Stage 1: Investigating the issue

Prior to starting this project, one of my students said to me, "Ms. Stewart when the weather gets nice out are we going to plant stuff? I really want to." Her classmates overheard her statement and began to frantically yell out, "Yeah, Ms. Stewart can we please plant stuff we did it in Kindergarten!" At that moment it was as if a light bulb went off! I thought this would be the perfect way to begin investigating social action topics. Now that I knew my students were all interested in planting and had prior knowledge of the topic from Kindergarten, I decided to plan three lessons around the idea of plants. Working with first graders has taught me the importance of breaking down material in the smallest way possible. I knew that before I could ask them "What do you want to change in your city", I had to build them up!