2nd Grade History

Living and Working Together in Communities

By Morgan Huetter

Table of Contents

Overview:
The second grade history standards focuses on something that the students already know, their community of Ann Arbor. To learn about their
community we will be looking at how to read a timeline, perspective, role of the individual in the community, and how their community has
changed over time.

Rationale:
This lesson is very important for the students to learn because it is important for students to learn from the concrete of what they know to the
abstract. They know their community so it is a good place to start. Ann Arbor has such a rich and vibrant history for students to learn about.
They will learn about their through primary sources, timelines, historical narratives, and pictures.

KUDs: The Road Map:

GLCE

Verbs

Know What
will students
know upon
learning this?

Understand that
What will
students
understand?

Do What will
students do to
show they
understand?

Vocabulary

I Can

2-H2.0.1
Demonstrate
chronological
thinking by
distinguishing
among years
and decades
using a timeline
of local
community
events.

Demonstrate

The students will

know that a
timeline contains
dates ranging
from days to
years to
decades. Along
with events that
are laid out in
chronological
order. They will
be able to look
at a timeline and
know how to
read it and make
one.

Students will
understand that
a timeline
represents
events
happening or
when they
happened in
time. They will
also understand
that a larger gap
between events
represents a long
period of time.

Given various
dates and events
students will be
able to place
events on a
timeline. Also
when looking at
a timeline they
will be able to
distinguish
between years
and decades by
labeling what is a
year and what is
a decade.

Years

I can tell the

difference
between a year
and a decade
while placing
events on a
timeline.

Students will be
able to
distinguish
perspective
between

Students will
understand that
other people
have different
perspective of

Have students
Perspective
write about an
Event
experience that
they all
Local community
encountered. For

Thinking
Distinguishing
Using

Explain
2-H2.0.2
Explain why
descriptions of

Decades
Timeline
Community

I can
understand why
people describe
events

the same event

in the local
community can
be different.

2-H2.0.3 Use an
example to
describe the role
of the individual
in creating
history.

Use
Describe
Creating

different peoples
account of
events.
Sometimes, even
when people are
at the same
place and time,
watching the
same event, they
have a different
opinion on what
has occurred.

community
events.

Students will
know that there
are many people
in our past that
shaped how we
live today. Like:

Students will
understand that
a single person
can have great
influence in
creating history.

Tom Monaghan
John Allen

example, a field
trip, assembly or
something that
happened within
the community.
Then have the
students share
their story and
talk about how a
perceptive of
one student can
be different from
anothers.

First person
account

Together read
the book Rons
Big Mission.
Together we will
look at how a
person like Ron
can change his
community for
the better. We
can also look at

Individual

differently.

Second person
account

History

I can describe
how one person
can change
history.

local individuals
like Tom
Monaghan, John
Allen and Elisha
Rumsey.

Elisha Rumsey

2-H2.0.4
Describe
changes in the
local community
over time (e.g.,
types of
business,
architecture and
landscape, jobs,
transportation,
population)

Describe

2-H2.0.5 Identify
a problem in a
communitys

Resolved
Identify

Describe all the

changes within
Ann Arbor that
has happened
overtime. This
consists of jobs
to population to
what the city
looked like.

Students will
understand how
their community
has changed
throughout time
in many different
aspects. Along
with technology
and population.

Students will
compare
pictures of their
community from
the past and the
present then
describe how it
has changed.
They will also
look at graphs
that show the
population
growth and job
change.

Students will
identify a
problem that

Students will
understand that
communities do

We will discuss a Problem

problem that our
community faced Resolve

Change
Jobs
Architecture

I can tell you

how my
community has
changed over
time.

Transportation
Population
Landscape

I can tell you

how our
community

past and
describe how it
was resolved.

Describe

happened in the
Ann Arbors past
and will show
how it was
resolved.

have some
problems and we
will see how our
community of
Ann Arbor solved
one.

in the past. Then

look at how it
was resolved and
see if this
problem still
affects us today.

2-H2.0.6
Construct a
historical
narrative about
the history of
the local
community from
a variety of
sources (e.g.,
data gathered
from local
residences,
artifacts,
photographs).

Construct

Students will
know how to
write a historical
narrative with
dates, events,
photos, and
resources from
people around
Ann Arbor and
be able to put
them in
chronological
order.

Students will
understand how
to write a
historical
narrative with
information they
have gotten
through class
with me and
some on their
own.

Help students
collect all of the
information that
they have
received from
the previous
lessons about
their community.
Maybe if
possible bring in
a local historian
to talk and
answer any of
the students
questions. Have
the students use
all of this
information and
organize it
chronologically.
Then have them
construct a
historical

solved a
problem.

Chronology
Historical Narrative

I can write a
historical
narrative about
something that
happened in my
community.

narrative
including the
information they
have learned.

Assessment Idea
For the assessment of this unit I will assist students with making a Historical Narrative of Ann Arbor. If is up to the students what part of Ann
Arbors history they would like to learn about but they must have 5 events. Each event must have a date, description, and a picture. The picture
can be hand drawn or from the internet. For the information, they can use some from our in class discussions or I will be bringing in local
historians and students can get some help from these people as well.

Historical Narrative

Teacher Name: Ms. Huetter

Student Name:
CATEGORY
Title

Dates

________________________________________
5
The historical
narrative has a
creative title that
accurately
describes the
material and is
easy to locate.
An accurate,
complete date has
been included for
each event.

3
The historical
narrative has an
effective title that
accurately
describes the
material and is
easy to locate.
An accurate,
complete date has
been included for
almost every
event.

1
The historical
narrative has a title
that is easy to
locate.

0
The title is missing
or difficult to
locate.

An accurate date
has been included
for almost every
event.

Dates are
inaccurate and/or
missing for several
events.

Time Use

Classroom time
was used to work
on the project.
Conversations
were not
disruptive and
focused on the
work.

Resources

The historical
narrative
contained at least
5 events related to
the topic being
studied.
Facts were
accurate for all
events reported on
the historical
narrative.

Content/Facts

Fonts and Colors

The use of font

styles and colors is
consistent and
shows a logical
pattern. It helps
organize the
material.

Classroom time
was used to work
on the project the
majority of the
time.
Conversations
were not
disruptive and
focused on the
work.
The historical
narrative
contained at least
4-3 events related
to the topic being
studied.
Facts were
accurate for almost
all events reported
on the historical
narrative.
The use of font
styles and colors is
consistent and
shows a logical
pattern for the
most part. It helps
organize the
material
somewhat.

Classroom time
was used to work
on the project the
majority of the
time, but
conversations
often were
disruptive or did
not focus on the
work.
The historical
narrative
contained at least
2 events related to
the topic being
studied.
Facts were
accurate for most
(~75%) of the
events reported on
the historical
narrative.
The use of font
styles and colors is
consistent , but is
not used
effectively to
organize.

10

Student did not

use classroom time
to work on the
project and/or was
highly disruptive.

The historical
narrative
contained fewer
than 1 event.

Facts were often

inaccurate for
events reported on
the historical
narrative.
The use of font
styles and colors is
not consistent OR
detracts from the
organization.

Learning of
Content

The student can

accurately describe
75% (or more) of
the events in the
historical narrative
without referring
to it and can
quickly determine
which of two
events occurred
first.

The student can

accurately describe
50% of the events
in the personal
narrative without
referring to it and
can quickly
determine which
of two events
occurred first.

The student can

describe any event
in the historical
narrative if allowed
to refer to it and
can determine
which of two
events occurred
first.

11

The student cannot

use the historical
narrative
effectively to
describe events
nor to compare
events.

Lesson 1:
Anticipatory Set and Vocabulary Lesson
Lessons: How will you take them
where they need to go? (Step-byStep plan from A-Z)

Instructional strategies/Social constructs:

How will they work?
(AND what will YOU do?)

Step 1: Provide a description, explanation

or example of the new term.
I am also going to combine Step 5:
Periodically ask students to discuss the
terms with one another.
Standard: 2-H2.0.1 Demonstrate
chronological thinking by distinguishing
among years and decades using a timeline
of local community events.
Words:
Years
Decades
Timeline

I would have a timeline displayed at the

front of the class and state that this is a
timeline. (The timeline that I want to
display has dates clearly labeled with
years. Then every 10 years it will have a
bold line representing a decade) Then I
would ask the students to discuss with
their groups or partners what they notice
about it, allowing them to come up to the
board and get a closer look at it. Do you
see how there are events? Dates?
Pictures? How are the events ordered? Do
the years increase?

Step 2: Ask students to restate the

description, explanation, or example in
their own words.
AND
Step 3: ask students to construct a picture,
symbol, or graphic representing the term.
I am also going to combine Step 5:
Periodically ask students to discuss the
terms with one another.

Throughout the whole unit I want

students to keep a vocab journal of all the
terms that they learn. I will use circle
vocabulary to do this. Each student will
have their own sheet for each vocab word.
They will write one vocab word and give a
definition in their own words, a picture, a
sentence, and examples of the word. (I
will give many examples of each vocab
12

Resources needed: What materials and

resources will they need?
(Page #s read, graphic organizers, books,
posters, realia, etc)
Resource 1: Timeline to display on board.
Figure 1

Resource 1: enough copies for the circle

vocabulary sheet for each student to have
three (only for this lesson).
Example in figure 2.

Step 4: Engage students periodically in

activities that help them add to their
knowledge of the terms in their
notebooks.

Step 6: involve students periodically in

games that allow them to play with terms.

word throughout the lesson) Then, as a

group or with partners I want the students
to share what they came up with.
For this I will have students construct an
expandable two tab book. The students
will compare the difference between
years and decades and another comparing
a calendar to a timeline.

Resource1: construction paper for every

student to have two.
Resource 2: art supplies
Zike, Dinah (2002) Big Book of Social
Studies for Elementary K-6. San Antonia,
Texas: Dinah-Might Adventures, LP
Resource 1: note cards on strings with the
vocab words on them.

Guess my Word. This is a game that

eventually, with enough words you can
play with the whole class. For this lesson
though, have students in groups of four.
I got this activity from Larry Fegel a GVSU
Each student will have a note card on a
Geology Professor.
string that is around their neck. The card is Example in figure 3.
on their back; make sure that when
putting the cards around their necks that
they cannot see it. Then have students go
to their other group members and ask the
others questions to lead them to what
word is on their back.

13

Lesson 1 Formative Assessment

Lessons: How will you take them
where they need to go? (Step-byStep plan from A-Z)
For the formative assessment for this
lesson I will give each group of students a
string and some dates with events and
pictures on a note card. They will have to
take these dates and place them on the
timeline, the string, in chronological order.
At every decade they will put a clothes
line clip to show that they understand that
a decade is every 10 years. Then they will
present them to the class and will be
displayed on the wall in the classroom
along with the timeline from the
anticipatory set.

Instructional strategies/Social constructs:

How will they work?
(AND what will YOU do?)
The students will be working in their small
groups for this portion, 4 students at the
most. While they are doing this I will be
going around the classroom to catch small
errors, but for this portion they will be
doing the majority of the work on their
own.

14

Resources needed: What materials and

resources will they need?
(Page #s read, graphic organizers, books,
posters, realia, etc)
String for each group
Dates on notecards with pictures for each
group.

Lesson 2:
Anticipatory Set:
Lessons: How will you take them
where they need to go? (Step-byStep plan from A-Z)
Discuss a common event that occurred in
class, like a field trip, assembly, play or
something that everyone experienced.
Have students write a couple sentences
on a paper whether they like the
experience or not. Then divide the room
into two sides, one being the group that
enjoyed the experience and another being
they did not enjoy it. Once in their groups,
they have to come up with reasons why
they chose that side of the room and
share it with the other class. Also write a
short description of the event. After
sharing I will describe that to students this
difference in opinion happens all the time
in our community. This influences the Ann
Arbor that we see today, these differences
in opinion. With the descriptions, show
how ones opinion of the event can
influence their description of the event.
This also happens all the time in our
community and can influence other
peoples perspective on the event. I will be

Instructional strategies/Social constructs:

How will they work?
(AND what will YOU do?)
The students will be working in large
groups to come up with a description of
the event and to present it to the class.
I will be acting like a person that was not
at the event and wanted to know about
the event from the students.
I want to guide the students through a
discussion using an event that happened
at school. And through this I will have
students discus what they liked and what
they didnt like about the event. Then
point out to them that this is perspective
and every person has a different one. If a
student missed the event I would have
some of the students fill the absent
student in on the event and explain that
because they were at the event they have
a first person account of it. But by telling
the absent classmate what happened is an
example of a second person account.
From this I will explain that there are
many different factors that influence
someones perspective or opinion on an
15

Resources needed: What materials and

resources will they need?
(Page #s read, graphic organizers, books,
posters, realia, etc)
Room Space
Paper for students

acting as if I did not experience the event

at all. Based on the descriptions of the
event I will give my idea of what occurred
at the event. I will explain that what the
students told me is called first person
account because they experienced it. And
what my explanation of the event was is
called a second person account.

event. Everyone has a different

perspective and this will influence their
opinion.

Vocabulary Lesson
Lessons: How will you take them
where they need to go? (Step-byStep plan from A-Z)
Combines steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Standard: 2-H2.0.2
Explain why descriptions of the same
event in the local community can be
different.
Words:
Perspective
Event
First Person Account
Second Person Account
Step 6: involve students periodically in
games that allow them to play with
terms.

Instructional strategies/Social constructs:

How will they work?
(AND what will YOU do?)
I will have students add these words to
their vocabulary journal of circle vocab.

Resources needed: What materials and

resources will they need?
(Page #s read, graphic organizers, books,
posters, realia, etc)
Resource 1: circle vocabulary sheets for
each student to have 4.

I would combine the vocab from this

lesson and the pervious one to make a
game called I have, You have. With this
every student has a note card with either

Resource 1: note cards with vocabulary

words on one and their definition on
another for every word. Have enough for
every student or have one set of cards for

16

a vocab word or a definition of the word

on it. Students have to go around the
classroom and find their match to their
word or definition. Or students could even
do this in groups by having a set of cards
for each group and they have to match
them up with their pair.

each group.

Formative Assessment:
Lessons: How will you take them
where they need to go? (Step-byStep plan from A-Z)

Instructional strategies/Social constructs:

How will they work?
(AND what will YOU do?)

17

Resources needed: What materials and

resources will they need?
(Page #s read, graphic organizers, books,
posters, realia, etc)

Lesson 3
Anticipatory Set/Lesson
Lessons: How will you take them
where they need to go? (Step-byStep plan from A-Z)
Together we will read Rons Big Mission by
Rose Blue and Corinne Naden. This story is
about a young boy who changed his
community by sticking up for himself and
other African American people who
wanted to obtain a library card.
After reading this book I will lead a
discussion on the book asking questions
like:
What was the problem that Ron had?
How did he fix this problem?
What problems did he run into on the way
to getting his library card?
How did Ron change his community?
Through this story the students will be
able to see that one person, just like them,
can have a major impact on their
community. The main point that I want to

Instructional strategies/Social constructs:

How will they work?
(AND what will YOU do?)
We will read the book together. I will lead
the discussion about the individuals
impact on the community. I want to take
the questions from the previous column
about to book and lead the discussion into
different ways they know of that a person
impacted their community, wither it be in
school or out in the city. I will discuss how
someone like Tom Monihan, previous
owner and founder of Dominos, impacted
the city of Ann Arbor. Also discuss Rev.
John Monteith had a major impact on the
city of Ann Arbor by founding the
University of Michigan and he was also the
first president.

18

Resources needed: What materials and

resources will they need?
(Page #s read, graphic organizers, books,
posters, realia, etc)
Resource 1: Rons Big Mission

make to the students is that they do not

have to be an adult to make a major
impact in their community. Even the
smallest things can change a community.
Form this discussion of the book I will lead
the students into coming up with a
definition of individual.

Vocabulary Lesson and Formative Assesment

Lessons: How will you take them
where they need to go? (Step-byStep plan from A-Z)

Instructional strategies/Social constructs:

How will they work?
(AND what will YOU do?)

Combines steps: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Standard: 2-H2.0.3 Use an example to
describe the role of the individual in
creating history.
Words:
Individual
History

Then make sure they have filled out their

circle vocabulary journals with the two
new words.

Step 6: Involve students periodically in

games that allow them to play with terms.
This will be used as the formative
assessment.

Name that Category

For this game students will be in groups. I
will have a power point prepared with
examples of each vocabulary word. Each
slide will have many pictures of that
vocabulary word. Make sure that the
pictures come up one at a time. If
19

Resources needed: What materials and

resources will they need?
(Page #s read, graphic organizers, books,
posters, realia, etc)
Resource 1: Circle vocabulary pages for
every student to have two.

Resource 1: power point of the vocabulary

words and its example.
Game from Susan Laninga a GVSU Social
Studies professor.

students know the answer to the

category, they will have one member of
the group raise their hand. When they get
it right their group gets one point.

20