Subscribe

2nd grade · Social Studies · Unit 10 of 15

Holidays & Their Meaning

Why we celebrate, with Alabama links

What your child practices

The meaning of Flag Day, Independence Day, Juneteenth, Labor Day, Patriot Day, Thanksgiving and Veterans Day, and Alabama's connections to Veterans Day (Birmingham) and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma).

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 2.13 · the purpose of national holidays, and their Alabama connections

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Holidays help us remember people and events.
  2. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is in January. Flag Day honors the flag.
  3. Veterans Day honors people who served in the military.

Example: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is in… It is near his birthday, in winter. It is in January. Answer: January

Holidays & Their Meaning in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 10 of 15 in 2nd grade Social Studies, after Years, Decades & Centuries and before Founders & Difference Makers.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Juneteenth, June 19, celebrates…

    • the end of slavery in the United States
    • the first day of school
    • planting crops
    • a new year

  2. Question 2

    Thanksgiving is a time to…

    • wear costumes
    • watch fireworks
    • give thanks and share a meal
    • exchange gifts in a tree

  3. Question 3

    Martin Luther King, Jr. believed change should come through…

    • fighting
    • giving up
    • peaceful protest
    • staying silent

  4. Question 4

    In 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march from Selma to Montgomery for…

    • voting rights
    • lower taxes
    • more parks
    • new roads

  5. Question 5

    The first Veterans Day celebration was led in 1947 by Raymond Weeks in…

    • Paris, France
    • Denver
    • Boston
    • Birmingham, Alabama

  6. Question 6

    Patriot Day is a day to remember and to honor…

    • sports stars
    • inventors
    • movie stars
    • victims and first responders

More 2nd grade