Type: Primary School

Recommended for 3^rd grade

The city they live and learn in becomes an important reference point for children in developing their aspirations and preparing for adult life. Building on an imaginary town, the Our City module gives children the opportunity to get to know the city they live in from an economic perspective: jobs, businesses, buildings.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

Part of JA's Life Skills Development national program, the Our City module enables students to understand how the jobs and skills of workers in key economic sectors are central to determining the character and life of a city.

EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

The Our City module provides classroom activities in the form of an optional or extracurricular subject, using a kit of educational materials which includes:

• teacher’s guide;
• student’s workbook;
• auxiliary materials.

There are five topics in the module, which students work through under the guidance of their teachers and volunteers from the business community.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Analytical skills • Map reading • Publications reading • Decision-making • Teamwork • Text writing • Accountability • Problem-solving • Observation

ACTIVITY LIST

1. The city
   Each city has neighbourhoods with specific workers and activities. The historic centre, the business, residential or entertainment districts are just some of the areas that students identify and place on the map.
2. Building a city
   Where should certain buildings be in a city and why? How does the emergence of a new building affect the lives of residents? Students build models of important buildings, become decision-makers and practice argumentation and voting to determine what their imaginary city should look like.
3. Opening a restaurant
   Opening a new restaurant requires careful planning and the setting of several criteria to ensure the success of the business. Students are challenged to think about their own experiences as customers and the basics of a business plan: type of customers, location, hours of operation, type of dishes, music and the name of the restaurant.
4. How to write a newspaper
   Media channels are becoming more numerous and more important in the life of a city. Students discover the key elements of quality news and the departments and jobs in a newspaper newsroom. By assuming their role as journalists, children create a classroom newspaper.
5. Who are the customers?
   A city's economy has a strong interdependence between customers and the providers of products and services, so students understand that everyone becomes a customer in certain situations, that shops and businesses rely on customers to exist, and that people rely on shops and businesses to meet their own needs and wants.

"I've been taking part in the activities offered by this program for several years now, alongside students in different classes, and I'm very excited. Students are engaged, interested, and slip easily into the roles presented. This year, we carried out an in-class competition called «The Best Restaurant». On this occasion, the students showed me how serious they can become when they have to solve a real-life problem. It was a true delight!" – Cristina Anton, teacher, Doamna Oltea School, Oradea, Bihor.