Materials
- North American map
- large poster board or butcher paper
- crayons or colored pencils
What to do
Pin up a large piece of poster board or butcher paper in the classroom or on an outside wall. It should be wide enough so all the children can stand and draw on it at the same time.
1. Read one of the books or a related book and talk about Alaska with the children.
2. Show the children where Alaska is on the map. Point out how far north it is from the continental United States.
3. Ask the children what they think it would be like to live in Alaska. Explain that most people there live in cities and towns. What do the children think about igloos and polar bears?
4. Provide each child with markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Invite them to draw and color something about Alaska on the big paper. Make sure each child has enough space. If the children are not sure what to draw, suggest polar bears, igloos, arctic foxes, glaciers, and so on.
5. After the children finish their drawings, help them sign their names below their work.
To assess the children's learning, consider the following:
- Can the children describe Alaska in some way?
- What Alaska features did the children draw?
-Shirley Anne Ramaley, Sun City, AZ
Instructions
1. Engage the children in a discussion about where different people live. Show the
children the pictures of different locations.
2. Ask the children if they have lived in or visited different kinds of places in their
lives, and talk about those places.
3. Discuss how cities, suburbs, small towns, and rural areas are different from
each other.
4. Ask the children to think about those four choices and to say where they would
like to live. Ask them to describe why they would choose one place over the other.
5. Sing the following song with the children. Each time the class sings the song,
choose one of the children to say where he wants to live.
Where You Want to Live by Jackie Wright
(Tune: "Here We Go "Round the Mulberry Bush")
pictures of various
types of
communities
Jackie Wright, Enid, OK
Please, tell us where you want to live
Want to live, want to live.
Please, tell us where you want to
live.
We would really like to know.
(child's name), tell us where you
want to live
Want to live, want to live.
(child's name), tell us where you
want to live.
We would really like to know.
Assessment
To assess the children's learning, consider the following:
l Do the children understand that there are different types of communities?
l Can the children describe the characteristics of different types of
communities?
l Which types of communities do the children want to live in? Why?
