Unit Plan 27 (Grade K Social Studies): Midyear Review—People and Places Over Time
Review key kindergarten social studies skills by sequencing events, identifying past vs. present, recognizing important people and traditions, and using simple sources to understand change over time.
Focus: Help children revisit and connect what they’ve learned about rules, helpers, family traditions, important people, and places. Students practice sequencing events, sorting past vs. present, naming important people and holidays, sharing family traditions, and using simple sources (pictures, artifacts, stories) to talk about people and places over time.
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject Area: Social Studies (Civics • Geography • History • Inquiry)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 20–30 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students become “Time Travelers” and “Community Detectives” as they review key ideas from the first half of the year. They practice putting events in order, telling past vs. present, talking about important people and holidays, and sharing family and cultural traditions. Through stories, photos, and hands-on sorting, they strengthen their ability to ask questions, gather information, and decide what is important about people and places over time.
Essential Questions
- How do we know if something happened long ago or is happening today?
- Why do we remember important people, holidays, and family traditions?
- How can we use pictures, stories, and objects to learn about the past?
- How do our questions help us understand people and places over time?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Sequence simple daily or familiar events using words like first, next, last.
- Distinguish past vs. present using photos, artifacts, and stories and say how they know.
- Identify at least one important person or holiday and give a simple reason why we remember them.
- Describe at least one family or cultural tradition and notice one similarity or difference with a classmate’s tradition.
- Use simple sources (picture books, photos, classroom artifacts) to answer who/what/where/when/why questions and tell what information is most important.
- Create a simple “People and Places Over Time” review page (or mini-book page) that shows sequencing, past vs. present, or an important person/tradition and explain it to a partner.
Standards Alignment — Kindergarten (C3-based custom)
- K.C3.Hist.1 — Sequence daily events using temporal words (first/next/last; yesterday/today/tomorrow).
- K.C3.Hist.2 — Distinguish past and present with photos, artifacts, and stories.
- K.C3.Hist.3 — Identify important people, holidays, and commemorations; state simple significance.
- K.C3.Hist.4 — Describe family and cultural traditions; note similarities and differences.
- K.C3.Hist.5 — Use simple sources to learn about the past and retell key details.
- K.C3.Inq.1 — Ask and answer questions about people, places, and rules.
- K.C3.Inq.2 — Gather information from observations and simple sources (photos, maps, short texts).
- K.C3.Inq.3 — Sort information and tell what is important.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can put events in order and say first, next, last.
- I can tell if a picture shows long ago or today and say how I know.
- I can name an important person or holiday and tell why we remember them.
- I can share one family tradition and listen to a classmate’s tradition.
- I can use pictures or stories to say who, where, and why something happened.
- I can make a review page that shows something I learned about people or places over time and explain it.