Grade 2

Westchester-Lower Hudson Council for the Social Studies Conference

mmorrison — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:47:05 GMT

This year we are fortunate to have two Social Studies Conferences in our area! On December 11th Westchester-Lower Hudson Council for the Social Studies Conference will be at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains. This one day conference features Dr. Joel Westheimer as the keynoter. He is Professor of Education, University of Ottowa and the author of Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in American Schools. Jo Ann Larson will give an update from NYSED, the publishers will be out in force, and there will be workshops for every grade level. Find out more at http://www.socialstudies.org/node/254

March 4-6, 2010 will find the New York State Council for the Social Studies at the Rye Town Hilton. This Conference only comes to our area about once in every 5 years, so you won't want to miss it.

Mirla

Geographic Alliance Conference

mmorrison — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:05:07 GMT

The New York Geographic Alliance is sponsoring its GeoFest 2009 for K- 16 teachers on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at the New York State Museum, Albany New York. Sessions will focus on New York State’s waterways in relationship to the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain. Advance registration is $20. which includes a continental breakfast and a buffet luncheon. Pre-teachers and other college students only pay $15 for advance registration. (For those who pay at the door, the fee will be $25 teachers/ $20 pre-teachers. You can register online from the NYGA website in the Upcoming events section: http://www.nygeographicalliance.org/
In-service Credit is available for those attending. The Alliance will issue a certificate of attendance.

Film Clips from Power Media Plus

mmorrison — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:00:31 GMT

Hi Everyone,

We received this memo from Channel Thirteen: Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21's license with PowerMediaPlus expires
on June 30, 2009. Per the PowerMediaPlus Terms of Use, as of this date,
"all materials downloaded from the [PowerMediaPlus] Website must be
erased, deleted, or destroyed." We are removing our suggested PowerMedia Plus films from the SSELA Curriculum.

Mirla

Teaching on Law Day

mmorrison — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:13:28 GMT

This year I went to the NYCSS Cpmference in Saratoga and collected some great materials. I will give them out when we meet for revisions but this one is time sensitive. As you know we are mandated to teach about the law on Law Day, May 1st. Law, Youth and Citizenship, the education arm of the NYS Bar Assocation, has developed wonderful materials for Law Day combining Abraham Lincoln and Endangered Animals (another mandated item). If you use them you can combine Science and Social Studies. There is an article about a picture book read-aloud; lesson plans, and at the end of the plans there are links to a slide show on endangered animals, a glossary, and worksheet. The URL is

http://www.nysba.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PublicResources/LawYouthCitizenshipProgram/LawDay2009/Law_Day_2009.htm

Mirla

Annotated Book List

mmorrison — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:51:19 GMT

NYSED has released an annotated list of Picture Books suitable for primary grades relating to New York State To quote the web site:

"To commemorate the New York State Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial, the New York State Library, in partnership with the New York Library Association’s Youth Services Section and School Library Media Section, has created four selected reading lists that celebrate the history, culture, and diversity of New York State.

Librarians who work with children and teens in both public libraries and school libraries across the State collaborated to select age-appropriate titles for recreational reading. The lists are not comprehensive; rather they are designed to provide a “flavor” of New York State and to spark an interest in the diversity and history of the state."

To find the list go to http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/readlist.htm

Mirla

Visiions Aerial Series

mmorrison — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:58:02 GMT

Shot with the latest high definition technology from a helicopter-mounted camera, planned to precision with compasses for optimum lighting and angles, and scored with traditional regional music, WLIW New York's VISIONS aerial series has thrilled PBS audiences nationwide. VISIONS is a visual itinerary… an emotional visit to your family’s homeland… a souvenir of the trip of a lifetime… or the virtual realization of your fantasy vacation – whatever the inspiration, one thing’s certain – you won’t see these locations like this any other way."

http://www.visionsof.org/ Pull down the menu and choose New York. This is great for introducing the concept of urban!

Mirla

Free DVD's for Teachers

linbrandon — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:09:35 GMT

One of our high school social studies teachers shared this with me. Here is the content from the email she forwarded:

Greetings,
I thought you'd like to know that teachers in New York are eligible to receive one free DVD per year from http://www.izzit.org. These videos are very popular and deal with subjects in social studies, character education and current events.

To get your own free DVD, go to http://www.izzit.org

For daily Current Events, go to http://www.izzit.org/events

Sincerely,
Kara

Kara Glaven
izzit.org
2002 Filmore Avenue, Suite #1
Erie, PA 16506
Phone: 814.833.6950 or toll-free: 888.242.0563

Time For Kids Election Coverage

linbrandon — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:28:45 GMT

Here is a link for the Time for Kids Election Connection. You may find appropriate activities for second grade.

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/election08/

Excellent New Resource: Second grade WebQuest: The Road is Calling

linbrandon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:40:37 GMT

there's a great webquest for grade 2. You can find it here:

http://www.pageflakes.com/theroadiscalling

thank you John Calvert for sharing this!

Local History Project

mmorrison — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:03:05 GMT

A very interesting local hsitory project "DeKalb County, Illinois: A Local History Project for Second Graders" is found in NCSS' Social Studies for Young Learners http://members.ncss.org/yl/1903/190307.pdf.

Mirla

Geography

mmorrison — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:56:45 GMT

Check out "Walking and Talking Geography: A Small World Approach" in NCSS' Social Studies for Young Learners Journal http://members.ncss.org/yl/2002/200215.pdf Interest articleo about teaching geography in the primary grades.

Mirla

Law Day

mmorrison — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:15:10 GMT

Every year the Ayerican Bar Association publishes a Law Day Resource Guide. Law Day, May 1st, was established to celebrate the Consitution and rule of law in America. On Page 39 in their free on-line Resource Guide entitled Rules, Rules, Rules you will find the Eraser Game. It is a very suitable game for the primary grades and will lead to a good discussion about the importance of clear, workable rules. The URL that will take you directly to the guide is:http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/2008/Full_catalog.pdf

Mirla Morrison

Thanksgiving - Scarcity lesson plan

mmorrison — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:37:19 GMT

There is a great interactive lesson plan using the Mayflower and the voyage to America to introduce the concept of scarcity. It would be an excellent lesson to use when you teach about Thanksgiving. The URL is http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/print.cfm?lesson=EM675&page=teacher

Mirla

Australia as a continent

mahopac — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:37:11 GMT

I was trying to get this straight before I have to teach my grade level this: Australia is a continent or is it called Oceania now? And when you google it you get a lot of different answers. One is that New Zealand is a whole other continent and not part of Australia, that the continent is called australasia, that the terms are intermingled and that the term continent was defined prior to the discovery of the tectonic plates. I am confused because we have a text book which says Australia is the continent and there are 4 oceans only and then we have an atlas that says the continent is called Oceania and there are 5 oceans. What are we teaching? And what exactly is part of the Australian continent and what is it called; Australia, Australasia or Oceania? And when did this Southern Ocean come about? Thanks for the answers!!! Kathleen

Where is everyone from?

snogg — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:09:15 GMT

I am snogg (Sally) and I teach in Brewster, tho I live in Dutchess County.

Snogg

Welcome to the Grade 2 SS/ELA Discussion Community

linbrandon — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:53:16 GMT

We hope that you use this forum often. You can check in from time to time to see what updates have been made to the curriculum. We'll post them here. We'd also like you to share your ideas for using the curriculum and tell us what lessons work really well and which one need some tweaking. If you find dead links, report them here as well.

We want this to be an active, vibrant community of teachers and learners. Please log in often, even if you are not posting, but just to check and see what information is available on the forum.