Social Studies 2 to 3
Society and Culture

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

• describe ways members of a community meet one another's needs
• identify changes in the school and community throughout the year
• describe the historical development of various BC communities
• demonstrate awareness of British Columbia's and Canada's diverse heritage

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Society and Culture in other grades click on an icon below.

• Have students interview various school and community members to find out how their jobs help other people. Students then present their information by role-playing those individuals.
• Have students brainstorm what is needed to live in a community. Ask students why these things are important and help them to sort and classify this information.
• Create a year-long timeline showing month-by-month changes that occur in the school and community. Ask students to collect resources (e.g., newspaper articles, photos, posters) depicting events that happen each month. Encourage them to use this information to update the timeline.
• Invite students, their family members, and members of the community to share stories, traditions, artifacts, and so on that are meaningful to their heritage.
• Use a variety of media or invite members of the community (e.g., from the Aboriginal community, ethnic communities, chamber of commerce, local museum) to present information to students on how the local community developed over time. Based on this information, have students present the history of their community using a variety of print, non-print, and electronic resources.
• As a class, choose another community in British Columbia and discuss how it developed. Brainstorm ways to find out more about its historical development. Have students research this information and present it in a variety of ways (e.g., mural).
• Arrange pen pals or key pals for students. Ask students to create advertisements to describe to their pals the uniqueness of their own community. When they receive ads in reply, have students describe the differences between the communities.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• Have students use the information from the year-long timeline to develop collages or posters showing the changes in the school or community throughout the year. Display the posters around the school and ask students to prepare brief summaries that include:
  • what they are trying to accomplish in their presentations
  • how their own experiences are represented in the posters or collages
  • what they noticed about the changes in the school or community
  • two things they learned or realized as they worked on their representations
  Note the extent to which they have accurately identified and documented changes.
• Have students work in small groups to collect and sequence their information about the history of their community from a variety of oral, visual, and written sources. During small-group conferences, examine their research to assess their abilities to:
  • collect and record information from a variety of sources
  • accurately describe the historical development of the community
  • provide logical interpretations from oral, visual, and written sources
• Ask each student to create a symbol that represents the diversity of British Columbia's heritage. As students work on their projects, have them interview one another about their choices. Provide them with interview questions such as:
  • What are the connections between your symbol and the diversity of British Columbia's heritage?
  • Why is your symbol meaningful to you?
  • What are two things you want others to notice about your symbol?