know which way is the right way to go!

If you ask your students if they need ice cream, the answer may surprise you! In this lesson, your students will be able differentiate between wants and needs.

Children need to understand the differences between goods and services and why both of them are important. Children will learn that and more with this lesson that teaches them about everyone's roles in the economy.

Kids will enjoy hearing the story On Market Street as they become familiar with goods and services. From apples to zippers, students will understand how people buy goods, and how others provide services in our lives.

Help your students make the connection between what they're learning in school and how adults use math in everyday life with this art lesson. Students will sharpen their critical thinking skills and share their ideas for the future.

What's the difference? In this lesson, your students will learn to describe what living in an urban, rural, and a suburban area is like.

Our community relies on different kinds of resources to operate successfully. In this lesson, your students will learn how capital, human, and natural resources are all important for the functioning of a productive society.

It’s not a bird! It’s not a plane! It’s a Super Citizen! In this superhero lesson on citizenship, students will learn about the concepts of good citizenship while simultaneously getting a lesson on positive behavior!

Help your kids learn about landmarks with this lesson that takes them on a field trip around the school and has them record their findings in writing.

What do you use to make what you need? Resources! Students will explore the three kinds of resources producers use to create the products the use and sell.

From teachers to farmers, many people and things together comprise a community. In this social studies lesson, students will identify and illustrate their dream community by making a pop-up card.

In this lesson, students collaborate to create a class-wide behavior contract. With your guidance, your class will develop and implement their own set of classroom rules.

Do your students respect their peers' opinions? This lesson teaches first graders that their opinions matter by encouraging them to write out opinions and back them up with reasons.

In this lesson, your students will learn how to identify what direction they are going when they move from one place to another. They'll be able to visually see directions in the classroom.

In this cooperative economics activity, students learn about the division of labor in a real way. Students will be able to see first hand the advantages and disadvantages of the division of labor.

Your students will be mesmerized with models after this engaging and hands on lesson that gets students up and moving as they explore their community!