Unit Plan 7 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Learning from Pictures and Stories

Focus: Help students use photos and short texts (picture books, simple articles, labels) to learn about familiar community topics, and begin to evaluate and sort evidence (relevant/irrelevant; basic fact vs. opinion).

Grade Level: 1

Subject Area: Social Studies (Inquiry • Literacy • Community)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 30–45 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students learn that pictures and stories are important sources that can teach us about our school, neighborhood, and community helpers. They practice looking closely at photos and listening/reading short texts to find facts and learn simple information. Students also begin to sort useful information from details that are not about the topic, and they are gently introduced to the idea that some sentences are facts and some are opinions. By the end of the week, they create a small “Picture and Story Report” about a familiar topic.

Essential Questions

• How can pictures and stories help us learn about our community?
• What is a source, and how do we use it to get information?
• What is the difference between a fact and an opinion in a picture or story?
• How can we tell if a picture or sentence is about our topic or not?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Use photos and short texts about familiar places and helpers (school, park, library, firefighters) to gather simple facts.
2. Point to or say which parts of a picture or story help answer a class question (e.g., “How do firefighters help us?”).
3. Sort examples of information into relevant (about our topic) and not relevant (about something else).
4. Begin to distinguish between a fact (“The truck is red.”) and an opinion (“The truck is cool.”) at a basic level.
5. Create a simple Picture and Story Report that includes one picture, one fact from a text, and a short statement of learning.

Standards Alignment — 1st Grade (C3-based custom)

• 1.C3.Inq.2 — Gather information from simple sources (photos, maps, short texts, interviews).
  • Example: Use a picture book and a class interview with the custodian to learn about school jobs.
• 1.C3.Inq.3 — Evaluate and sort evidence (relevant/irrelevant; fact/opinion at a basic level).
  • Example: Decide which pictures actually show “helping keep the school clean.”

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can use pictures and stories to learn about a community topic.
• I can tell which parts of a picture or story are about our topic.
• I can give an example of a fact and an opinion from a story or picture.
• I can make a small page that shows one picture and one fact I learned.
• I can explain, in my own words, “I learned that ___.”