Social Studies - 2nd Grade (2024)
Lesson Plans

Strand 1: History

Students use historical thinking skills to explore continuity and change in their community, Utah, and the United States.

Compelling Questions:

• What is history, and what lessons can we learn by studying history?
• What criteria should be used to determine the significance of historical events?
• Why are historical events often interpreted differently through different points of view?
• How has your personal and family history helped influence who you are?
• Why do historians look at multiple primary sources to interpret historical events?

Standard 2.1.1

Use primary sources (for example, artifacts and documents such as interviews, photographs, newspapers, speakers, stories, songs) to document the chronology of important events in their personal, family, school, local, or broader community history (including three significant events).

• "America the Beautiful": Using Music and Art to Develop Vocabulary
  his lesson uses music and art in a vocabulary study of unfamiliar words from the song "America the Beautiful," increasing students' vocabulary while also increasing their knowledge of U.S. geography. A discussion to activate students' prior knowledge about sights and scenery throughout the United States is followed by a read-aloud and introduction to the song "America the Beautiful," which is then sung in each session of the lesson. Students learn the meanings of the song's words through shared reading and the use of context clues and images. Students then use photographs, illustrations, and descriptive language to create a mural shaped like the United States. Finally, through pictures and words, students reflect on what they have learned. This lesson is appropriate and adaptable for any patriotic event or holiday, and many of the vocabulary strategies are adaptable for other texts or word lists, as well.
• Cool Collectibles and Super Sorts
  While investigating the properties of rocks, students will create a classroom rock collection.
• Cultural Museum
  These activities will provide students an opportunity to reflect their culture through art.
• Document Analysis
  The National Archives provides primary source sets, educator resources and articles, and printable primary sources analysis sheets. This page on the site outlines how to analyze primary source documents. Document analysis is the first step in working with primary sources. Teach your students to think through primary source documents for contextual understanding and to extract information to make informed judgments.
• Grandma Thinks It's Cake Baking Weather
  This activity uses Patricia Polacco's book "Thunder Cake" to help students understand how daily life has changed over the past 150 years.

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http://www.uen.org - in partnership with Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).  Send questions or comments to USBE Specialist - Robert  Austin and see the Social Studies website. For general questions about Utah's Core Standards contact the Director - Jennifer  Throndsen.

These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit should be given to Utah State Board of Education. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of the Utah State Board of Education, 250 East 500 South, PO Box 144200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200.