Congress Elementary is one of Grand Rapids kindergarten through 5th grade inner city schools.

It consists of 227 students from the surrounding neighborhood and a handful of ethnicities. Thirty-seven percent of the school is Hispanic; forty-four percent is Black, and the other 18 percent of the students fall into the category of White, American Indian, Asian, or two or more races. My first grade classroom consists of 22 of the 40 first graders in the entire school. I have learned that 95% of the students in the school are eligible for free lunch and two of the 227 students are eligible for reduced lunch. When looking at the students you would not be able to pick out which students make up this large percentage. All of my statistics have come from the NCES website, now I would like to add some comments made by the principal during an interview. The lower elementary students are of the youngest in their respective households. Due to that fact, the younger students have had more practice speaking English with their siblings and know that they are to speak English in school. While they may still be learning English, they all speak it quite well with no other communication problems other than a soft voice. Individually my students are each very curious and most are eager to learn. Their interest is easily reached since most things studied are brand new and so long as the routine varies a bit there will be no problem keeping their interest so they are able to learn. Most of the students have also told me many times about a strong family connection. This tells me that thing learned in school are more than likely going to reach the parents ears and I can only hope that the parents and siblings will encourage their new knowledge. There is even a possibility that the parents will be able to take an interest and walk along side my students as they explore some new things. The schools front entrance is on the south side of the building and is surrounded by a neighborhood from which most of the students come. The east side of the building contains a soccer field and a spacious yard with a small play structure for the students. There is a fence that surrounds the schools playground and serves as a boundary between the neighborhood and the school yard. North of the soccer field and on the east and west sides of the building there are two parking lots for the teachers, administration, and visitors to park.

Beyond the school boundaries is an interesting community. The north side contains a neighborhood full of houses that are not completely run down but are in need of some care to restore them to their original condition. This small neighborhood is where most of the children live with their families. Beyond the small neighborhood are a few local businesses such as a car garage, Vans Bakery, miscellaneous shops, and a grave yard. To the west is a continuation of the neighborhood from which the students travel for school. The east side of the school contains more houses and more local businesses. There are restaurants such as Marie Catribs, Mangiamo, and other local shops as well as a small continuation of the neighborhood. The south side of the school is local shops and another neighborhood. I am unsure if students come to Congress from the north side neighborhood but from what I know of the neighborhood I would have to assume so. A couple blocks north of Congress are Baxter Community Center and the local Fair Trade shops of Wealthy Street. The neighborhood appears to make quite a bit of business. I often see the restaurants to the northeast of the school full of people enjoying a lunch break. However, since the school has started a breakfast program Vans Bakery has admitted to losing some customers who would stop by on the way to school. The classroom in which I will implement my unit plan is a classroom of first graders. The class has twenty students all of which are about 6 to 7 years old. Roughly half of my students are girls and the other half are boys. I have a large area to work with. The students are divided into table groups with roughly six students per group. Most of my students come from a low socioeconomic family but I have yet to see that hinder my group of students. The ethnicities in my classroom are a Hispanic majority with twelve students, African-American is a close second with seven students, and a Caucasian minority with only one student. With that being said the primary language of most of the students is Spanish but all are fluent in English, according to the principal, due to an older sibling speaking it at home and most if not all were born in the United States and know that English is the language spoken in school. About six of my students are low readers while the others are thriving in the average or above average reading

levels. There is a large rug in front of the white board with a projection system, and draw-erase markers. I have closets that contain a myriad of games, extra supplies, and materials for me to use. The mathematics curriculum used in the school is Everyday Mathematics which I have been able to work with in another class. I have seen only the workbooks being used for what Mrs. Herceg calls math on my own at which time students complete designated pages. When not doing math on my own students are able to practice writing numbers, play math games, or will work with Mrs. Herceg in a small group. The English curriculum is called Reading Naturally. This curriculum asks students to do a cold read of a small passage, answer comprehensive questions, practice words, practice fluency, and conclude the lesson with a hot read after days of practice. Mrs. Herceg has used books based on the designated reading level and words that she has chosen. Students only use the books during small group time with Mrs. Herceg otherwise students are practicing writing, reading a library book, or can work with words in a variety of ways. As for science, I do not believe there is any sort of book used. From my conversations with my teacher, I have concluded that the only way my students learn science is through reading and writing about things such as severe weather. I will have a lot of materials at my disposal but will also need to bring some in. I plan on bringing in extra books, seeds, soil, and photocopies that are not in my classroom.