Teaching 2nd Grade Students How Measurement Units Change Outcomes
You have likely seen it happen in your classroom before. A student carefully measures the width of their desk using a giant classroom eraser and then turns around to measure the same desk with a small paperclip. They look at you, completely baffled, because they have... read more
Teaching Geography and Land Use in 2nd Grade Social Studies
Sorting out our local environmentsMost second graders view the world strictly through the windshield of their family car. If they live in an apartment, everything else is just somewhere else. If they live on a farm, the city is a noisy, confusing mystery. When we... read more
Teaching Economic Reasoning in 2nd Grade Social Studies
When we look at the California history-social science standards, we see a requirement that Students understand basic economic concepts and their individual roles in the economy and demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills. That is exactly what the... read more
Teaching Map Skills with 2nd Grade Social Studies Grids
The California social studies standard CA.HSS-2.2.1 asks that students “Locate on a simple letter-number grid system the specific locations and geographic features in their neighborhood or community (e.g., map of the classroom, the school).” In my years in... read more