Content Area: Social Studies

 

Index: 6.5B Grade 2 CPI 1

 

Standard: 6.5 - Economics

 

Strand: B -  Economics and Society

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 1 -  The student will identify various jobs and explain how workers in these jobs receive income for their work.

 

Grade: 2

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        Point out to the class that we all make contributions to the economy through our work. The jobs we have, inside or outside the home, help make life better for all of us. Students do as their homework assignments interviews with their parents about their jobs. Develop with the class a list of questions to be asked. Make copies of the list for children to take home and use. Interview questions might include the following:

o       1. Where do you work?

o       2. What goods or service do you help provide?

o       3. How is your job changing?

o       4. What are some of the other jobs at your workplace?

o       5. How do others depend on your doing your job?

o       6. What do you think is most important in doing a good job?

 

After interviewing their parents and/or other relatives, students discuss the responses in class. They bring to class one thing that their parents might use at their workplace (e.g., a carpenter’s tape measure, a physician’s stethoscope).

 

·        The library media center can provide information on careers. After researching a career, students interview someone working in that capacity. Start with your own school and then extend this to the immediate neighborhood. Take class trips to the local donut shop or bakery, other stores, the firehouse, and so on, to learn about the work people do in the community.

 

·        Students develop a form called the “Family Job Tree.” This treelike structure should include a branch for each family member who is employed. Hold a class discussion about the information collected with the job trees. Ask the class: How has this activity extended our understanding of the economy and our place in it?

 

Kidspiration Activity:

 

·        Use symbols and links to create concept maps that explore relationships between consumers, business, and the economy.