2nd grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 2nd grade social studies in the Alabama Course of Study, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- Course: Living and Working Together in State and Nation
- Our state and national government and symbols
- Producers, consumers and trade
- Alabama's regions, and Americans who made a difference
Easy ways to practice social studies at home
- Look at a map of your community and find places you visit.
- Ask an older relative or neighbor what the area was like when they were young.
- Read stories from many communities, including Indigenous authors, and talk about what is the same and different.
- Talk about how rules and jobs help a community work.
What each unit covers
Citizens & Leaders
Who can vote, how communities choose leaders, and how groups and nations work out problems, from classmates to countries.
Work, Saving & Resources
Producers and consumers, wants and needs, saving, and how limited resources affect what people make and buy.
Work and Prices
Introduces why prices go up or down when something is hard to find or easy to find, and how jobs and work have changed over time.
Maps of Our World
Using maps and globes to find continents, oceans and countries, physical and human features, and why people settle near water and flat land.
Then & Now
Generations in a family, using photos, interviews and timelines, and how technology and traditions change from the past to the present.
State & National Government
The legislative, executive and judicial branches, and how Alabama's government (governor, Legislature, Alabama Supreme Court) compares with the national government (president, Congress, United States Supreme Court).
Alabama's Resources & Trade
How Alabama uses its natural resources (cotton, pine forests, coal, water power), goods it exports and imports, producers and consumers, and how scarcity affects supply, demand and prices.
Regions of the United States
Comparing desert, mountain, tropical and coastal regions of the United States, and words for landforms: bay, hill, island, mountain range, peninsula, plateau and valley.
Years, Decades & Centuries
Years, decades and centuries, reading timelines, and using primary and secondary sources to describe events in Alabama and the nation.
Holidays & Their Meaning
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).
Founders & Difference Makers
Founders such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and other Americans who made a difference.
American Symbols
The history and meaning of American symbols and monuments, such as the bald eagle, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, the flag and the White House.
Reading Maps
Physical and political maps, map keys, cardinal and intermediate directions, and using a grid to find places.
People on the Move
How and why people moved to and within the United States: Ellis and Angel Islands, the Irish Potato Famine, the Great Migration, the Dust Bowl, South Vietnamese refugees, and forced migrations such as the Trail of Tears.
American Stories & Songs
Tall tales and folk heroes, Black American stories such as Brer Rabbit, Native oral tradition, and state and national songs.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Alabama report card guide.
Common questions
Look at a map of your community and find places you visit. Ask an older relative or neighbor what the area was like when they were young. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Alabama Course of Study 2nd grade social studies units include Citizens & Leaders, Work, Saving & Resources, Work and Prices, Maps of Our World, Then & Now, State & National Government.
Free printable 2nd grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.