Learning how leaders help communities in 2nd Grade

2nd graders learn a lot about communities.  They start with exploring their classroom and school as communities, then their neighborhood and their town.  Because Social Studies helps students learn how people live their lives as individuals and in groups, they'll learn how communities face challenges and solve problems.  Finding the common good in communities requires balancing the needs and wants of individuals with the overall well-being of our community.  That's not easy.  The challenge teachers face is coming up with a lesson that shows that dynamic in action in such a way that the students can understand and relate with it.

What do 2nd graders know a lot about?  Well, playgrounds for one thing.

The History Alive program used for some lessons in 2nd grade emphasizes experiential learning, it has students play the role of community leaders themselves, deciding how they will solve one community's problem of an old, unkempt and unsafe playground.  Should they make a law, spend money to have someone fix the playground or build something new?

Students work in groups to discuss how they could convince others that their solution is best for the community.  They make a poster together and present it to the class, making their best case for their solution.

One group in Ms. Berger's class at Milton suggested that there should be a law requiring adults to be with their children at the playground to make sure they stay safe.  When the floor was open for questioning, other students asked what would happen if their older brother could take them to the playground, would that be allowed with this law?  What would happen to kids who got permission from their parents to go to the playground right next to their house, but didn't actually go to the playground with them?

Everyone quickly found out how solutions can get complicated in real life, when there are so many different situations with different people.

Another group suggested that the playground could be torn down and a new one built in its place.  Their poster contrasted the old and new playground, hoping to convince the class that the new playground would be so much better than the old one - this was the best solution.

Another group pointed out that some of the equipment was unsafe, and all that was needed was some improvements to make them safe.  With these two solutions on the table, the students came across another challenge of real life, paying for solutions.  Would the community agree that it was better to pay for a whole new playground, or was it better for everyone to simply fix the old playground to make it safe?

This lesson works well because it has students immersed in the process of communication and collaboration to find solutions that meet the common good of the community, while at the same time capitalizing on something they know a lot about, playgrounds.  The lesson is also effective in demonstrating how every solution comes at a cost, and community members have to decide together how to balance the costs and benefits of each solution.