2nd grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 2nd grade social studies in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- History: celebrations, landmarks, and people who influenced Texas and the nation
- Geography: map elements, continents and oceans, and how people change the land
- Economics: work and income, saving, and producers and consumers
- Government and citizenship: public officials, government services, good citizens and patriotic symbols
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
Work, Saving & Resources
Producers and consumers, wants and needs, saving, and how limited resources affect what people make and buy.
Citizens & Leaders
Who can vote, how communities choose leaders, and how groups and nations work out problems, from classmates to countries.
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.
Our Community Changes
Practices how communities change over time: daily life long ago and today, changes made by people and by nature, finding out about the past from photos, museums and older people, and timelines. It follows the Grade 2 outcome on change in the community.
Symbols, Songs & Landmarks
State and national birds and flowers, Uncle Sam, the two pledges, “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful,” and landmarks such as the Alamo, the Texas Capitol and the White House.
People Who Made a Difference
The people the Texas standards name for Grade 2: Thurgood Marshall, Irma Rangel, Theodore Roosevelt, Paul Revere, Abigail Adams, the Women Airforce Service Pilots, the Navajo Code Talkers, Sojourner Truth, Amelia Earhart and George Washington Carver, and what good citizenship means.
Texas, Our Land
Finding Texas, Austin, the United States, Washington, D.C., Canada and Mexico on maps and globes, the continents and oceans, how people change the land by farming, building roads and drilling for oil, and ways to conserve resources.
Celebrations Near & Far
Why we celebrate Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Juneteenth and Texas Independence Day, and what some ethnic and cultural celebrations mean, compared side by side. Religious and cultural celebrations are described factually.
Who Runs Our Community?
What governments do (keep order, provide security, manage conflict), services such as police, fire protection, libraries, schools and parks, and how a mayor, the governor and the president are chosen and what they do.
Reading Maps
Map titles, cardinal and in-between directions, legends and symbols, grids and simple scales, and maps of the home, school and community.
Making & Trading
Producing and consuming, how people are both producers and consumers, and how a natural resource becomes a finished product, with Texas cotton, cattle, oil and pecans.
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 Texas 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 Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) 2nd grade social studies units include Work, Saving & Resources, Citizens & Leaders, Maps of Our World, Then & Now, Our Community Changes, Symbols, Songs & Landmarks.
Free printable 2nd grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.