PROJECT EXSEL

Kat McGinley

Grade – 2
P.S. 51 Social Studies - New York City

Synopsis of Story
Juanito, who has just moved to New York City from Puerto Rico, has lost his dog. Although he is new to the City and speaks only Spanish, he decides to search for his dog anyway. Different people help him look as he travels through Chinatown, Little Italy, Park Avenue and Harlem.

SEL Understandings

• Knowing that others can help you solve your problems
• Recognizing when to ask for help
• Knowing how to organize others to help in an effective way
• Recognize when to delegate and when to lead
• Knowing problems can be solved
• Understanding how words and actions influence others
• Knowing how to be part of a team
• Recognizing and knowing how to deal with stressful situations.

Objectives

• SEL: Students will role play effective leadership in a group.
• Class will identify appropriate times to ask for help.
• Social Studies: Students will identify places in New York City identified in the story.
• Class will connect to the feelings of new immigrants living a new home
• Literacy: Students will name ways that characters in the story use both verbal and non verbal language to acheive their goals

Pre-Reading
Ask, How could you communicate with someone if you couldn't speak? Have you ever been in a new place? How did it feel? Did you ever lose something important to you?

Discussion Questions (Select a few from below)

• How is Juanito feeling at the beginning of the story? Why? (new place, new language, lost dog)
• Have you ever felt like Juanito? Why? What did you do about it?
• What does Juanito do about how he is feeling?
• How does he change how he's feeling?

Activity - Interactive Role Play

Have students role play situations where one person takes charge in a group and gets help to solve the problem. For example:

• A cat is lost in the City.
• Your group is lost in the woods (or park)
• No one can agree on a game to play at recess time
• Someone in the group is being picked on by some of the others

Class Extension

• Continue role plays throughout the week so everyone gets an opportunity to be in leadership role. Ask children to come up with real life situations where leadership is needed to get people to work together to accomplish a goal.
• Learn more Spanish words to add to those in the story.
• Integrated learning - Using the theme of Immigration, promote the study or immigrants from different countries. Create math problems using data available from the U.S Census Bureau. Bring in guest speakers who can talk about immigration and lead field trips to Ellis Island. Have students use books, periodicals and Internet to learn about how and why people immigrate to this country.

Home and Family Connections

Share your goal with your family and ask them to help.

Teacher Reflection

How have you taken charge to improve a situation that you are unhappy with? What internal and external obstacles prevent you from changing this situation?

Teacher Evaluation

How realistic were the students about their goals?