---
title: What Is History?
created: '2026-05-26'
updated: '2026-05-26'
type: lesson_topic
subject: history
tags:
- history
- grade-2
- homeschool
standard: ''
phase: 1
phase_name: "FALL: Time, Place & Community Foundations (Weeks 1\u20138)"
weeks:
- 1
source: ''
---
# What Is History?
Second grade history topic covering what is history?. Part of Phase 1 (FALL: Time, Place & Community Foundations (Weeks 1–8)).
## Key Concepts
Understanding that history is the study of the past
- **Objectives:** Define "history" in own words, understand past/present/future
- **Activities:**
- Look at family photos and talk about what happened "a long time ago"
- Compare old pictures of their town to new ones
- Read a simple story about "a long time ago"
- **Assessment:** Draw a picture of something that happened in the past
### Week 2: Timelines — Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
**Focus:** Understanding sequences of events
- **Objectives:** Place events in order, use timeline vocabulary
- **Activities:**
- Create a daily timeline (morning → afternoon → evening)
- Order picture cards showing a sequence (seed → plant → flower)
- Build a personal timeline (baby → toddler → now)
- **Assessment:** Arrange 5 event cards in correct chronological order
### Week 3: Me and My Family
**Focus:** Understanding family structures and roles
- **Objectives:** Describe own family, identify different family types
- **Activities:**
- Draw a family tree
- Interview a family member about their childhood
- Discuss different kinds of families (big, small, single-parent, etc.)
- **Assessment:** Completed family tree with names and relationships
### Week 4: My Neighborhood
**Focus:** Understanding the community around us
- **Objectives:** Identify places in own neighborhood, map basic directions
- **Activities:**
- Draw a map of the neighborhood
- Neighborhood walk — identify buildings and their purposes
- Create a "places in my neighborhood" chart
- **Assessment:** Labeled neighborhood map with key locations
### Week 5: Community Helpers
**Focus:** Roles people play in a community
- **Objectives:** Identify 10+ community helpers and their jobs
- **Activities:**
- Read books about firefighters, teachers, doctors, farmers, etc.
- "Guess the helper" riddle game
- Draw and label a community helper
- **Assessment:** Community helpers matching worksheet
### Week 6: Rules and Why We Have Them
**Focus:** Understanding laws, rules, and fairness
- **Objectives:** Explain why rules exist, distinguish rules from laws
- **Activities:**
- Discuss classroom rules vs. home rules vs. laws
- Role-play scenarios: "What if there were no rules?"
- Create a class "fair rules" poster
- **Assessment:** Write/draw 3 rules and explain why each one matters
### Week 7: Buying and Selling
**Focus:** Basic economics — needs vs. wants, money
- **Objectives:** Distinguish needs from wants, understand money as a tool for trade
- **Activities:**
- Needs vs. wants sorting game
- Identify coins and bills, practice making change
- Read about barter — trading before money existed
- **Assessment:** Needs vs. wants classification worksheet
### Week 8: Maps and Directions
**Focus:** Reading simple maps and compass directions
- **Objectives:** Identify N/S/E/W, read a simple map with a legend
- **Activities:**
- Create a treasure map using directions
- Practice with a classroom map
- Use a real map to find places in the area
- **Assessment:** Follow written directions on a map to find a "treasure"
---
## Standards
Not specified
---
*Generated from curriculum data* ^[[raw/curriculum/history]]