Grade 2 Social Studies

  • Social Studies and History Grade 2                          

     

    WHAT YOUR CHILD WILL LEARN IN 2nd GRADE

     

    Research & Historical Thinking

    • Use information obtained through observation to identify problems, suggest solutions and make decisions.
    • Gather information from pictures and stories to point out change and predict future change.
    • Use a computer to access information as a research and writing tool.
    • Explain how local neighborhoods are made up of a variety of individuals and groups.
    • Use a variety of information resources to learn about their own community and other cultures.
    • List significant contributions of selected people in history such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and George Washington Carver.

     

    Civics and Government

    • Explain why neighborhoods have government and laws.
    • Demonstrate that people in the United States have both rights and responsibilities, and identify ways that people work together to promote civic ideals.
    • List specific local services provided to neighborhoods by the local government.
    • Identify patriotic symbols, landmarks and observances (e.g., flag, pledge of allegiance, Fourth of July, the American eagle.
    • Describe the importance of Election Day and elections in school.
    • Explain the meaning of "government'' and its function.

     

    Geography 

    • Create maps of classrooms and other familiar places.
    • Represent the location of places relative to others using models and maps (e.g., home, shopping center, school, and cafeteria)
    • Identify the directions north, east, south and west within the classroom.
    • Identify continents and oceans on a globe and a map.
    • Identify ways the physical environment meets the needs of the people.
    • Identify modes of transportation used to move people, goods and information within an area.

     

    Economics

    • Define and apply to their neighborhoods and other basic economic concepts such as scarcity, wants and needs, income, producers and consumers, and goods and services.
    • Describe different sources of income in neighborhoods.
    • Demonstrate understanding of the use and value of money as a means of exchange.
    • Identify economic resources in the neighborhood.
    • Describe the changing uses of a neighborhood's economic resources and predict logical future changes.

     

    Diversity & Global Perspective

    • Compare the similarities and differences in family structure and customs within a neighborhood.
    • Identify and state significance of religious and secular symbols found in neighborhoods.
    • Identify ways that different cultures within the United States and the world have shaped our national heritage.
    • List significant contributions of selected people in history and consider ways those people and events of the past and present influence their lives.

     

    How You Can Help Your Child

    • Foster a positive attitude towards the subject matter and explore ways to engage your child in learning about social studies.
    • Show an interest in what they are learning in school, discuss concepts with them and give them examples of social studies from their daily lives that they can relate to.
    • Strengthen your child's willingness to express their opinion and positively contribute to classroom discussion by sharing stories about their family heritage instilling pride and confidence in who they are.
    • Visit local and national museums (whenever possible) during weekends and school breaks to uncover the history of different cultures.
    • Social Studies is a subject that requires lots of reading, therefore it is important to provide your child with access to rich, relevant and engaging subject matter.
    • Visit your local library and make sure that you and your child each have a library card. This allows growth in content knowledge but also helps support reading comprehension skills.