Grade 1 Social Studies

  • Social Studies and History Grade 1                          

     

    WHAT YOUR CHILD WILL LEARN IN 1st GRADE

     

    Research & Historical Thinking

    • Observe situations in pictures and within the classroom and identify problems to be solved. (e.g. sharing, materials, taking turns, conflict management)
    • Use information obtained through stories to identify problems, suggest solutions and predict outcomes.
    • Plan questions and participate in an interview of a family member to gather information.
    • Use pictures, photographs, family memorabilia and other forms of non-print materials to gather information.
    • Distinguish between events that are currently happening and those occurring in the past.
    • Use a computer as a research and writing tool.

     

    Civics and Government

    • Participate in establishing classroom rules and consequences.
    • Participate in recycling and other projects in the classroom and the school.
    • Explain the process for arriving at a decision or vote in the classroom.
    • Identify current U.S. President and key elected figures in their community.
    • Use a variety of sources to learn about the functions of government and roles of citizens.
    • Explain the significance of special holidays and ceremonies.

     

    Geography 

    • Create maps of classrooms and other familiar places.
    • Represent the location of places relative to others using models and maps (e.g. home, shopping center, school, and cafeteria)
    • Identify the directions north, east, south and west within the classroom.
    • Identify continents and oceans on a globe and a map.
    • Identify ways the physical environment meets the needs of the people.
    • Identify modes of transportation used to move people, goods and information within an area.

     

    Economics

    • Identify uses for money at school and at home.
    • Define and apply to their families, classroom and school, basic economic concepts such as goods and services, producers and consumers, wants and needs, and scarcity.
    • Identify different occupations in their community.

     

    Diversity & Global Perspective

    • Identify characteristics of a child's life in another culture.
    • Describe the significance of traditional and secular holidays.
    • Identify the contributions of key figures in history who represent American culture.
    • Compare their home, neighborhood with
      homes/neighborhoods in different parts of the world.

     

    How You Can Help Your Child

    • Foster a positive attitude towards the subject matter and explore ways to engage your child in learning about social studies.
    • Show an interest in what they are learning in school, discuss concepts with them and give them examples of social studies from their daily lives that they can relate to.
    • Strengthen your child's willingness to express their opinion and positively contribute to classroom discussion by sharing stories about their family heritage instilling pride and confidence in who they are.
    • Visit local and national museums (whenever possible) during weekends and school breaks to uncover the history of different cultures.
    • Social Studies is a subject that requires lots of reading, therefore it is important that you continue to read to and provide your child with access to rich, relevant and engaging subject matter. Visit your local library and make sure that you and your child each have a library card. This allows growth in content knowledge but also helps support reading comprehension skills.