50th Anniversary Parent/Child/Teacher Activities & Lesson Plans
In partnership with the City and its 50th Anniversary celebration, we are delighted to share this series of Parent/Child and Teacher activities and TEKS lesson plans created by aspiring future teachers at the University of Houston System at Sugar Land. Lessons and activities, ranging from reading to fun field trips, are designed to highlight the City’s rich history, amenities, cultural heritage, local trees, foods and much more. Designed for sharing with children from Kindergarten through 4th grade, all ages and grades will find something fun to do or learn about our city’s rich history and diversity.
We invite you to take a few minutes to look over these 50th Anniversary-related activities. There are sections designed specifically for parents and another for teachers based on age groups and themes. All include a full list of suggested activities, materials, resources and historical references, as well as ideas for other enriched learning experiences.
Foreword
These lesson plan activities were designed for parents and teachers by UH, College of Education, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, QUEST students attending classes at UHSSL . As a tribute project to the Sugar Land and surrounding Fort Bend communities, these home-grown activities combine child-centered themes with local community resources. As such, being aligned to the TEKS and in using educational objectives in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains , these lesson plans are both functional and innovative for children and adults, alike.
It is my privilege to say the lesson plans showcased here were assignments in my Second Language Acquisition class which my students modified to local community happenings. Since these lessons were designed for ESOL students in content area classrooms, QUEST students gave emphasis to affect -student attitude, interests and values - in consideration of any learning challenges.
The end result is a collection of lesson plans with humanistic themes (adapting to weather, community, cultural heritage, friendship, healthy choices, identity, pride and reaching destinations). Some of the QUEST students decided to adapt their lessons to different grade levels, creating a wider breathe to their work; while others chose to delve deeper into their lessons for a particular grade level, producing more in-depth activities. All in all, these activities are fresh ideas coming from aspiring teachers who have all types of children in mind. These child-centered lesson plans will be presented at the Fort Bend Community Conference, on October 23, 2009.
Diane Jerome, M.Ed., Program Manager, QUEST Program (in Sugar Land), University of Houston at the UHSSL.
Parent-Focused
Click each grade title to open and view the lessons for that grade or click the "Show All" link below to open all.
Kindergarten
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book. Create a book and explore ways friendship and activities are shared with friends in the community and learn how friendship led to creation of the City of Sugar Land.
Health Education - Pride in self and exploring healthy food options
Learn about healthy food options, some of Sugar Land’s earliest food crops and places to find healthy and diverse foods in our community.
Mathematics - Shapes found in everyday life
Learn about shapes found in everyday life. Take a walking tour in your neighborhood, visit the airport or join one of the first Saturday of the month historical walking tours conducted by the City of Sugar Land (www.sugarlandtx.gov). Or, create a diorama or bird’s eye view of shapes found in Sugar Land using your own observation or google earth.
Science - How We Adapt
Learn about seasons, explore our parks and neighborhoods and learn about local plants and trees. Joins others to help plant trees or learn the many varieties and important role trees played in establishing the early land grants where Texas’ first settlers came to live.
First Grade
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book. Create a "Show & Tell" and explore ways friends, family culture and other activities are shared with friends in the community. Learn how friendship impacts the community in schools and other ways.
Health Education - Pride in self how eating habits affect each of us
Learn about healthy food options, how it affects us, some of Sugar Land’s earliest food crops and places to find healthy and diverse foods in our community.
Second Grade
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book. Learn about the early history and neighborhoods of the City through a field trip and create a story book based the experience.
Health Education - Pride
Learn about how foods and exercise keep us healthy today, along with Sugar Land’s earliest food crops and places to find healthy and diverse foods in our community.
Health Education - Making Healthy Choices
Learn about how healthy choices affect our lives and what makes food healthy or not. Create a BINGO game, visit a farm or farmers’ market, check out recreational opportunities and learn how the City encourages fitness as one of the "Fittest Cities in Texas."
Third Grade
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book as well as the family and community around them. Find a pen pal; learn about another person’s culture, lifestyle or neighborhood; find common interests and a fun place to meet the pen pal and strike up a new friendship in the city at a Family Movie on the Square, a local park or the library.
Interdisciplinary: Art, Music, Technology Applications, Theatre - Reaching Our destinations
Explore individual differences, disabilities and how our community impacts us. Take a field trip to City Hall or a shopping center, have a scavenger hunt to explore how our community accommodates our different needs.
Fourth Grade
Music Education - Cultural Heritage in Our Music
Explore and appreciate music from around the world found right here in Sugar Land and Fort Bend County. From singing to musical instruments, learn about different sounds, genres, rhythm and lyrics from different cultures by learning about the many cultures in our community, attending special performances or international festivals, making a musical scrap book and much more.
Teacher-Focused
Kindergarten
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book. Create a book and explore ways friendship and activities are shared with friends in the community and learn how friendship led to creation of the City of Sugar Land.
Health Education - Pride in self and exploring healthy food options
Learn about healthy food options, some of Sugar Land’s earliest food crops and places to find healthy and diverse foods in our community.
Mathematics - Shapes found in everyday life
Learn about shapes found in everyday life. Take a walking tour in your neighborhood, visit the airport or join one of the first Saturday of the month historical walking tours conducted by the City of Sugar Land (www.sugarlandtx.gov). Or, create a diorama or bird’s eye view of shapes found in Sugar Land using your own observation or google earth.
Science - How We Adapt
Learn about seasons, explore our parks and neighborhoods and learn about local plants and trees. Joins others to help plant trees or learn the many varieties and important role trees played in establishing the early land grants where Texas’ first settlers came to live.
First Grade
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book. Create a "Show & Tell" and explore ways friends, family culture and other activities are shared with friends in the community. Learn how friendship impacts the community in schools and other ways.
Health Education - Pride in self how eating habits affect each of us
Learn about healthy food options, how it affects us, some of Sugar Land’s earliest food crops and places to find healthy and diverse foods in our community.
Second Grade
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book. Learn about the early history and neighborhoods of the City through a field trip and create a story book based the experience.
Health Education - Pride
Learn about how foods and exercise keep us healthy today, along with Sugar Land’s earliest food crops and places to find healthy and diverse foods in our community.
Health Education - Making Healthy Choices
Learn about how healthy choices affect our lives and what makes food healthy or not. Create a BINGO game, visit a farm or farmers’ market, check out recreational opportunities and learn how the City encourages fitness as one of the "Fittest Cities in Texas."
Third Grade
English Language Arts and Reading - Friendship & Community, Charlotte’s Web
Explore feelings and relationships through characters in the book as well as the family and community around them. Find a pen pal; learn about another person’s culture, lifestyle or neighborhood; find common interests and a fun place to meet the pen pal and strike up a new friendship in the city at a Family Movie on the Square, a local park or the library.
Interdisciplinary: Art, Music, Technology Applications, Theatre - Reaching Our destinations
Explore individual differences, disabilities and how our community impacts us. Take a field trip to City Hall or a shopping center, have a scavenger hunt to explore how our community accommodates our different needs.
Fourth Grade
Music Education - Cultural Heritage in Our Music
Explore and appreciate music from around the world found right here in Sugar Land and Fort Bend County. From singing to musical instruments, learn about different sounds, genres, rhythm and lyrics from different cultures by learning about the many cultures in our community, attending special performances or international festivals, making a musical scrap book and much more.
Appendix
- Diagram 1 - My Pyramid Color Food Groups
- Diagram 2 - My Pyramid Color Food Groups Template
- Diagram 3 - Staying Health Goal Card
- Diagram 4 - Shape Name Template
- Diagram 5 - Bingo Template
- Diagram 6 - Universal Design Sheet Example
- Diagram 7 - Universal Design Sheet
- Diagram 8 - Music Venn Diagram
Special Thanks
A special thanks to the University of Houston System Sugar Land who partnered with the City to make this project possible:
Kathy Rose, Director of Development
Diane Jerome, M.Ed., College of Education
UH Sugar Land QUEST students who spent countless volunteer hours to create these activities and lesson plans:
Cydney Croney
Megan Durio
Megan Griffin
Mollie Matak
Lindsay O’Dell
Alycia Taylor
Marilyn Woody
