Grades K-2
Grades 3-5
Reading
Writing

Welcome to (My Community)!

Use a story template to create a fun tour of your community!

Activity Partner
Total time estimate:
15-20 minutes
Activity Objectives
  • Students will consider interesting and unique qualities about their city, town, or region
  • Students will use a story template to create a tour of their community, and share their stories with each other


This activity supports the development of the following social-emotional skills: self-awareness and social awareness.

Create

Engage students in a discussion by asking the following questions: 

  • Imagine we had someone visiting our community. What would we want to show them? What are some beautiful, unique parts of our community, and the people who live here? 
  • What activities might they enjoy? (e.g., exploring our natural environment, trying our favorite foods, or attending a local festival)
  • How could we help them understand the history and culture of our community? 

Distribute a physical or digital copy of the handout below to students. Before they read the story template, ask them to fill out the box by writing down words that match the given parts of speech. Encourage them to be creative and silly with their words! 

Then, they can use their selected words to finish the template, and create a fun tour of their community.

Share

Facilitate a live virtual exchange with your Empatico partner class, and invite students to share their "community tours" with each other. Students can read their individual stories, or collaborate on a class story together and take turns reading different lines!

After students read their stories, they might ask questions to learn about each other's communities, such as: 

  • How would you describe your community? 
  • What are some fun places that you like to visit after school or during the weekends? 
  • Are there any local festivals or holidays that people enjoy celebrating together? 
  • Does your community have any interesting historical or geographical landmarks? 
  • What food would you recommend trying? 
Reflect

Guide students through a post-activity reflection by asking the following questions:

  • How did this activity help you see our community from a different perspective? 
  • What is something interesting or unique about our partner class's community? If you could visit them, what would you want to do together? 
  • How are our communities similar to each other? How are they different? 
Did you finish this activity? We'd love your input.