History

Grade 1

Overarching Question: Why do we need to know about the past?

Essential Questions:

¨ How has life changed over time?

¨ Why do people celebrate national holidays?

¨ What are the American national symbols and what do they represent?

¨ How do people of the United States of America who are from different ethnic origins and religions, customs, and traditions participate in and contribute to their community?

Enduring Understandings	MA History/ Social Science Curriculum Framework (2003)	Assessments Learning Experiences
Knowing about the past helps us to better understand our country today. Past and present times are different. There is a sequence to events in history. Major holidays are celebrated to remember certain important leaders and events of the past. The patriotic symbols have specific meanings. The United States of America has people with different ethnic origins, customs, and traditions.	Learning Standards: Identify temporal sequences such as days, weeks, months, years, and seasons, Use correctly words and phrases related to time (now, in the past, in the future) and recognize the existence of changing historical periods (other times, other places). Place events in students’ own lives in chronological order. Read dates on a calendar and associate them with days of the week. Identify and explain the meaning of American national symbols. The American Flag The Bald eagle The White House The Statue of Liberty After Reading or listening to stories about famous Americans of different ethnic groups, faiths, and historical periods describe their qualities or distinctive traits. Explain that Americans have a variety of different religious, community, and family celebrations and customs	Sample Learning Experiences/Assessments: Create an accurate monthly calendar for a particular month. Write a story/report about a famous person describing why they were important to our history. Write about various family or community celebrations and customs comparing the different ways and reasons people celebrate throughout the year. Famous Americans to study in first grade: George Washington Abraham Lincoln Martin Luther King Jr. Harriet Tubman Rosa Parks Thomas Edison George Washington Carver Booker T Washington The Wright Brothers Harriet Beecher Stowe