PreK-2: NYS Social Studies Standards (Key Ideas and Performance Indicators)
Social Studies Standard 5: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.
Students in grades PreK-2 will demonstrate this understanding by-
- Knowing the meaning of key terms and concepts related to government including, democracy, power, citizenship, nation-state, justice, patriotism, and truth
- Explaining the probable consequences of the absence of government and rules
- Describing the basic purposes of government and the importance of civic life
- Understanding the basic civic values that are the foundation of American constitutional democracy
- Identifying their legislative and executive representatives at the local government level
- Understanding that citizenship includes an awareness of the holidays, celebrations, and symbols of our nation including the American flag, Statue of Liberty, Great Seal, National Anthem, Mount Rushmore, and mottoes such as E Pluribus Unum
- Examining what it means to be a good citizen in the classroom, school, home, and community
- Identifying and describing the rules and responsibilities students have at home, in the classroom, at school, and in the community
- Examining the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights
- Identifying basic rights that students have and those that they will acquire as they age
- Showing a willingness to consider other points of view before drawing conclusions or making judgments
- Participating in activities that focus on classroom, school, or community issues or problems
Prek-2: English Language Arts Standards (Key Ideas and Performance Indicators)
ELA Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
PreK-2 students will demonstrate this standard by-
- Interpreting information represented in pictures, illustrations, and simple charts and webs (e.g., charts listing classroom rules and student responsibilities)
- Drawing on prior experience to understand new data, facts, and ideas
- Stating a main idea and support it with facts and details (e.g., What makes a good classroom citizen?)
- Using graphics (for example, posters) to communicate information from personal experience (e.g., creating a classroom language experience chart that displays symbols and matches them to the descriptions of national holidays)
- Creating a drawing, picture, sign, or other graphic to represent a word or concept (e.g., classroom rules, school safety rules, America, democracy, patriotism)
- Identifying and interpreting significant facts taken from maps, graphs, and other visuals (e.g., conducting a classroom election and charting the results)
- Putting words together in sentence format (e.g., What is the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance?)
- Listening for data, facts, and ideas in group presentations and role play activities (e.g., ask students to role play important events in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as described in Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport)
- Listening in order to follow teacher instructions and to collect information
- Speaking to share data, facts, and ideas in role play activities and to share information with other students
ELA Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.
PreK-2 students will demonstrate this standard by-
- Writing short descriptive sentences, short paragraphs, and poems
- Identifying a problem and possible solution in a simple story related to rules, truth telling, laws, and civic behavior
- Making predictions and drawing conclusions and inferences about events, characters, and situations
- Using classroom resources such as picture dictionaries, trade books, textbooks, peers, and teachers to prepare responses to questions about topics such as the rule of law, due process, equality of opportunity, civic responsibilities, and basic civil rights
- Listening respectfully and responsively to other students’ reports, presentations, and role play activities
- Speaking in order to describe the actions of characters in stories and to role play
ELA Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
PreK-2 students will demonstrate this standard by-
- Engaging in pre-reading and reading activities in order to predict what could happen next or the outcome of a story, article, or situation
- Identifying the characters in a story and what each contributes to the events of the story
- Writing the following to begin to express opinions and judgments related to civic rights and responsibilities: experience charts, posters, and advertisements
- Listening for differences of opinions or viewpoints about civic issues such as rules, rights, privacy, property, and honesty in circle time, group discussions, and role plays
- Expressing opinions and making judgments that demonstrate a personal point of view on issues such as what makes a good citizen or how can students participate in their school or local governance
- Creating advertisements, using words and pictures, in order to illustrate concepts such as justice, equality, citizenship, patriotism or democracy
- Speaking to express opinions and judgments in class and group discussions, role plays, and presentations
