Social Studies

“If you can't read, it's going to be hard to realize dreams.”

- Booker T. Washington

Units studied during second grade social studies include:

• Communities
• Scholastic News

The Washington State Standards require second graders to learn from these EALRs:

• History
• Geography
• Economics
• Civics

In our classroom, we will work on a StoryPath unit on Families and Neighborhoods.

Washington State EALRs:

1.   CIVICS   The student understands and applies knowledge of government, law, politics, and the nation's fundamental documents to make decisions about local, national and international issues and to demonstrate thoughtful, participatory citizenship. 

     1.1 Understands key ideals and principles of the United States, including those in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other fundamental documents. 

     1.2 Understands the purposes, organization, and function of governments, laws, and political systems.

     1.4 Understands civic involvement.

2.   ECONOMICS   The student applies understanding of economic concepts and systems to analyze decision-making and the interactions between individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies. 

     2.1 Understands that people have to make choices between wants and needs and evaluate the outcomes of those choices.

     2.2 Understands how economic systems function.

3.   GEOGRAPHY  The student uses a spatial perspective to make reasoned decisions by applying the concepts of location, region, and movement and demonstrating knowledge of how geographic features and human cultures impact environments.

     3.1 Understands the physical characteristics, cultural characteristics, and location of places, regions, and spatial patterns on the Earth's surface.

    3.2 Understands human interaction with the environment.

4.   HISTORY   The student understands and applies knowledge of historical thinking, chronology, eras, turning points, major ideas, individuals, and themes in local, Washington State, tribal, United States, and world history in order to evaluate how history shapes the present and future.

     4.1 Understands historical chronology.

     4.2 Understands and analyzes causal factors that have shaped major events in history.

5.   SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS   The student understands and applies reasoning skills to conduct research, deliberate, form, and evaluate positions through the processes of reading, writing and communicating.

     5.1 Uses critical reasoning skills to analyze and evaluate positions.

     5.3 Deliberates public issues.