We will utilize our McGraw-Hill textbooks in Social Studies. Below are the specific standards we teach in the first and second grades. Topics vary from learning about ourselves, our families, friendships, neighborhoods and communities, celebrations and holidays, to geography, important people in history, and countries around the world. First Grade Circuits on Tuesdays from 1:15pm to 2:15pm rotate between Science and Social Studies topics. A Child's Place in Time and Space (First Grade) Students in grade one continue a more detailed treatment of the broad concepts of rights and responsibilities in the contemporary world. Students examine the geographic and economic aspects of life in their own neighborhoods and compare them to those of people long ago. Students explore the varied backgrounds of American citizens and learn about the symbols, icons, and songs that reflect our common heritage. Standard 1: Students describe the rights and individual responsibilities of citizenship. Standard 2: Students compare and contrast the absolute and relative locations of places and people and describe the physical and/or human characteristics of places. Standard 3: Students know and understand the symbols, icons, and traditions of the United States that provide continuity and a sense of community across time. Standard 4: Students compare and contrast everyday life in different times and places around the world and recognize that some aspects of people, places, and things change over time while others stay the same. Standard 5: Students describe the human characteristics of familiar places and the varied backgrounds of American citizens and residents in those places. Standard 6: Students understand basic economic concepts and the role of individual choice in a free-market economy People Who Make A Difference (Second Grade) Students in grade two explore the lives of actual people who make a difference in their everyday lives and learn the stories of extraordinary people from history whose achievements have touched them, directly, or indirectly. The study of contemporary people who supply goods and services aids in understanding the complex interdependence in our free-market system. Standard 1: Students differentiate between things that happened long ago and things that happened yesterday. Standard 2: Students demonstrate map skills by describing the absolute and relative locations of people, places, and environments. Standard 3: Students explain governmental institutions and practices in the United States and other countries. Standard 4: Students understand basic economic concepts and their individual roles in the economy and demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills. Standard 5: Students understand the importance of individual action and character and explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past have made a difference in others� lives (e.g., from biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Louis Pasteur, Sitting Bull, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, Jackie Robinson, and Sally Ride). |
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| History & Social Studies Cupertino Union School District Highlights of the Core Subjects (Revised July 2002) |