This site was designed for the purpose of providing a detailed outline of a second grade social studies unit on civic holidays. The civic holidays represented in this unit are listed in this following order: Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving Day. For each holiday, I’ve decided to include a couple of lessons that would be taught for each holiday. A regular social studies class is limited to 30 minutes, so I split each holiday lesson into 2 days to provide enough time for students to absorb and digest information. At my field placement, social studies is taught every other 5 weeks, twice a week. I created a social studies unit on Holidays to expose and inform students about some important national holidays in the United States. These holidays, in particular, are connected to nationalism and giving back to our communities. Through study of these holidays, students will form greater appreciation of their freedom, human rights, and citizens who serve the country we live in together.
The lessons about Memorial Day and Veteran's Day both include curricular integration; these lessons itegrated Arts Education. Along with Arts education, the Veteran's Day lesson also integrates Language Arts. In the Veteran's Day lesson, students are required to write and revise their thank you letters to veterans as well as create a visual representaion of the American flag. During the last week of November, I taught a formal lesson on Thanksgiving Day. This lesson is centered around the current event, Thanskgiving Day because the lesson was taught a week after Thanksgiving. The students shared about their personal experiencces of celebrating Thanksgiving. This lesson also includes a historical perspsective on the First Thanksgiving.
Unit Outline
Lesson One: Memorial Day
Day One: Military Life
Day Two: Honoring Memorial Day
Lesson Two: Flag Day
Day One: Stars and Stripes
Day Two: Patriotism and Celebrating Flag Day
Lesson Three: Independence Day
Day One: History about Our Freedom
Day Two: Celebrating the Fourth of July
Lesson Four: Veteran’s Day
Day One: Who is a Veteran?
Day Two: Showing Appreciation
Lesson Five: Thanksgiving Day
Day One: Historical Perspective: The First Thanksgiving