Summary of 2nd grade social studies standards
South Carolina 2nd grade students continue to develop their knowledge of the U.S. History. Second grade is the time for students to learn about significant historical events, movements, and symbols in U.S. history. Like the other grades, the standards for 2nd grade social studies are broken down into sections: historian, geographer, economist, and political scientist.
To develop a student's knowledge as a historian, students will learn to think like a historian. They will understand the cause and effect of a historical event, different historical perspectives, continuity and change, historical significance, and ethical dimension. Students will begin looking at pictures or articles about historical events and analyze them with a DBQ. Students will also create timelines. One example is letting them look at their personal history or a family member’s history and create a timeline. Example of timelines
Students will look at different important holidays such as Black History Month, Arbor day, Constitution day, South Carolina Day, Martin Luther King Day, and many more.
Here is a unit plan I created for Martin Luther King Day.
Students in 2nd grade also learn about the economy. Students will learn what money is and budgets. This builds on what students have learned in previous grades by examining their wants and needs with how to incorporate them into a budget. This is a great way to tie in math because students are learning about money in both social studies and math. Students learn about different kinds of businesses and why they are important. Students also learn about where different resources are created and why they might be only available in that certain location.