Standards for History and Social Science Practice – Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12

1 Demonstrate civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Civic knowledge includes the core knowledge in the Content Standards relating to civics and government, economics, geography, and history.

Civic intellectual skills encompass knowing how to identify, assess, interpret, describe, analyze and explain matters of concern in civic life.

Civic participatory skills encompass knowing how to make and support arguments, use the political process to communicate with elected officials and representatives of government, and plan strategically for civic change.

Civic dispositions encompass values, virtues, and behaviors, such as respect for others, commitment to equality, capacity for listening, and capacity for communicating in ways accessible to others.

4 Analyze the purpose and point of view of each source; distinguish opinion from fact. Students need to be exposed to readings that represent a variety of points of view in order to become discerning and critical readers. They need to be able to identify the purpose of a document and the point of view of its author. As students search primary sources for answers to questions such as What really happened in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775?, they begin to understand that eyewitness accounts of the same event can differ. This Standard corresponds to Reading Standard 6 for Literacy in History and Social Science.

Literacy Standards for History and Social Science

Grades 1-2 Reading Standards for Literacy in the Content Areas: History/Social Science

Key Ideas and Details

1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, or ideas in a civics, geography, economics, or history text.

Craft and Structure

4 Ask and answer questions to determine the meaning of words in a text about history/social studies.

6 Distinguish between information provided by illustrations, maps, and words in a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7 Use information in illustrations, maps, and charts to describe key ideas.

9 Describe similarities and differences between two texts on the same history/social studies topic.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

10 With prompting and support, read and comprehend history/social studies texts exhibiting complexity appropriate for the grades 1-2.

Grade 2 – Global Geography: Places and Peoples, Cultures and Resources

Topic 1. Reading and making maps – Supporting Question: What do maps show?

1 Explain the kinds of information provided by components of a map (e.g., compass rose/cardinal directions, scale, key/legend, title) and give examples of how maps can show relationships between humans and the environment (e.g., travel, roads, natural resources, agriculture, mining). .

2 Compare different kinds of map projections (e.g., Mercator, Peters) and explain how they represent the world differently.

Topic 2. Geography and its effects on people – Supporting Question: How do people adapt to or change their environment?

4 On a map of the world and on a globe, locate all the continents and some major physical characteristics on each continent (e.g., lakes, seas, bays, rivers and tributaries, mountains and mountain ranges, and peninsulas, deserts, plains).

5 On a map of the world and on a globe, locate the oceans of the world, and explain the importance of oceans and how they make the world habitable.

6 Explain how the location of landforms and bodies of water helps determine conditions (i.e., climate, weather, vegetation) for habitable living.

7 Explain and describe human interaction with the physical world (the environment).

Topic 3. History: migrations and cultures – Supporting Question: What are the different reasons people choose to settle in a community?

9 Give examples of why the United States is called “a nation of immigrants”.

Topic 4. Civics in the context of geography: countries and governments – Supporting Question: Why are continents divided into countries?

12 Recognize the difference between physical geography and political geography.

Topic 5. Economics: resources and choices (shared with grade 1) – Supporting Question: How do the resources of an area affect its industries and jobs?

Resources

16 Distinguish a renewable resource from a non-renewable resource.

Earning Income

18 Explain what it means to be employed and define the terms income, wages, and salary.

Buying Goods and Services

19 Give examples of products (goods) that people buy and use.

20 Give examples of services people do for each other.

21 Give examples of choices people have to make about buying goods and services (e.g., food for the family or a video game; bus fare to get to work or a movie ticket for entertainment) and why they have to make choices (e.g., because they have only enough money for one purchase, not two).

22 Analyze examples of voluntary choices people make about buying goods and services (e.g., to buy from a company that supports its workers or protects the environment).

Saving

23 Compare and contrast reasons why people save some of their money (e.g., deciding to put some of it aside for later for a future purchase, for a charitable donation or for an emergency).