Recognizing a Supportive Community

Preplanning

Arrange a role-play.

• Arrange, with a higher grade classroom teacher, for a few students to perform three simple scenarios for your class. In all three role-plays, the students are to play the same game, e.g., marbles, cards, but perform it, each time, with a different twist:
• first role-play: students play the game separately with their backs to each other; i.e., no interaction
• second role-play: students play the game together in a very collaborative manner; i.e., interaction with each other
• third role-play: students play the game together in an uncooperative manner; i.e., negative interaction.

Select communities to study.

• The following activities use a sample community, e.g., the Brown Family, to introduce the concepts and criteria for a community. Depending on your purpose, you will want to extend the lesson by selecting picture books with examples of interactive and noninteractive groups. Alternatively, find pictures of groups within an actual community, such as the classroom, and create stories to supplement the pictures.