Kindergarten Social Studies: Myself and Others SS000101

Unit 1: Who Am I? Lesson 1

Lesson 1: I am a Person

Big Ideas of the Lesson

Children are different in special ways.

Children are the same in special ways.
Everyone is unique.
We all have roles.

Lesson Abstract:
In this foundational lesson students explore their sense of self by discussing different roles they have (sister,
brother, son, kindergartner, twin, etc.) and things they like about themselves. The lesson begins with a circle
game called How Many of You? With students seated in a circle the teacher asks a series of questions
including: How many of you have a brother? How many of you have a sister? How many of you are someones
daughter? How many of you are a kindergartner? How many of you are the oldest child in your family?
Students stand up if the question describes them. The teacher reminds students to look around to see who is
standing and points out students who are the same or different from themselves. Next, the teacher shares a book
such as I Like Me! or ABC I Like Me!. After reading the story, the teacher leads a sharing session in which
students identify and share something they like about themselves. Finally, the students begin a unit-long
culminating activity by tracing their body and adding a role they have as a person. This project is added to
throughout the unit and culminates in the last lesson.

Content Expectations
There are no specific social studies GLCE for this lesson. The lesson serves as a building block to the
remaining social studies GLCEs while it activates prior knowledge about self.

Integrated GLCEs
R.CM.00.01: Begin to make text-to-self and text-to-text connections and comparisons by activating prior
knowledge and connecting personal knowledge and experience to ideas in text through oral and
written responses. (English Language Arts)

Key Concepts
different
diversity
same

Instructional Resources
Equipment/Manipulative
Chart paper (butcher paper) or a chalkboard or dry erase board
Bulletin board paper (life sized), one for each student
Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils (classroom set)
Dry erase markers or markers for teacher use

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Kindergarten Social Studies: Myself and Others SS000101
Unit 1: Who Am I? Lesson 1

*Pimp it up* White paper will also need to be provided to students as well as the use of this website:
https://www.sesamestreet.org/
Student Resource
Carlson, Nancy. I Like Me! New York: Puffin, 1990.

Carlson, Nancy. ABC I Like Me! New York: Puffin, 1999.

Teacher Resource
Clark, Jennifer. Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson 1). Teacher-made material. Michigan Citizenship
Collaborative Curriculum, 2009.

I'm a Special Person. Twin Sisters. 2009. Discovery Education. 12 August 2009
<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>.

Im Special. Kinderplans.com. 12 August 2009 <http://www.kinderplans.com/admin/images/special.pdf>.

Lesson Sequence
1. To begin the lesson, ask the students to think about and share something that describes them. If necessary,
describe yourself using things like eye color, hair length, things you like to do, etc. Record student responses
on one half of a piece of chart paper or chalkboard. Record as many responses as possible. Save this sheet
of paper for the end of the lesson.

*Pimp it up:* To upgrade this portion of the lesson, I would give the students a blank piece of paper
and a variety of crayons. I would then ask the students to draw themselves (Provide an example of a
drawing that you made of yourself as well). In doing this, the students are able to describe
themselves through the use of art. Give roughly 10-15 minutes for the students to draw themselves
and then bring the whole class together for a group discussion where they can each describe
themselves based off of their drawings and while doing so, record as many responses as possible on a
separate sheet of paper-You will go back to this piece of paper towards the end of the unit.

2. Gather the students and arrange them into a circle. Explain to the students they are going to play a game
called How Many of You? To play the game, ask questions that describe aspects and roles of the students.
Some examples of questions to ask are the following:
How many of you are someones brother?
How many of you are someones sister?
How many of you are someones daughter?
How many of you are someones son?
How many of you are a kindergartener?
How many of you are the oldest child in your family?
More examples of questions to use for the game can be found on the Examples of Questions for How
Many of You? Game located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson 1).

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Kindergarten Social Studies: Myself and Others SS000101
Unit 1: Who Am I? Lesson 1

3. Explain that if they can answer yes to the question, they should stand up. After each question is asked, have
students look around the circle to see who is also standing. Explain that the students standing share the
same role, and the students who are sitting have different roles.

*Pimp It Up* To upgrade this portion of the lesson, introduce a different game. This is a game made by
Taylor Newton and it is called Who Am I? In this game, the students will sit in a circle and clap
their hands together to a steady beat. The teacher will chose one student to begin the game and that
student will clap their hands together and say something about themselves pertaining to their family,
their life, their age, or their friends. As that first student claps along and says who they are, that
student will clap up towards the student sitting next to them and that student will clap along while
they say who they are. The game will continue until every student has had a chance to say
something about who they are and from there the teacher will introduce the idea of roles and why the
game helped introduce this concept.

4. After the game, explain to students that every person has many roles. Explain that one person might be a
sister, a daughter, a cousin, a student, and the oldest in their family, while another person might be a son, a
brother, a student, and the youngest in the family. Share with students roles that you have, then go around
the circle and ask each student to share one role that they have. If desired, make this part of the lesson into
another circle game. Ask the students to stand up again if they share the same role, and have them stay
seated if they do not share that role.

*Pimp It Up* To upgrade this portion of the lesson, begin by reading the book: The Family Book by Todd
Parr. This is a book that discusses the various members of a family and the roles that each member
plays. Read this prior to the discussion about roles to help introduce the topic. After reading the book,
begin with the class discussion.

5. As a take home assignment, have students and parents complete the My Roles sheet located in the
Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson 1).
6. Next, read a book such as I Like Me! or ABC I Like Me! to the students. These books describe a pig who
shares things that she likes about herself. Help the students understand that everyone, including this
character, is different or unique, but everyone has many great qualities or traits that they should like about
themselves.

7. Next, return to the large piece of chart paper with students responses written on it from earlier in the lesson.
Guide the students to come up with ideas and examples or qualities that they like about themselves. As the
students share their responses, record their answers on the other half of the paper.

8. If appropriate, ask the other students in the class to come up with positive traits and characteristics that they
like about other students as a means of supporting a positive classroom community.

9. Teach the students the Im Special Song located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson 1) or play
the Im a Special Person song found on the Discovery Education website
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/.

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Kindergarten Social Studies: Myself and Others SS000101
Unit 1: Who Am I? Lesson 1

*Pimp It Up* To upgrade this portion of the lesson, incorporate the website
https://www.sesamestreet.org/ into the lesson by playing several songs that support the theme of
everyone being individual and special.

10. Next, provide each student with a piece of paper and crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc. Using the sheet
I Like Myself, located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson), ask students draw a picture of
something that identifies what they like about themselves on this sheet. Help the students write a word or
sentence to finish the phrase I like myself because on the bottom of the page. If needed, review all of
the examples shared by the students that were recorded on the chart paper before the students start.

*Pimp it up:* From here the pictures that each student drew can be displayed in the classroom.
Parents can be invited in to see the work that the students created in regards to this lesson.

11. Students begin an activity called I Am a Person which concludes in the last lesson. Each student lays
down on a piece of butcher paper to have their body traced as a life sized figure. (This can be done ahead of
time with parent help if needed.) Upon completion, the student colors in the body to look like them, adds
something they like about themselves, and includes one role they have. Example items are found in I Am a
Person sheet located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson 1). Since students will use their life-
sized drawings throughout the unit, store the students bodies for the next lesson. Note these bodies make
a great display for parent teacher conferences or open house nights.

Assessment
The chart that the students create together can be used as an assessment to determine student understanding in
identifying what they like about themselves in the beginning and again at the end of the lesson. The My
Roles and I Like Myself worksheets located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson 1), are additional
assessments. The I Am a Person also serves as an assessment to see if students can identify roles they have.
In addition, students can create vocabulary cards, or picture cards, similar to the Word Cards located in the
Supplemental Materials (Unit 1, Lesson 1).

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