Madison Public Schools
Grade 2 Social Studies
Written by:
Erin Brown
Samantha Mullins
Revised by:
Erin Brown
Francesca Frosoni
Reviewed by:
Matthew A. Mingle
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Janine Loconsolo
Supervisor of Elementary Education
Approval date:
September 9, 2014
Revisions approved August 18, 2015
Members of the Board of Education:
Lisa Ellis, President
Kevin Blair, Vice President
Shade Grahling, Curriculum Committee Chairperson
David Arthur
John Flynn
Johanna Habib
Thomas Haralampoudis
Leslie Lajewski
Madison Public Schools
359 Woodland Road
Madison, NJ 07940
www.madisonpublicschools.org
Course Overview
Description
Second Grade Social Studies explores the elements of a community, investigates community roles,
examines community economics and compares these components to our community, Madison. The
curriculum also explores the historical events in Madison from the past and present. This offers
opportunities for students to understand the civics, history, economics and geography as related to
oneself, one’s immediate surroundings and to the greater community of Madison and New Jersey.
Goals
This course aims to:
● Develop the understanding of the importance of community and good citizenship.
● Interpret and comprehend a variety of maps.
● Develop the understanding of the role of economics in a community.
● Identify and describe how communities change over time.
● Develop analytical skills to read, write and create a timeline.
● Apply non-fiction reading strategies to a variety of texts within the topic communities.
Resources
Suggested activities and resources page
Unit 1 Overview
Unit Title: What is a Community?
Unit Summary:
Students will understand that communities are a place where people live, work, play and solve
problems together. Students will identify the important people and places in a community. They
will have the opportunity to explore the different types of communities and identify their
similarities and differences. The students will learn how to be good citizens and how to make a
difference in a community. The students will use this information to make comparisons to our
town, Madison.
Suggested Pacing: 19 lessons
Learning Targets
Unit Essential Questions:
● What makes a community?
● What are the advantages/disadvantages of living in different types of communities?
● What do good citizens do?
● How do/can you contribute to your community?
● How do community leaders help their communities?
● What makes the Madison community special?
Unit Enduring Understandings:
● The United States democratic system requires active participation of its citizens.
● In an interconnected world, it is important to consider different cultural perspectives before
proposing solutions to local, state, national, and global problems.
● Availability of resources affects economic outcomes.
● Urban areas, worldwide, share common physical characteristics, but may also have cultural
differences.
● Rules and laws are developed to protect people’s rights and the security and welfare society.
● American constitutional government is based on principles of limited government, shared
authority, fairness, and equality.
● In a representative democracy, individuals elect representatives to act on behalf of the
people.
● Cultures include traditions, popular beliefs and commonly held values, ideas, and
assumptions that are generally accepted by a particular group of people.
● Prejudice and discriminations can be obstacles to understanding other cultures.
● The cultures with which an individual or group identifies change and evolve in response to
interactions with other groups and/or in response to needs or concerns.
● People view and interpret events differently because of the times in which they lives, the
experiences they have had, the perspectives held by their cultures, and their individual point
of view.
Evidence of Learning
Unit Benchmark Assessment Information:​
Create a Community Flipbook (rural, urban, suburban)
​
using a labeled illustration of a unique feature (e.g. farm, skyscraper etc.) and three written
descriptions for each community. Include a sentence(s) about an advantage and disadvantage to
life in each community.
Objectives
(Students will be able to…)
Chapter 1: What is a
Community?
Understand the important
elements of a community
while exploring these
components in our town,
Madison.
Essential
Content/Skills
Content:
community; live, work,
play, solve problems,
Madison
Skills:
Identify places in a
community.
Suggested
Assessments
Students work in small
groups to design their own
community which include
places people live, work,
play and solve problems.
Chapter 1 assessment
(Lesson Masters pages 3-4)
Design a fictional
community.
Content:
Rural, urban, suburban,
suburb, Madison
Chapter 2 assessment
(Lesson Masters pages
8-9)
Skills:
Identify the features of
urban, suburban and rural
communities.
Students work in small
groups to illustrate one of
the three communities and
write a paragraph
explaining the important
features of that community
Compare and contrast
features of different types
of communities.
Identify advantage and
disadvantages of different
types of communities.
Learn about community
leaders and how they help
the community. Identify
these community leaders
in our town, Madison.
Content:
Community leaders and
their responsibilities,
leader, vote, government,
Madison
Skills:
Vote in a class election.
Predict what community
leaders can and cannot do.
Identify a community
problem and propose a
solution.
6.1.4.C.9
Compare and contrast how access to and
use of resources affects people across the
world differently.
5 lessons
6.1.4.B.10
Identify the major cities in New Jersey,
the Unites States, and major world
regions, and explain how maps, globes,
and demographic tools can be used to
understand tangible and intangible
cultural differences.
2.R1.4
Determine the meaning of words and
phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2
topic or subject area.
Identify and describe
Madison’s community.
Chapter 12: How Do
Leaders Help Their
Communities?
5 lessons
2.SL.1
Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small
and larger groups.
Identify important places
in your community,
Madison.
Explore the three types of
communities while
learning about the
features, advantages and
disadvantages of each.
Identify these components
in our town, Madison.
6.1.4.A.11
Explain how the fundamental rights of the
individual and the common good of the
country depend upon all citizens
exercising their civic responsibilities at the
community, state, national and global
levels.
Pacing
6.1.4.A.15
Explain how and why it is important that
people from diverse cultures collaborate
to find solutions to community, state,
national, and global challenges.
Describe what people do in
a community.
Chapter 2: How are
Communities Different?
Standards
(NJCCCS CPIs, CCSS, NGSS)
Students are given a
community problem and
write a paragraph to
describe possible solution
giving reasons why
solution would work.
6.1.4.A.1
Explain how rules and laws created by
community, state, and national
governments protect the rights of people,
help resolve conflict, and promote the
common good.
Chapter 12 assessment
(Lesson Masters pages
92-93)
6.1.4.A.3
Determine how “fairness,” “equality,” and
the “​
common good​
” have influenced
change at the local and national levels of
United States government.
6.1.4.A.7
Explain how the United States functions
as a ​
representative democracy​
, and
describe how the roles of elected
representatives and how they interact
with citizens at local,state, and national
level.
2.W.1
Write opinion pieces in which they
introduce a topic or book they are writing
about, state an opinion, supply reasons
that support their opinion, using linking
words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect
5 lessons
opinion and reasons and provide a
concluding statement or section.
6.3.4.A .3
Select a local issue and develop a group
action plan to inform school and/or
community members about the issue.
Chapter 13: What Does a
Good Citizen Do?
Learn how to be a good
citizen in the community,
Madison.
Content:
Good citizen, legislature,
slavery, Madison
Skills:
Identify ways to be good
citizens.
Decide whether specific
actions are those of a good
citizen.
Brainstorm
good-citizenship actions
that students could
perform in the community.
Identify good citizens in
the community of
Madison. (Use Powerpoint
as a resource)
Create an award for a
classmate which identifies
their behavior as being a
good classroom/
community citizen.
Chapter 13 assessment
(Lesson Masters pages
99-100)
*Complete unit 1
Benchmark Assessment
6.1.4.D.13
Describe how culture is expressed through
and influenced by the behavior of people.
6.1.4.D.16
Describing how stereotyping and
prejudice can lead to conflict using
examples from the past and present.
6.1.4.D.18
Explain how an individual’s beliefs, values
and traditions may reflect more than one
culture.
6.1.4.D.20
Describe why it is important to
understand the perspectives of other
cultures in an interconnected world.
2.SL.1
Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small
and larger groups.
4 lessons
Unit 2 Overview
Unit Title: Economics of Communities
Unit Summary:
Students will understand that communities have goods and services. Students will identify the
importance of supply and demand. They will learn the difference between a need and a want and
how their community meets their needs/wants. The students will use this information to make
comparisons to our town, Madison.
Suggested Pacing: 12 lessons
Learning Targets
Unit Essential Questions:
● Why are goods/services important to our community?
● How do supply and demand affect a community?
● In what ways could you earn enough money to buy something you really wanted/needed?
Unit Enduring Understandings:
● Rules and laws are developed to protect people’s rights and the security and welfare of
society.
● People make decisions based on their needs, wants, and the availability of resources.
● Economics is a driving force for the occurrence of various events and phenomena in
societies.
● Interaction among various institutions in the local, national, and global economies influence
policy making and societal outcomes.
● Understanding of financial instruments and outcomes assists citizens in making sound
decisions about money, savings, spending, and investments.
Evidence of Learning
Short Answer Questions and Rubric
Objectives
(Students will be able to…)
Chapter 6: How are Goods
Made and Brought to us?
Students will learn how
goods are produced and
distributed.
Essential
Content/Skills
Content: Community,
goods, team work assembly
line, factories, farms,
Madison.
Skills:
Categorize family
purchases according to
where they are bought
Assemble a toy using
assembly-line techniques.
Understand the different
good that are made in a
factory and grown on a
farm.
Suggested
Assessments
Assemble a toy using an
assembly line. Have
students write about the
pros/cons of an assembly
line. (TCI Lesson Masters
pg. 31-32)
Draw goods that are made
in a factory and goods that
are grown on a farm.
Draw goods and identify
the different places where
they are bought.
Standards
(NJCCCS CPIs, CCSS, NGSS)
6.1.4.C.4
Describe how supply and demand
influence price and output of products.
Pacing
3 lessons
6.1.4.C.5
Explain the role of specialization in the
production and exchange of goods and
services.
6.1.4.C.7
Explain how the availability of private and
public goods and services is influenced by
the global market and government.
6.1.4.C.8
Illustrate how productions, distributions,
and consumption of goods and services
are interrelated and are affected by the
global market and events in the world
community.
6.1.4.C.13
Determine the qualities of entrepreneurs
in a capitalistic society.
2W.3
Write narratives in which they recount a
well-elaborated event or short sequence of
events to develop points, and provide a
concluding statement or section.
Chapter 7: Who Provides
Services in a Community?
Content: services, law,
service jobs, Madison.
Learn about people who
provide services in the
community.
Skills:
Analyze data by
categorizing and
quantifying service jobs in
a picture graph.
Describe community
service jobs.
Complete “Jobs in Our
Community” worksheet
(see suggested activities
and resource page for
worksheet link)
Write descriptions of
service workers and their
jobs.
Conduct an interview with
a school/community
service worker and present
to the class.
6.1.4.C.5
Explain the role of specialization in the
production and exchange of goods and
services.
5 lessons
6.1.4.C.7
Explain how the availability of private and
public goods and services is influenced by
the global market and government.
6.1.4.C.8
Illustrate how productions, distributions,
and consumption of goods and services
are interrelated and are affected by the
global market and events in the world
community.
2.SL.1
Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small
and larger groups.
Chapter 8: How Can I Be a
Good Shopper?
Learn what it means to be
a good shopper.
Content:
Madison; Shopper; budget;
prices-sales; Community;
needs & wants.
Skills:
Identify habits of a good
shopper.
Distinguish between needs
and wants.
Have students write about
something they plan to
save up for and why. If
student is raising money,
have them explain how
they plan to raise money.
6.1.4.C.1
Apply ​
opportunity cost​
to evaluate
individuals’ decisions, including ones
made in their communities.
6.1.4.C.2
Distinguish between needs and wants and
explain how s​
carcity​
and choice influence
decisions made by individuals,
communities, and nations.
6.1.4.C.3
2 lessons
Explain why ​
incentives​
vary between and
among producers and consumers.
Decide on what to buy
based on comparison of
features and prices.
6.1.4.C.6
Describe the role and relationship among
households, businesses, laborers, and
governments within the economic system.
6.1.4.C.10
Explain the role of money, savings,debt,
and investment in individual’s lives.
6.1.4.C.11
Recognize the importance of setting
long-term goals when making financial
decisions within the community.
2.W.1
Write opinion pieces in which they
introduce the topic or book they are
writing about, state opinions, supply
reasons that support the opinion, use
linking words to connect opinions and
reasons, and provide a concluding
statement or section.
Chapter 14: What Do
Communities Share?
Learn how communities in
the United States are
connected.
Content:
Madison, community,
needs and wants
Skills:
Identify how communities
share to meet their
economic needs and wants.
Identify something special
about the Madison
community. (Use
Powerpoint​
as a resource)
​
Write about something you
wish Madison had as a
community (Dog park,
skate park). List three
ways that this will help the
community and why it
would be an essential part
of the community.
Create a postcard to
identify something special
about Madison.
6.1.4.C.2
Distinguish between needs and wants and
explain how s​
carcity​
and choice influence
decisions made by individuals,
communities, and nations.
2.W.1
Write opinion pieces in which they
introduce the topic or book they are
writing about, state opinions, supply
reasons that support the opinion, use
linking words to connect opinions and
reasons, and provide a concluding
statement or section.
6.1.4.B.8
Compare ways people choose to use and
divide natural resources
2 lessons
Unit 3 Overview
Unit Title: Geography of Communities
Unit Summary:
Students will learn about maps and map tools. They will learn that communities have different
geographical features and that physical maps show these features. Students will explore how people
use our environment. They will use this information to make comparisons to our town, Madison.
Suggested Pacing: 10 lessons
Learning Targets
Unit Essential Questions
● How are maps useful to our community?
● In what ways can we use natural resources?
● How are communities unique?
● What makes Madison’s geography special?
Unit Enduring Understandings:
● Spatial thinking and geographic tools can be used to describe and analyze the spatial
patterns and organization of people, places and environments on Earth.
● Places are jointly characterized by their physical and human properties.
● The physical environment can both accommodate and be endangered by human activities.
● Urban areas, worldwide, share common physical characteristics, but may also have cultural
differences.
Evidence of Learning
Unit Benchmark Assessment Information: Create a map of a made up town, including 2 - 3
geographic features and natural resources. Include a brief introduction to your map that explains
the geographic features included and why they are useful.
Objectives
(Students will be able to…)
Chapter 3: How Do We
Use Maps?
Learn what maps are and
how to use them. Identify
Madison on the map.
Essential
Content/Skills
Content:
Map key, symbol, map
grid, compass, compass
rose, map scale, Madison
Skills:
Locate places on a map.
Suggested
Assessments
Create a map of the
school/ playground/
lunchroom.
Chapter 3 assessment
(Lesson Masters pages
14-15)
Use a map grid, map key
and compass rose.
Follow cardinal directions.
Standards
(NJCCCS CPIs, CCSS, NGSS)
6.1.4.B.1
Compare and contrast information that
can be found on different types of maps,
and determine when the information can
be useful.
Pacing
3 lessons
6.1.4.B.10
Identify the major cities in New Jersey,
the Unites States, and major world
regions, and explain how maps, globes,
and demographic tools can be used to
understand tangible and intangible
cultural differences.
Trace a route on a map.
2.RI.3
Describe the connection between a series
of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures
in a text.
Create maps.
(Use the powerpoint as a
resource.)
Chapter 4: What is
Geography?
Introduction to learn that
communities have
different features and
physical maps show these
features. Identify the
physical features of our
town, Madison.
Content: Geography,
mountain, valley, river,
desert, plain, lake, island,
ocean, continent, Madison
Skills:
Identify and locate
geographic features on a
physical map.
Apply knowledge of
geographic features in a
game.
Label a map of North
America with physical
features and country
names.
Chapter 5: How Do People
Use Our Environment?
Explore how people use
our environment.
Content:
Environment, natural
resources, needs, Madison
Skills:
Distinguish between things
that are from nature and
those made by people.
Analyze how people live in
different environments.
Describe how the natural
resources of different
environments can be used
for food, clothing and
shelter.
Complete Geographic
Features booklet (see
suggested activities and
resource page for
worksheet link)
Draw and label 3 of the
following geographic
features; mountain, valley,
desert, plain, ocean, lake,
island, river. Then, choose
1 feature write about why
you would like to see this
in Madison. (Lesson
Master 18)
Chapter 4 assessment
(Lesson Masters pages
22-23)
Using a given
environment, draw and
label food, shelter and
clothing resources that can
be found there and what
needs can be made using
these resources.
(Lesson Master Page 25)
Complete “Natural
Resources vs Man Made”
worksheet (see suggested
activities and resource
page for worksheet link)
Teacher and students work
together to create anchor
chart of natural resources
and man - made items.
*Complete unit 3
Benchmark Assessment
6.1.4.B.5
Describe how human interaction impacts
the environment in New Jersey and the
United States.
4 lessons
6.1.4.B.10
Identify the major cities in New Jersey,
the Unites States, and major world
regions, and explain how maps, globes,
and demographic tools can be used to
understand tangible and intangible
cultural differences.
2.SL.1
Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small
and larger groups.
6.1.4.B.4
Describe how landforms, climate and
weather, and availability of resources have
impacted where and how people live and
work in different regions of New Jersey
and the United States
6.1.4.B.8
Compare ways people choose to use and
divide natural resources
6.1.4.B.5
Describe how human interaction impacts
the environment in New Jersey and the
United States.
2.SL.1
Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small
and larger groups.
3 Lessons
Unit 4 Overview
Unit Title: Madison Over Time
Unit Summary:
Second graders will discuss how communities evolve and change over the years. Students will create
a timeline of important events from Madison’s history. Students will discuss how Madison has
changed and developed into the town that we live in today.
Suggested Pacing: 8 lessons
Learning Targets
Unit Essential Questions:
● What important historical events happened in Madison?
● How has Madison changed overtime?
● In what ways can a timeline help you?
Unit Enduring Understandings:
● Rules and laws are developed to protect people’s rights and the security and welfare of
society.
● In an interconnected world, it is important to consider different cultural perspectives before
proposing solutions to local, state, national, and global challenges.
● The United States democratic system requires active participation of its citizens.
● People make decisions based on their needs, wants, and the availability of resources.
● Creativity and innovation affect lifestyle, access to information, and the creation of new
products and services.
● The physical environment can both accommodate and be endangered by human activities.
● Immigrants come to New Jersey and the United States for various reasons and have a major
impact on the state and the nation.
● Personal, family, and community history is a source of information for individuals about the
people and places around them.
● The study of American folklore and popular historical figures enables Americans with diverse
cultural backgrounds to feel connected to a national heritage.
Evidence of Learning
Unit Benchmark Assessment Information: Create a Madison Brochure (including important
historical and present day places/events) containing an illustration of each place/event and 2-4
written sentences explaining its importance to the Madison community.
Objectives
(Students will be able to…)
Essential
Content/Skills
Chapter 9: How do
Communities Change?
Content:
Madison, change, growth
Identify the factors that
cause a community to
change and grow.
Skills:
Identify causes and effects
of changes in Madison.
Suggested
Assessments
Interview a
parent/community
member and discuss how
Madison has changed
overtime.
Explain why communities
get larger and smaller.
Standards
(NJCCCS CPIs, CCSS, NGSS)
6.1.4.A.12
Explain the process of creating change at
the local, state, or national level.
Pacing
2 lessons
6.1.4.D.11
Determine how local and state
communities have changed over time, and
explain the reasons for changes.
6.1.4.D.14
Trace how the American identity evolved
over time.
2.RI. 3
Describe the connection between a series
of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures
in a text.
6.3.4.A.2
Contact local officials and community
members to acquire information and/or
discuss local issues.
2.SL.4
Tell a story or recount an experience with
appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive
details, speaking audibly in coherent
sentences.
Madison, Our Town
Identify factors that have
caused the changes in
Madison overtime.
Research and categorize
information about the local
community, Madison.
Content:
Madison, history
Skill:
Sequence historical events
on a timeline.
Sort/ categorize
information
Create a poster telling
people to come and visit
Madison. Students should
tell a place that people
should visit and why using
the knowledge gained
while reading Madison,
Our Town.
*Complete unit 4
Benchmark Assessment
6.1.4.A.15
Explain how and why it is important that
people from diverse cultures collaborate
to find solutions to community, state,
national, and global challenges.
6.1.4.B.5
Describe how human interaction impact
the environment in New Jersey and the
United States.
6.1.4.C.12
Evaluate the impact of ideas, inventions,
and other contributions of prominent
figures who lived in New Jersey.
6.1.4.C.16
Explain how creativity and innovation
resulted in scientific achievement and
inventions in many culture during
different historical period.
6.1.4.C.17
Determine the role and science and
technology in the transition from an
agricultural society to an industrial
society, and then to the information age.
6.1.4.C.18
Explain how the development of
communications systems has led to
increased collaboration and the spread of
ideas throughout the United States and
the world.
6.1.4.D.2
Summarize reason why various groups,
voluntary and involuntarily, immigrated
6 Lessons
to New Jersey and America, and describe
the challenge they encountered.
6.1.4.D. 12
Explain how folklore and the actions of
famous historical and fictional characters
from New Jersey and other regions of the
United States contributed to the American
national heritage.
6.1.4.D.19
Explain how experiences and events may
be interpreted differently by people with
different cultural or individual
perspectives.
2.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts in
which they introduce a topic, use facts and
definitions to develop points, and provide
a concluding statement or sections.
(OPTIONAL: If time
permits)
Chapter 11: How Can One
Person Make a Difference
in Community?
Students will learn how
people from the past made
a difference in their
community.
(Madison, Our
Town-Geraldine Dodge)
Content:
Geraldine Dodge, Madison,
change, difference.
Skill:
Identify problems and
possible solutions in
various communities.
Identify the contributions
of individuals to U.S.
history and culture
(Geraldine Dodge).
(Use the powerpoint as a
resource.)
Draw and write about a
problem and solution in
your community.
6.1.4.C.1
Apply ​
opportunity cost​
to evaluate
individuals’ decisions, including ones
made in their communities.
6.1.4.C.13
Determine the qualities of entrepreneurs
in a capitalistic society.
6.1.4.D.2
Summarize reason why various groups,
voluntary and involuntarily, immigrated
to New Jersey and America, and describe
the challenge they encountered.
2.SL.4
Tell a story or recount an experience with
appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive
details, speaking audibly in coherent
sentences.
2 Lessons