My Neighborhood - Introduction Activity

 Each year, when I was teaching, I would spend endless hours over the summer planning new ways to engage my students in the fall. Most of that time was curriculum-based. One summer, for at least six weeks, I co-developed a Shakespeare unit based on "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It was fun to develop, and I was sure, would be fun to present to students. Another time, I developed an interdisciplinary unit based on the novel, Shizuko's Daughter, complete with an authentic Japanese tea party on day one. Both units did go over well, but I'm confident that it was not just because of the unit content, but because my students, at the time, had become eager learners, assured that they would be heard and that the class was a place of safety and respect.

So how can we present meaningful content at the beginning of the year and use the same content to promote a respectful and engaging classroom? Try introducing short stories or essays that focus on growing up - situations that students can identify with - situations that resonate with them and will get them talking - and writing. "A Game of Catch," by Richard Wilbur is a favorite and can be used with a wide age range from middle school through high school because of the questions it ultimately raises. Or, take a chapter from a book of vignettes like A House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Perhaps it will be a book that you will read later in the year but for now, it will be used in a get-acquainted activity. 

In one chapter titled, "My Name," Cisneros recites everything she knows about her name: "hope," "sadness," "waiting." She talks about who she was named after and how the teachers mispronounced her name at school. Names are always good topics to focus on, but what I also like about the book is her focus on her street, her neighborhood.

A favorite activity of my students was to make a neighborhood map. It became a great way for them to introduce themselves to a partner. It can also be a great first writing activity. To present it, I read a bit from Mango Street and then talked about the neighborhood I lived in when I was growing up. I drew a map while I talked and pointed out:

    • Who lived where

    • The secret places

    • Where my friends lived

    • Where the weird people lived

    • Where my brother's/sister's friends lived

    • Off-limits places

    • etc.

When you present this activity, give your students time to hear the story selection and talk about it; time to listen to the account of your neighborhood and see your map; time to develop their own map and share some of it with a partner; time to put some of their map story into a short piece of writing.

This activity accomplishes so many purposes: introducing something about yourself, engaging students, developing classroom climate; and providing early writing samples, etc.

Enjoy!...Tell us how this works out with your class...