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The school is an independent K-6 school in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. It serves a German community of learners, whether the students are from Germany and live in the U.S., are from the U.S. but have German parents, or have one German parent and one American parent. As a Bilingual school, students receive half of their lessons in German, half in English. Some school events throughout the year reflect German traditions; other events reflect American traditions.

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The unit follows the NY State Elementary Social Studies standards, published by the NYC Department of Education.

The first unit for 2nd grade is "Our Community's Geography."  The standard for this unit is standard 3, "Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent
world in which we live — local, national, and global — including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface" (NYC Social Studies Scope and Sequence, 2014-2015).

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How does geography influence where people live and why?

What is culture?

What does it mean to be German?

What does it mean to be American?

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Students will be able to read maps and identify their country and city of origin on a map.

Students will be able to identify where their family is from (both their ancestors and their current home).

Students will be able to define culture.

Students will be able to explain multiple (3-4) elements of their home culture.

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Throughout the unit, students will complete work both individually and in groups in class. This work will either be collected and displayed or will be presented by students' groups upon completion.

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After learning how to read and identify places on maps, students will test their skills by taking quizzes on identifying places on a world map: first the continents, oceans, and hemispheres. Students will later identify Germany within Europe and the United States within North America. Finally, students will identify New York State, New York City, and the boroughs of New York.

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Homework: Students will be to gather evidence and information to create a “heritage project” in class.

Interview: Students will interview a member of their family to discover what they know about their family's origins and culture.

Project: Students will use what they learned about their family’s heritage to create a “Heritage Project.” The project will give students the opportunity to teach their peers about the country or countries of their family and their culture.

Message to families:

“With your student this weekend, please discuss family origins, wherever that might be in the world and in the United States. We will have students create and present this information about their heritage in a mini “World Fest” within the Humanities classroom.
You may send certain items in with your student that they may use for their project, such as any of the following:

* information describing the region or country

* an art piece depicting something from that culture

* food or a family recipe

* clothing or regalia

* dance or other tradition

* family heirlooms or photos

The goal is for students to come up with a creative way to tell their peers about their heritage.”

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After learning about New York City, its geography, and the surrounding community of the school, students will have the opportunity to work in groups to explore an aspect of the community, a geographical feature, a physical feature, or an element of culture to the class.

Each group will pick one focus for their project and will research using digital tools as well as books from the library. They will then create some kind of visual representation of their project, whether it is an art piece, a poster, a model, or a book. After having time to work in groups in class, students will then present their group's project to the class.

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Objective: Students will be able to identify important places on a map, using symbols and legends. 

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Objective: Students will be able to identify important places on a map, using symbols and legends. 

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Students will read books and articles about maps and the purposes they can serve.

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Students will also complete an activity that takes them from them through a series of maps that shows where they live, from their position in the solar system, to their continent, to their country, to their state, to their city, and to their neighborhood.

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Objective: Students will be able to define culture and identify elements of their own culture. 

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Objective: Students will be able to define culture and identify elements of their own culture. 

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Teacher will facilitate discussion around culture posing questions such as, "What is culture?" and "What are the things that make up a person's culture?"
After collecting student ideas, teacher will explain that culture has to do with the way people live, celebrate, play, dress, eat, and speak.
Students will then have an opportunity to explore elements of their own culture.

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Objective: Students will be able to identify several physical features that make up New York geography. 

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Objective: Students will be able to identify several physical features that make up New York geography. 

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Students will explore New York through digital tools like Google Maps and books that highlight the physical features of New York City.

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Objective: Students will be able to explain the cultural landscape of their neighborhood. 

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Objective: Students will be able to explain the cultural landscape of their neighborhood. 

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Students will explore elements of culture found in their neighborhood
--What types of food, dress, and celebrations are found here?

Using books and digital tools such as maps and videos, students will also explore icons in their neighborhood, such as Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Library. They will ask and answer questions around why those icons exist in our community and what that says about our community's culture.

At this point in the unit, students will take a community walk to explore and identify elements of culture they see around them.

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Objective: Students will be able to compare and contrast elements of German culture and American culture. 

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Objective: Students will be able to compare and contrast elements of German culture and American culture. 

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As a class and then in groups, students will explore similarities and differences between Germany and America. Students will be prompted to think about language, food, traditions and customs, values, norms and expectations.

Students will use tools like a Venn diagram to discuss these similarities and differences in groups. Then each group will share with the class what the discussed.

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Objective: Students will be able to analyze how a culture contributes to part of an individual's identity. 

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Objective: Students will be able to analyze how a culture contributes to part of an individual's identity. 

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As a class, students will read My Name is Maria Isabel. As they read, they will ask and answer questions about Maria Isabel's experience in school and how it relates to who she is at home. They will identify elements of her culture and how it relates to her identity. At the end of the book, students will respond to how their home culture relates to who they are as an individual.

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Once we finish with this unit exploring our community's geography and culture, we will learn about other cultures and people groups throughout the year. Now that the students understand what culture is and how it relates to their identity, they will begin exploring others' cultures and continue building their cultural competence.