Unit of Study:

Our Environment

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District

Integrated Social Studies, Grade 2

Grade 2 – Unit 5 - Week at a Glance

Week INSS Focus Reading Workshop Writing Workshop Revising & Editing

1 Physical Characteristic

of Our Environment

(7A, 7B)

Traditional Literature:

Understanding Lessons in a

Fable, Word Meaning

(multiple meaning, prefixes,

suffixes), Summarizing TL

Folktales, Fairytales, &

Fables:

Adjectives –

students can use

adjectives to

describe their

school or

community

2 How People in a

Community Meet Their

Basic Needs (7C)

Fiction:

Adjectives-Articles

3 Different Types of

Communities : Urban,

Suburban, Rural (7D)

Adverbs-Time

4 Ways People Modify

Their Environment (8A,

8B) Conservation (8C)

Adverbs - Manner

5 Technology Project

(in iXplore)

Literary Nonfiction: Procedural Writing Apostrophes in

Contractions

General Information:

The lessons in this unit are geared toward the 2nd grade TEKS. Teachers are encouraged to

modify these activities as needed and choose resources that best fit their needs. INSS

objectives should be visible. In the Unit Overview, the Bloom’s verbs have been underlined and

critical skills have been color-coded

Vocabulary & current events resources are located in iXplore in INSS Resources.

Lessons should be integrated into the reading/writing workshop schedule during the following

times; poetry, read aloud with accountable talk (20 minutes), independent reading and

writing, group or share time. See the suggested schedule in iXplore.

You can access Journey’s materials through the Think Central website. Some examples of

materials you can use for read a-louds include; the student e-book, leveled readers,

vocabulary readers, decodable readers, and the write-in reader.

Studies Weekly Free Trail – www.estudiesweekly.com – This site has some great resources to use

for integrated social studies. (username: TXteacher, password: demo)

LIBRARY RESOURCES

http://www.cfisd.net/dept2/library/library_el.htm

Check your campus library page for online resources to use for social studies content

lessons and read alouds.

Grade 2 Unit 5 - Draft Dec. 2013

Grade 2 Integrated Social Studies Curriculum Unit 5: Our Environment Unit Length: 5 Weeks

Conceptual Lens: Patterns and Adaptations

Social Studies TEKS: 7(A) describe how weather patterns and seasonal patterns affect activities and settlement patterns

7(B) describe how natural resources and natural hazards affect activities and settlement patterns

7(C) explain how people depend on the physical environment and natural resources to meet basic needs

7(D) identify the characteristics of different communities, including urban, suburban, and rural, and how they

affect activities and settlement patterns

8(A) identify ways in which people have modified the physical environment such a building roads, clearing

land for urban development and agricultural use, and drilling for oil

8(B) identify positive and negative consequences of human modification of the physical environment such as

the use of irrigation to improve crop yields

8(C) identify ways people can conserve and replenish natural resources

18(D) Sequence and categorize information

18(E) Interpret oral, visual, and print material by identifying the main idea, predicting, and comparing and

contrasting

19(A) express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences

19(B) create written and visual material such as stories, poems, maps, and graphic organizers to express ideas

Unit Overview: Students examine the relationship between the physical environment and human activities. They

consider why people choose to settle in a place and how the geography of a place affects

settlement and activities.

Literature Selections: Teachers may choose a variety of literature for the read aloud selections to develop students’ understanding of

the social studies concepts. See Appendix A for suggested literature selections.

2.3B; 2.5B

Grade 2 Unit 5 - Draft Dec. 2013

How People in a Community Meet Their Basic Needs Overview: Weeks 2 Enduring Understandings/Generalizations Guiding/Essential Questions

The student understands how physical characteristics of places

and regions affect people's activities and settlement patterns.

People settle in areas where they can meet their basic

needs of food, clothing, and shelter.

What does it mean to depend on the environment?

What are the basic needs everyone has to meet?

How does our community help meet our needs?

In what ways do people in your community use natural

resources?

Students will . . .

participate in discussions and express ideas in a written format about the unit’s enduring understandings and guiding questions.

use primary and secondary sources to gain information about a topic

understand key vocabulary terms

explain how people depend on the physical environment and natural resources to meet basic needs

Instructional Resources: Week 2

Teacher Materials Teacher Notes Assessments (%) Technology Horizon’s Textbook

p. 128-133: Using Natural

Resources

p. 140-142

Appendix C – How do

People Meet Their Basic

Needs lesson

Appendix D-Poems

Appendix F-Foldable

Ideas

Appendix C has some ideas

on how to present this lesson.

Read Aloud discussion and

participation

Written Response to guiding

questions

Anchor chart participation

Think Central

Discovery Education:

Grade 2 Unit 5 - Draft Dec. 2013

How People in a Community Meet Their Basic Needs Pacing Guide: Week 2 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Vocabulary Read Aloud Read Aloud Current Events Activity

Teachers can use

this day to continue

any lessons from the

previous week.

Teacher can conduct

activities using

suggested vocabulary

words to build

background

knowledge.

Natural Resources

(TBp.99)-things

used by people

provided by

nature from

which people

produce goods

and provide

services. Some

examples of

natural resources

include water,

soil, vegetation,

minerals &metals

and things that

come from

animals. (TBp.128)

Focus: Natural Resources-

overview

Use the Basic Needs

poem from Appendix D

as a read aloud.

During the read aloud,

focus on the guiding

questions from the lesson.

Have students turn and

talk about possible

predictions and answers

to the questions. (%)

Students may also stop

and jot answers to the

guiding questions in their

ISN. (%)

Focus: Natural

Resources-Activity

Write water, air,

trees, soil, and

animals on chart

paper. Make a t-

chart with the

headings Natural

Resources and

How We Use

Them.

Have students

copy this chart in

their ISN.

Use p. 128-133 in

the Horizons

textbook as a

read aloud.

Then have

students

complete the

chart by

describing in their

own words how

people use

water, air, trees,

soil, and animals

to meet their

basic needs. (%)

Focus: Putting it All Together

Have students create a

Venn diagram using

paper or by gluing two

paper plates together.

One side is Cy-Fair or

Houston, Texas and the

other is Charleston, West

Virginia.

Use pp. 140-145 in the

Horizons textbook as a

read aloud or as an

independent reading

activity. During the

reading, point out the

following concepts

about Charleston; type

of land, natural

resources, weather,

natural hazards. They

can sticky notes to mark

or record information.

Have students think about

their own community and

compare and contrast the

two. (%)

Grade 2 Unit 5 Appendix A

Topics Suggested Literature: Consult your campus librarian for related titles that are

available at your campus.

Weather and Season

Patterns

Journeys Main Selections:

Weather Poems, TBp. 246

Super Storms, TBp. 231

Journeys Leveled & Vocabulary Readers:

Chipmunks Do What Chipmunks Do, (fall)

Fall Harvest (fall)

A Snowy Day, (winter)

Lessons About Lightning

Let it Rain

The Wind

What is Wind

Journeys Write-In Reader: Keeping Safe in a Storm, Carol Alexander - p, 74

Natural Resources

Journeys Leveled & Vocabulary Readers:

How We Use Wool (natural resource)

Wool

Communities

Journeys Main Selections:

Journeys Leveled & Vocabulary Readers:

Annie’s Pictures (rural communities)

Foster’s Farm (rural)

Ferdinand Saves the Day (moving from one community to another)

Journeys Write-In Reader: The Big City, John Berry – p. 184

Time For Kids Readers: Building A Better Community, Lisa Trumbauer (she also has

books about other communities)

Town Mouse, Country Mouse, Jan Brett

On the Town: A Community Adventure, Judith Caseley

City, Peggy Pancella

Farm Community, Peggy Pancella

Suburb, Peggy Pancella

Country Kid, City Kid by Julie Cummins

Living in Urban Communities, Kristen Sterling

Living in Rural Communities, Kristin Sterling

Living in Suburban Communities, Kristen Sterling

Community Helpers, Bobbie Kalman

Conservation

Time For Kids Readers: Working Together to Save the World

The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle, Alison Inches

I Can Save the Earth, Alison Inches

The Three R’s: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Nuria Roca

The Adventures of an Aluminum Can, Alison Inches

Where Does the Garbage Go, Paul Showers

Current Events Time For Kids

Social Studies Online: Current Events

Grade 2 Unit 5 Appendix B

Project - Building a Community

This project can be used as an ongoing or culminating activity.

Materials: construction paper, blocks, small boxes

Help students create a model of the community. Have them choose what to include in their

model. Incorporate physical and human features (e.g., buildings, forests, parks, etc.). Use

paper, blocks, small boxes, and other suitable materials to represent types of settlements

and patterns of land use. Include such items as a library, bank, grocery store, gas station,

etc., within the model community. When the model is complete, discuss with students how

most of the land in their community was used.

Grade 2 Unit 5 Appendix C

Grade 2 Unit 5 Appendix D

Poems

Environment Poem (A poem written by an 11 year old who loves this world.)

Look Outside

© Josie Greveling

Look Outside, see the trees

Watch the flowers in the breeze

Things won't be like this in a year or two

If polluting is all we do

Seize the night

Seize the day

Things won't always be this way

Thousands of people are dying

In the night you hear children crying

Let's stop the war

Our people are sore

The world can't help itself

Who cares about your wealth

Help me to help you

Show the world what you can do.

Grade 2 Unit 5 Appendix D

Basic Needs

(of Living Things)

Air,

Food,

Shelter,

Water,

Basic needs in any order...

Water,

Air,

Shelter,

Food,

Basic needs,

Of me and you...

Food,

Water,

Shelter,

Air,

Basic needs,

Of bat or bear...

Air,

Food,

Water,

Shelter,

Cold or hot,

Freeze or swelter...

Basic needs,

Of living things,

From tiny ants,

To birds with wings...

Without these four,

We can't surive,

Basic needs,

To stay alive!

Grade 2 Unit 5 Appendix E

Grade 2 Unit 5 Appendix F