Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
SS0205
Second Grade Social Studies: Local Communities
Unit 5: How Do Communities Change?
Big Picture Graphic
Overarching Question:
How Do Communities Change Over Time?
Previous Unit:
How Do People Work
Together in a
Community?
This Unit:
How Do Communities Change?
Questions To Focus Assessment and Instruction:
1. How do historians study the past?
2. How can an individual impact history?
3. How do communities change over time?
Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum
www.micitizenshipcurriculum.org
Next Unit:
How Can a Citizen Affect
a Community?
Types of Thinking
Cause and Effect
Compare and Contrast
Synthesizing
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
SS0205
Graphic Organizer
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
SS0205
Unit Abstract:
In this unit students use historical thinking to explore their local community’s past and how
communities change over time. The unit begins with a review of historical concepts and ideas from
first grade. Using the book The Oxcart Man or a similar literature choice from the economics unit,
students identify evidence the story took place in the past. Using a graphic organizer, students
compare life in the past with life today. Acting as historians, students investigate various ways we
learn about history and begin to gather information about the history of their local community. In a
lesson on chronology (sequence) they explore a timeline of local community events. Using The
House on Maple Street and A River Ran Wild or similar books, students investigate and compare
change over time in a fictional and a non-fictional community. First, students investigate change in
the community in The House on Maple Street and then investigate change in their own local
community. Students identify historical figures in the local community and explain their
contributions and significance in local history. Using the book, A River Ran Wild, students identify
how a problem was solved in a community’s past and look for examples of past problems in their
own local community. Students are introduced to the concept of historical perspective as they
begin to understand why people may view the same historical event in different ways. Finally,
using the information about their community’s past which they have gathered throughout the unit,
students create a class book describing and illustrating the history of their local community.
Focus Questions
1. How do historians study the past?
2. How can an individual impact history?
3. How do communities change over time?
Content Expectations:
1 - H2.0.1: Demonstrate chronological thinking by distinguishing among past, present, and future
using family or school events.
1 - H2.0.6:
Compare life today with life in the past using the criteria of family, school, jobs, or
communication.
2 - H2.0.1:
Demonstrate chronological thinking by distinguishing among years and decades
using a timeline of local community events.
2 - H2.0.2:
Explain why descriptions of 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.
2 - H2.0.4:
Describe changes in the local community over time (e.g., types of businesses,
architecture and landscape, jobs, transportation, population).
2 - H2.0.5:
Identify a problem in a community’s past and describe how it was resolved.
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 residents, artifacts, photographs).
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
2 - G5.0.2:
SS0205
Describe positive and negative consequences of changing the physical environment
of the local community.
Integrated GLCEs:
R.NT.02.03: Identify and describe characters’ actions and motivations, setting (time and place),
problem/solution, and sequence of events. (English Language Arts)
R.CM.02.01: Make text-to-self and text-to-text connections and comparisons by activating prior
knowledge, connecting personal knowledge, experience, and understanding of
others to ideas in text through oral and written responses. (English Language Arts)
R.CM.02.02: Retell in sequence the major idea(s) and relevant details of grade-level narrative and
informational text. (English Language Arts)
W.GN.02.01: Write a narrative piece such as realistic fiction, fantasy, or personal narrative
depicting major story events, using illustrations to match mood, and containing
setting, problem/solution, and sequenced events. (English Language Arts)
Key Concepts
artifact
change
chronology
decades
historian
historical evidence
historical narrative
historical perspective
history
past
people
timeline
Lesson Sequence
Lesson 1:
What is History?
Lesson 2:
How Do We Learn About History?
Lesson 3:
What is a Timeline?
Lesson 4:
How Do Communities Change Over Time?
Lesson 5:
How Do People Create the History of a Community?
Lesson 6:
How Have Communities Solved Problems in the Past?
Lesson 7:
Writing About the History of Our Local Community
Assessment
Selected Response Items
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
SS0205
Constructed Response Items
Extended Response Items
Performance Assessments
Resources
Equipment/Manipulative
Overhead Projector or Document Camera and Projector
Chart Paper and Markers
Student Resource
Brenner, Martha. Abe Lincoln’s Hat. New York: Random House for Youth Readers, 1994
Cherry Lynne. A River Ran Wild. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1992
Hall, Donald. The Ox Cart Man. New York: Viking Junior Books, 1979.
Pryor, Bonnie. The House on Maple Street. New York: Harper Trophy, 1992
Teacher Resource
Igus, Toyomi. When I was Little. East Orange, NJ: Just Us Books, Inc., 1992
Norris, Jill. My Community, A Complete Thematic Unit. Monterey, CA: Evan-Moor Educational
Publishers, 1996.
Montgomery County Public Schools. Economic and Geography Lessons: The House on Maple
Street. 3 July 2008
<http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/Socialstd/grade2/House_Maple.html>.
Resources for Further Professional Knowledge
American Local History Network. 3 July 2008 <http://www.alhn.org/>.
American Memory Collection from the Library of Congress. 3 July 2008
<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/>.
Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village. 3 July 2008 <http://www.hfmgv.org/>.
History Cooperative. 3 July 2008 <http://www.historycooperative.org/>.
The History Place. 3 July 2008 <http://www.historyplace.com/>.
The Making of Modern Michigan: Digitizing Michigan’s Hidden Past. 3 July 2008
<http://mmm.lib.msu.edu/>.
Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum
www.micitizenshipcurriculum.org
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
SS0205
National Council for History Education. 3 July 2008 <http://www.nche.net/>.
Social Studies Lesson Plans and Resources. 3 July 2008 <http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/>.
Strategies for Teaching Social Studies. 3 July 2008 <http://www.udel.edu/dssep/strategies.htm>.
Teaching Social Studies. 3 July 2008
<http://www.proteacher.org/c/185_Teaching_Social_Studies.html>.
Using Primary Sources in the Classroom. 3 July 2008
<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/lessons/primary.html>.
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
SS0205
Instructional Organization
Lesson 1:
What is History?
Content Expectations:
1 - H2.0.1: Demonstrate chronological thinking by distinguishing among past, present, and future
using family or school events.
Integrated GLCEs:
R.NT.02.03: Identify and describe characters’ actions and motivations, setting (time and place),
problem/solution, and sequence of events. (English Language Arts)
Key Concepts: historian, historical evidence, history, past
Abstract: In this lesson students learn that history is the study of the past. It begins with a review
of the book The Oxcart Man. Students are asked if the story takes place in the past or present.
The teacher prods their thinking with the question, “How do you know?” The teacher explains that
in order to prove the story takes place in the past they will need to find evidence in the illustrations
and words of the story. Using a T-chart labeled “Illustrations” and “Words”, the teacher guides
students in identifying evidence that this story took place in the past. Finally, the teacher writes the
term ‘historian’ on a board or overhead transparency and explains that students have been
working as historians in this activity because they identified evidence supporting their answer that
the story took place in the past.
Lesson 2:
How Do We Learn About History?
Content Expectations:
1 - H2.0.6: Compare life today with life in the past using the criteria of family, school, jobs, or
communication.
Key Concepts: history, historical evidence
Abstract: Building on the definition of ‘historian’ students consider the following question, “How do
historians learn about the past?” Students generate a list of different ways people learn about the
past including interviewing people, reading books, and looking at old photographs. The teacher
explains that students will be gathering evidence about the history of their local community
throughout the unit. Students use the three categories of “People”, “Events”, and “Other
Information” for the local history investigation. The teacher summarizes what the class has learned
using these charts with the three categories. Finally, students are placed in small groups and given
two or three photographs depicting a family, building, or event from the community’s past. They
explore the photographs and as a group investigate the story these photos tell them about the
history of their local community. Students share their investigations with the class.
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
Lesson 3:
SS0205
What is a Timeline?
Content Expectations:
2 - H2.0.1: Demonstrate chronological thinking by distinguishing among years and decades
using a timeline of local community events.
Key Concepts: chronology, decades, timeline
Abstract: This lesson expands knowledge of the concept of chronology through an exploration of
decades and timelines. Students create a timeline of their own history which includes at least five
important events in order. The timelines are displayed on a bulletin board and the teacher explains
that a timeline can also show the history of a community. Using a three decade timeline with no
more than seven events from the history of a local community, the class considers ideas such as
what came first, as well as what happened before and after other events. Information is then added
to the history charts that the class began in Lesson Two.
Lesson 4:
How Do Communities Change Over Time?
Content Expectations:
2 - H2.0.4: Describe changes in the local community over time (e.g., types of businesses,
architecture and landscape, jobs, transportation, population).
Integrated GLCEs:
R.CM.02.02: Retell in sequence the major idea(s) and relevant details of grade-level narrative and
informational text. (English Language Arts)
Key Concepts: artifact, change, chronology
Abstract: This lesson begins with the teacher showing students an arrowhead (or picture of an
arrowhead) and an old broken china cup. In a Pair/Share activity, students discuss what they think
these things are. The teacher explains that another way to learn about history is by studying
artifacts or objects from the past. Using the book, The House on Maple Street or a similar piece of
literature, students determine what the arrowhead and broken cup have to do with the story. The
class discusses the role of the two artifacts in the book. Students are given sequencing strips that
contain story elements. Students order the strips chronologically showing changes in the
community from the story over time. Using a variety of resources such as a guest speaker from a
local historical group, photographs, historic maps, and artifacts, the class explores how their own
local community has changed over time.
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
Lesson 5:
SS0205
How Do People Create the History of a Community?
Content Expectations:
2 - H2.0.3: Use an example to describe the role of the individual in creating history.
Integrated GLCEs:
R.NT.02.03: Identify and describe characters’ actions and motivations, setting (time and place),
problem/solution, and sequence of events. (English Language Arts)
Key Concepts: history, people
Abstract: In this lesson students explore the role of people in shaping history. It begins with the
teacher sharing Abe Lincoln’s Hat or a similar book about an important historical figure. The class
discusses how one person can affect history, with a focus on Lincoln’s actions and motivations.
The teacher then guides students in understanding that one person can create history in a local
community also. Using information gathered from a local historical society, books, etc., students
discover someone of significance in the history of their local community. This could be one of the
founders of the community, a prominent business person, someone who had a road named after
him/her, etc. (Many local historical societies have historians who portray local historic figures.)
Lesson 6:
How Have Communities Solved Problems in the Past?
Content Expectations:
2 - H2.0.2
Explain why descriptions of the same event in the local community can be different.
2 - H2.0.5
Identify a problem in a community’s past and describe how it was resolved.
2 - G5.0.2
Describe positive and negative consequences of changing the physical environment
of the local community.
Integrated GLCEs:
R.CM.02.01: Make text-to-self and text-to-text connections and comparisons by activating prior
knowledge, connecting personal knowledge, experience, and understanding of
others to ideas in text through oral and written responses. (English Language Arts)
Key Concepts: historical perspective, history, change
Abstract: This lesson begins with a review of the book The House on Maple Street and how it
depicts over 300 years of history. Using the book, A River Ran Wild, the teacher guides students in
comparing and contrasting the two stories. Students then role play (using a script) a factory owner,
a factory worker, and a fisherman. The role play shows each person’s story about the pollution of
the river. The class then discusses why each story is different. Next, the class discusses how the
factory became a problem in the Nashua River community and how the problem was resolved.
Students then list the positive and negative consequences of changing the Nashua River
environment. Connecting back to the previous lesson, students discuss how the character of
Marion shaped the history of the Nashua River community by working to stop the factory pollution.
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Local Communities
How Do Communities Change?
Lesson 7:
SS0205
Writing About the History of Our Local Community
Content Expectations:
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 residents, artifacts, photographs).
Integrated GLCEs:
W.GN.02.01: Write a narrative piece such as realistic fiction, fantasy, or personal narrative
depicting major story events, using illustrations to match mood, and containing
setting, problem/solution, and sequenced events. (English Language Arts)
Key Concepts: chronology, historical narrative
Abstract: In this culminating lesson, students create a picture book that synthesizes their learning
about the history of their local community. Students are directed to the class charts that have been
maintained throughout the unit and determine which topics to include in the book. The class
sequences in chronological order the chosen topics in the community’s history. From the
sequenced topic list, students select one topic of interest and write and illustrate a short historical
narrative. Student work is collected and organized into a class picture book.
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