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1st Grade  Project 4 weeks

Buffalo Connect: People, Places, Possibilities

Melanie K
Updated
F.1.2
F.1.4
F.1.5
F.1.6
F.1.8
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Purpose

Students will help a real Akron-area garden group solve a simple community problem by creating a shared picture book and garden display that show which local plants grow best in sun or shade. Through a visit with the garden club, shared research, drawing, dictation, conversation, and weekly reflection, they practice using respectful voices and ideas to participate in a classroom-and-community issue. This work helps first graders understand their rights and responsibilities in group work, notice when social action is needed, and contribute something useful for an authentic audience.

Learning goals

Students will identify a real school or community need and explain how their actions, words, and choices can help a group in Akron, including showing respect, taking turns, and solving small conflicts during shared work. They will learn to sort and describe local plants that need sun or shade by using pictures, real plant samples, labels, and information gathered from garden club members. Students will ask and answer simple questions, listen to others’ ideas, and use drawings, dictated sentences, shared writing, and simple digital tools to create a clear picture book and garden display for a real audience. They will revise their work after partner feedback and weekly reflection check-ins so their signs and pages give enough detail to help others understand where plants grow best.

Standards
  • [New York] F.1.2 - Participate in activities that focus on a classroom or school issue or problem.
  • [New York] F.1.4 - Identify the role of the individual in classroom and school participation.
  • [New York] F.1.5 - Show respect in issues involving difference and conflict; participate in the resolution of differences and conflict.
  • [New York] F.1.6 - Identify situations in which social actions are required.
  • [New York] F.1.8 - Identify rights and responsibilities in the classroom and school.
  • [New York] F.1.1 - Demonstrate respect for the rights of others in discussions, regardless of whether one agrees with the other viewpoints.
  • [New York] F.1.2 - Participate in activities that focus on a classroom or school issue or problem.
  • [New York] F.1.4 - Identify the role of the individual in classroom and school participation.
  • [New York] F.1.5 - Show respect in issues involving difference and conflict; participate in the resolution of differences and conflict.
  • [New York] F.1.6 - Identify situations in which social actions are required.
  • [New York] F.1.8 - Identify rights and responsibilities in the classroom and school.
  • [New York] F.1.1 - Demonstrate respect for the rights of others in discussions, regardless of whether one agrees with the other viewpoints.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.L.1.1 - Demonstrate emerging understanding of letter and word use.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.L.1.2 - Demonstrate emerging understanding of conventions of standard English.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.L.1.4 - Demonstrate emerging knowledge of word meanings.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.L.1.6 - With guidance and support, use words acquired through conversations, being read to, and during shared reading activities.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.W.1.2 - Select a familiar topic and use drawing, dictating, or writing to share information about it.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.W.1.3 - Select an event and use drawing, dictating, or writing to share information about it.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.W.1.6 - With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce individual or group writing.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.W.1.5 - With guidance and support from adults, add more information to own drawing, dictation, or writing to strengthen it.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.W.1.7 - With guidance and support, participate in shared research and writing projects.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.W.1.8 - With guidance and support from adults, identify information related to personal experiences and answer simple questions about those experiences.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RF.1.1 - Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print (e.g., left-to-right, top-to-bottom orientation of print, one-to-one correspondence between written and spoken word).
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RF.1.2 - Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RI.1.1 - Identify details in familiar text.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RI.1.2 - With guidance and support, identify details related to the topic of a text.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RI.1.5 - Locate the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RI.1.6 - Distinguish between words and illustrations in a text.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RI.1.7 - Identify illustrations or objects/tactual information that go with a familiar text.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.RI.1.10 - Actively engage in shared reading of informational text.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.SL.1.1 - Participate in conversations with adults.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.SL.1.2 - During shared reading activities, answer questions about details presented orally or through other media.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.SL.1.3 - Communicate confusion or lack of understanding ("I don't know.").
  • [New York] ELA.EE.SL.1.4 - Identify familiar people, places, things, and events.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.SL.1.6 - With guidance and support, provide more information to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
  • [New York] ELA.EE.SL.1.5 - Add or select drawings or other visual or tactual displays that relate to familiar people, places, things, and events.

Products

Students will create plant sorting cards, question charts from the garden club visit, labeled drawings, and simple draft signs that show whether local plants need sun or shade. Across the 4 weeks, they will add dictated sentences, shared writing, symbols, and photos to a class-made set of garden pages and practice revising the signs during a pretend garden path critique with partners. The final products will be a shared picture book for the Akron-area garden club about local plants and where they grow best, plus a collaborative sun-and-shade garden display to exhibit at the garden club’s meeting location. Local partners and resources can include the Akron Garden Club, Akron-Newstead Garden Club, Akron Falls Park for observation photos, and the Newstead Public Library for local plant books and possible display support.

Launch

Invite members of the Akron Garden Club, the Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension Erie County, or staff from Akron Village Hall/parks to visit class with real plants, photos, and simple tools, or take students to a nearby public garden space in Akron for a short plant walk. Have the guests present the real problem by showing a mix of sun and shade plants and asking, “How can we help people know where these plants grow best?” Students then sort a few plant pictures or leaves into “sun” and “shade,” ask questions, and notice clues they can later use in their shared picture book and display. Close with a quick class discussion about how their voices, drawings, and ideas could help the garden club, then record student wonderings on chart paper to launch the project.

Exhibition

Host a simple “Garden Helpers Showcase” with the Akron-area garden club at the garden club meeting site, school library, or a local partner space such as the Rich-Twinn Octagon House or Akron-Newstead Public Library. Students can present the shared picture book, display their class-made sun-and-shade garden sorting board, and stand by a pretend garden path to explain their signs, drawings, and dictated sentences to visitors. Invite families, school staff, and local partners such as the Akron Garden Club, the Village of Akron, or a local nursery like Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville to ask students questions about which plants need sun or shade and how their work helps gardeners. End with a short celebration where the garden club accepts the book and display for real use.