JA Our Community®
Program Overview
JA Our Community introduces students to the intersection of work readiness and early elementary grades social studies learning objectives, including how citizens benefit from and contribute to a community's success.
Following participation in the program, students will be able to:
- Describe a community.
- Identify the variety of careers people have in a community and how each job requires specific skills.
- Identify how business and government jobs help a community.
- Explain how taxation supports government services.
- Recognize voting as a way responsible citizens act.
- Describe the flow of money in a community's economy.
Program Basics
- Includes a series of five sessions recommended for students in second grade.
- Average time for each session is 40 minutes.
- Materials are packaged in a self-contained kit that includes detailed plans for the volunteer and materials for 30 students.
- Students develop a sense of career awareness and how all jobs help a community.
- Session-specific, age-appropriate materials increase student interaction and emphasize JA's experiential approach to learning.
- Correlates to state social studies, English, and math standards, as well as to the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics.
| Pillars of Student Success | Entrepreneurship: | Financial-Literacy: | Work-Readiness: |
|---|
| Program Implementation | Program Grade-Level |
|---|---|
| Classroom-Based | Elementary School |
| Program Concepts | Program Skills |
|---|---|
| Businesses, Careers, Citizenship, Coins, Community, Government, Innovation, Jobs, Production, Goods and services, Needs and wants, Skills, Taxes, Voting | Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration, Decision making, Idea development, Making choices, Map reading, Problem solving, Role-playing, Speaking and listening, Teamwork |
Program Sessions
Session One: People in a Community Work Together
Students learn what a community is and the variety of careers that people have in a community.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Describe a community.
- Recognize how people contribute to and benefit from a community.
- Identify the variety of careers in a community and how each job requires specific skills.
Session Two: Sweet "O" Donuts
Students learn that workers who produce goods and services earn money for their work.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Define the terms production, goods, and services.
- Apply innovation to the production process.
- Explain that people in a community earn money by performing work
Session Three: Business and Government Jobs
Students locate businesses, pay taxes, and explore government careers.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Identify businesses and government careers.
- Explain how taxation supports government services.
Session Four: Let's Vote
Students participate in decisions that benefit their school community. They vote to express their choice and to determine the will of the majority.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Apply a decision-making tool.
- Recognize voting as a way responsible citizens act and contribute to meet a community's needs.
Session Five: Money Moves
Students learn about money and how it moves through a community.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Identify coins and money terms.
- Describe how money flows through
- a community's economy.