First graders complete a unit of lessons on school and how schools have changed. They read a Laura Ingalls Wilder excerpt, view and discuss a Norman Rockwell painting, conduct an interview, construct a school map, and create an ABC book...

First graders go on an in-school scavenger hunt to get to know the many kinds of people that make up an elementary school community. They work in small groups and use digital cameras to take pictures of the workers they find.

Learners demonstrate appreciation for volunteer workers. In this philanthropy activity, students create a card, picture, or poem for a school volunteer. Learners use a variety of art supplies to create the appreciation gift.

Students bring in a tool that represents the work their parents do. They present and discuss the tool and write a story about how the tool might be used. They discuss what they would like to do when they grow up.

Students create ice cream in a zipped bag and measure the temperature of a salt/ice mixture. They discover how salt lowers the temperature necessary to freeze ice to a solid (below 0'C).

Students explore community helpers. In this social studies lesson, students research a variety of community helpers. Students choose a community helper and explain why they would want to spend a day helping that worker.

Students build community with cookies. In this service learning lesson, students make holiday cookies to share with the custodial maintenance staff and cafeteria staff in their school.

First graders study career opportunities in their local community. In this career exploration lesson, 1st graders answer 'Who Am I?' questions and study career path posters. Students list the skills they've learned at school and work in...

It's never too early to connect children with the real world meaning of their work. A series of four one-hour sessions, plus a field trip, make up this unit on college and career readiness for first and second graders. After viewing a...

Secondary carpenters apply their skills to improve display spaces in classrooms at their campus. Includes a contract between workers and teachers who sign on for improvements in the their rooms. Concurrent exploration of building and...

Students design their own job communities. For this art and career exploration lesson, students are placed into groups to create models of business areas based on job types.

Students investigate the characteristics of a neighborhood. In this communities lesson, students read the book Franklin's Neighborhood and list people and places in their community. Students create a neighborhood mural.

Students demonstrate question and answer/interviewing skills. They brainstorm questions they would like to ask each other and then interview their partner who will be a fairy tale character. Interviews will be filmed with a video camera.

Students create webs, emphasizing interdependence of workers and products in the community.

Fourth graders complete activities to learn about career options and the role jobs have in community. In this career lesson plan, 4th graders complete a career exploration worksheet and study the local community jobs available. Students...

Students discuss what makes up a community. Students elect officials of their community and complete an application for the position. Students research jobs within the community and hold a job fair where parents come to school and share...

Eighth graders with a number of disabilities visit people and places in their community while using digital cameras to record their visits. They take digital pictures which they include in books, posters, and other publications which...

Students, in groups, work together to create webs that show the services and products used in other occupations.

Pupils examine the occupations of a variety of community helpers such as doctors, policemen, firemen, nurses, and others by listening to a read aloud. They find pictures in magazines to glue to a classroom mural of occupations.

Students examine a globe to locate the bodies of water present and create a representation of those bodies of water for further exploration of the concept. Extensions of their observations are made at school, home, and the community.

Students explore kind behavior. In this values development and literacy lesson, students listen to The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, then generate a class list of ways the tree helped the boy and ways in which the boy helped the tree....

Students realize the effects of stereotypes by collaboratively creating a chart with the rest of their class. In this equality lesson, students demonstrate stereotypes by collaborating on a jobs chart and matching pictures of people they...

Students discover stereotypes in modern society.  In this gender role lesson, students create a display of "school workers" and identify  jobs as either male or female.  The students discuss their choices and overcome...

Fourth graders, in groups, research states and using various print and nonprint reference materials. The groups make a presentation to inform the class about all the information from the state. This lesson plan provides imbedded support...