Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 12 (Grade K Social Studies): Our Neighborhood on a Map

Explore neighborhood places with simple maps as kids learn to identify buildings, parks, and roads and understand how human-made features help communities.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 11 (Grade K Social Studies): Position and Direction Words

Position-word–focused kindergarten geography unit teaching children to use terms like above, below, next to, behind, in front of, and near to describe locations, map features, and simple routes using bodies, objects, and classroom scenes.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 10 (Grade K Social Studies): My Classroom Map

Discover how to teach kindergarteners to create simple classroom maps using symbols, legends, and position words, helping them build early geography and direction-giving skills.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 9 (Grade K Social Studies): Community Helpers Around Us

Help children recognize community helpers, understand the goods and services they provide, and learn why their jobs are important in keeping our school and neighborhood safe.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 8 (Grade K Social Studies): My Family and My Home

Help children describe their families and homes, explore how families care for one another, and share simple traditions—all through drawings, discussions, and a “My Family and My Home” mini-book.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 7 (Grade K Social Studies): Our School and Neighborhood

Help children explore familiar school and neighborhood places, learn what people do there, and create simple maps using symbols, legends, and position words like “next to” and “behind.”

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 6 (Grade K Social Studies): Asking Questions About Our World

Help children ask and answer questions about familiar people, places, and routines using who, what, where, and why, building inquiry skills through observation and simple sources.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 5 (Grade K Social Studies): Classroom Symbols & Our Flag

Introduce young learners to the U.S. flag, school symbols, and classroom icons while teaching simple meanings and respectful ways to honor important symbols and holidays.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 4 (Grade K Social Studies): Working and Helping Together

Help kindergarteners build teamwork through class jobs, sharing, taking turns, and simple voting, ending with a class-created “Teamwork Promise” for a caring community.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 3 (Grade K Social Studies): Helpers in Our School

Meet the helpers who keep school running—kids learn what each adult does, explore goods vs. services, and create a class book celebrating their school community.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 2 (Grade K Social Studies): Rules and Routines Matter

Help kindergarteners understand why rules and routines matter through observations, stories, and a class-made rule poster that supports safety, fairness, and community.

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Grade K Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 1 (Grade K Social Studies): Building Our Classroom Community

Build a safe, kind classroom community as kindergarteners learn rules, routines, and responsibility through stories, role-play, and shared Class Promise creation.

The Admin Angle

The Admin Angle: Administrators Shouldn’t Control What Staff Wears (Yes, Jeans Can Be Every Day)

Modernize staff dress codes with a flexible, safety-aligned approach that boosts morale, protects inclusion, and shifts leadership focus from policing outfits to supporting instruction and professional practice.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 36 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Cumulative Synthesis & Exhibition

Help students review key civics, geography, history, and economics concepts by creating maps, timelines, helper posters, and citizenship displays for a culminating classroom Civic Fair.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 35 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Citizenship in Action

Guide first graders to practice everyday citizenship through kindness, fairness, listening, sharing, problem solving, and simple voting, ending with a “Citizenship in Action” poster.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 34 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Helping Our World and Each Other

Empower first graders to make a difference through a simple class service project that builds responsibility, respect, inclusion, and informed community action.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 33 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Our Global Connections

Explore how children around the world meet needs, adapt to their environments, and celebrate traditions, highlighting global similarities, differences, and cultural respect.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 32 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Natural and Human Resources

Everyday products come from natural resources and the work of skilled people—students learn how materials, workers, and human-made features like roads and buildings help create and move the items they use.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 31 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Choices and Saving

Help students practice smart decision-making by learning needs vs. wants, limited resources, and simple saving choices through a class token system and kid-friendly activities.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 30 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Jobs and Money

Help students understand why people work, how money is used for needs and wants, and how saving, spending, and simple trade choices shape everyday decisions.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 29 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Goods and Services in Our Community

Students learn the difference between goods and services by exploring community workers, matching jobs to what they provide, and acting out roles to see how people help others.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 28 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Needs and Wants

Help first graders distinguish needs from wants through picture sorts and a class “store,” learning how limited resources require making choices and explaining what they give up.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 27 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Midyear Review—People and Progress

Help first graders review timelines, past vs. present, important people, holidays, and family traditions through stories, pictures, sorting, and simple role play.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 26 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Tools and Technology Then and Now

Help first graders explore how tools and technology have changed over time, comparing past and present inventions to understand how people work, communicate, and solve problems today.

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Grade 1 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Our Families and Heritage

Help first graders explore family heritage and traditions through stories, photos, and simple family trees while learning how customs are shared across generations.