Demographics and Rationale
My students and I learn together at Barack Obama Elementary School in the northside of Richmond, Virginia. Northside Richmond is home to a growing, diverse population that makes the community welcoming and rich to be a part of. Over half of the students' families are considered low-income, and Barack Obama Elementary School operates with funding as a Title-1 school. Nearly all the students live in the neighborhood, most of them walking distance to and from the school, which adds greatly to the close-knit community feel of the school. Being a Kindergarten teacher in an urban setting, many of my students do not attend preschool or any programming with peers before their Kindergarten year. This mostly means that they are experiencing community outside of their own home for the first time and the idea of public health and their personal responsibilities regarding it, are null.
A major motivation for this unit is the high rate of chronic absenteeism and learning loss in both my classroom and school. Kindergarten through second grade is a crucial window in a child’s education. Young students are especially vulnerable to disruptions like illness-related absences.1 Missing foundational learning, especially in literacy, can hinder their growth for years to come. This past school year, over a quarter of my 16 students struggled academically due to absences. It is important to remember that for many, Kindergarten is their first time in a structured environment outside the home. Part of my job is to identify special needs early, and I cannot do that if the students are not present. My biggest hope in creating and implementing this unit is that my students will be empowered and proactive in protecting themselves and their community from disease, leading to more focused learning, as well as fewer absences.
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