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History, Civics & Social Studies · Grade 1

Solve a Community Problem Together

Room 1 at the fictional Cedar Street School worries that cars drive too fast past the school crosswalk. First graders follow the class as they gather information by counting and asking, weigh the benefits and costs of three ideas, vote, write a polite letter to the town's leaders and check what happened.

  • 3 lessons
  • About 60 minutes
  • Community problem-solving check: 7 questions
  • Ways to answer: choose an answer, highlight a text, match pairs, type a number, put in order and sort into groups
See plans Included with Family, Teacher and School plans. Open in PlayOwl

What learners will discover

  • Describe a community problem, who it affects, and gather information about it by looking, counting and asking.
  • Compare possible solutions by their benefits and costs, then decide as a group.
  • Take civic action by writing a polite letter to a leader and making a plan with jobs, then check the results.

Lessons

  1. Understand the problem 5 steps3 practiceabout 20 min
  2. Weigh the ideas 4 steps3 practiceabout 20 min
  3. Act and check 6 steps3 practiceabout 20 min
  4. Community problem-solving check 7 questions at the end

Keep exploring

More 1st grade social studies

Guide for grown-ups