What a Wonderful World—Changes Through Time
How has my community changed over time? What have the elderly people seen and done in my community? What great things are the babies of my community going to see and do?
Photo Credit: Hand in Hand by Garry Knight is licensed under CC by 2.0
The purpose of the lesson is to recognize that elderly people have seen some of the changes in the community over time and can provide different perspectives. This unit follows the themes from the song, "What a Wonderful World."
This lesson guides students to pursue an intergenerational friendship. Through literature, students also recognize the joy of sharing time, talent, and/or treasure—something kind and unexpected–with people about whom they care. Through literature students recognize the richness of developing friendships with people of a different generation. They also discuss making false assumptions from first impressions.
Students recognize that babies come into the world with unknown potential. Babies born today grow up to "know a different world" than the elderly people students met in the previous lesson. Students look at the known and unknown parts of a timeline.
The purpose of this lesson is to help students become aware that their city has changed over the years—in some ways for the better and other ways for the worse. Students analyze why preserving old buildings is important enough to some people that they give their time, talent, and treasure. They gain respect for people and things that are old.