Unit Plan 27 (Grade 2 Social Studies): Midyear Review—People, Progress, and Change

Focus: Revisit key ideas in history, civics, and geography by sorting past/present, studying important people and traditions, and using simple sources, questions, and maps to show how communities change over time.

Grade Level: 2

Subject Area: Social Studies (History • Inquiry • Civics/Geography Review)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 30–45 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this midyear review unit, students look back at what they have learned about people, places, and change. They revisit timelines, past vs. present, important people and holidays, and family traditions using photos, stories, and simple maps. Through stations and whole-class projects, students practice asking good questions, using sources (pictures, books, maps), and sorting information to show how their lives and communities have progressed and changed. By the end of the week, students create a “People, Progress, and Change” booklet or poster that brings together a timeline page, a then/now page, a leader/holiday page, and a tradition/story page.

Essential Questions

• How can timelines help us tell the story of our lives and our community?
• How do we know what life was like in the past, and how is it different from today?
• Why do we remember certain people, holidays, and events from the past?
• How do family and community traditions show who we are and what we care about?
• How can questions and sources (photos, maps, books, interviews) help us learn about people, progress, and change?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Create and read a simple timeline of personal or class events using words like before, after, and now.
2. Use photographs, artifacts, and simple accounts to tell how life in homes, schools, or communities has changed over time.
3. Identify at least two important people, holidays, or events and explain why we remember or celebrate them.
4. Describe one family or cultural tradition and how it is preserved and shared.
5. Ask and answer simple who/what/when/where/why questions using sources, and sort evidence into “past” vs. “present” or “important to remember” categories.

Standards Alignment — 2nd Grade (C3-based custom)

• 2.C3.Hist.1 — Construct and read simple timelines of personal, local, or national events.
  • Example: Build a class timeline of “Our Year in Grade 2.”
• 2.C3.Hist.2 — Distinguish past and present using photographs, artifacts, and accounts; note change over time.
  • Example: Compare a one-room schoolhouse to your school today.
• 2.C3.Hist.3 — Identify people, holidays, and events of significance; state reasons for commemoration.
  • Example: Why we honor Veterans Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
• 2.C3.Hist.4 — Describe family and cultural traditions and how they are preserved and shared.
  • Example: Interview a family member and share a tradition with the class.
• 2.C3.Hist.5 — Use simple sources to learn about the past; retell with who/what/where/when/why.
  • Example: After a read-aloud on a local landmark, write 3 sentence facts.
• 2.C3.Inq.1 — Ask and refine questions that can be investigated with sources.
  • Example: “How do rules in our town help people stay safe?”
• 2.C3.Inq.2 — Gather information from multiple simple sources (photos, maps, short texts, interviews).
  • Example: Use a children’s atlas, a local map, and a librarian interview to learn about services.
• 2.C3.Inq.3 — Evaluate information (relevance, basic reliability) and sort evidence.
  • Example: Decide which pictures actually show public services vs. private businesses.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can help make and read a timeline that shows events in order.
• I can tell how something in my community is different now from long ago.
• I can name at least one important person, holiday, or event and explain why we remember it.
• I can share one tradition from my family or culture and how we keep it going.
• I can use pictures, books, or maps to answer questions and sort information into past/present or important to remember.