Second grade students in Michigan continue their integrative approach to social studies by focusing in on the local community. Students are introduced to a social environment larger than their immediate surroundings.

Our final chapter in 2nd grade is all about history - how we study it and how we learn about places - especially our community. The authors recognized early on that it would be impossible for us to write a community history for every community in Michigan, so we continue with our study of two - a small town and a larger town. Our hope is that you’ll have students make connections between these two featured communities and their own. How are they alike? How are they different?

After discussing how people have different perspectives on the same topic/event/movement in a fun way by using a familiar fairy tale, higher level students will be asked to read portions of a book or articles from the internet to find out at least 2 differing perspectives of a historical event/movement. Students will get a R.A.F.T. so they may write with different ROLES in mind to different AUDIENCES in a particular FORMAT and on a TOPIC.  Next students will share their writings with other students in the class. I am giving examples of how to use this activity with the attacks of 9/11, but other historical events/movements could be used (Civil War, prohibition, American Revolution, Civil Rights Movement, etc.). This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Students will learn about organizations, campaigns and leaders who are making an effort to help children world-wide go to school and get educated. Such leaders include Michelle Obama with her program and Oprah Winfrey. The students will watch a video about an organization called "Transforming Education for Girls Project." Students will take a leadership role and begin to plan actions to improve conditions in the country of Guatemala by starting a fundraiser at the school level. The funds collected will be used to fund educational teaching materials and student learning resources. The fundraiser is supported by Teachers 2 Teachers Global, who will use the money collected to fund the classroom in which the teacher is connected with and is planning future interactive Skype lessons. (see Leson 6: Skype Lessons with Another Classroom).This lesson was developed by Gabriela Bermingham as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

The students will be reading a biography about Ruby Bridges called, Ruby Bridges Goes to School, My True Story (Bridges, 2009). She is an American activist who became a symbol of the Civil Rights movement. At age six, she became amongst the youngest of a group of African American students to integrate schools in the south. She was the first black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana in 1960. The purpose of this lesson is for students to learn about the struggles that African-American children faced in trying to get an equal education, here in the United States around the 1960's. This lesson is taught in English during the social studies block.This lesson was developed by Gabriela Bermingham as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to be part of a Colombian legend. In this case, the legend of "El Dorado". Also they will get to know part of the history of a Pre-Colombian civilization. This lesson was developed by Carolina Vargas-Escobar as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

In this lesson students will have the opportunity to write their own myths or legends and share them with their parents in their own class. This lesson was developed by Carolina Vargas-Escobar as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

All students in the class will be introduced to various historical figures (from their community, state, nation, and the world).  The teacher will read books and find videos from the internet that explain the contributions that these historical figures made to our world, and she will guide students to discuss what life would be like today without their contributions.  Then higher-level students will be asked to complete analogies connecting historical figures to their contributions.  Students will need to research via books and the internet the historical figures and their contributions to be able to complete the analogies.  Students will also write their own analogies with good relationships.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

In these videos, artifacts from the Vance Birthplace State Historic Site collection are featured with clues about their purpose. Students try to solve the History Mystery before the answer is revealed.

After the teacher shows students her online timeline she has created of her own life, she will instruct higher level students to create an online timeline of the life of someone famous/historically significant.  If the class is studying famous African-Americans who have contributed to history, the teacher could assign a famous African-American (or if the class is studying U.S. Presidents, a president could be assigned to each student).  Students will research the famous/historically significant person which they are assigned from books and the internet.  Then students will create an online timeline of the person to share with the class in a presentation.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

shares Ruby Bridge’s unique story with students, and shows them what life was like for African American children in the segregated South of the 1950s. Through slide shows, an interactive magazine from Scholastic News, and a student-created video, students gain a fuller understanding of Ruby’s pivotal role in the civil rights struggle.