Elementary Social Studies

Monday, October 31st, 2011 at 11:15 pm

Kratos International has facilitated a social studies unit study for four families with children in Grades 2-4 in the fall of 2011. Based on the requests of the families involved, Kratos created a custom unit to fulfill learning outcomes in the BC curriculum for elementary social studies. One request of the parents was that they wanted the topic of technologies of the past, present, and future be addressed. To fulfill that outcome, I had the students research a different technology each week, allowing them to choose whether it would be past, present, or future. Topics included housing, transportation, entertainment, clothing, and foods. As the students reported the next week, it also gave them opportunities to improve their oral communication skills that they need for their Language Arts.

Another topic discussed were the symbols of Canada and some basic geography. The grade 4 boys memorized the names of the provinces and territories. Along with this went some basic mapping skills. Each student was given a notebook that gave them activities relating to the topics discussed each day. We were using the Donna Ward Canada, My Country text. In the final weeks, this same text was used to discuss the basic governmental structure in Canada. We end the session with a look at the cultural diversity in Canada.

For a final topic, it was requested that a Native Studies unit would also be taught, and once again Donna Ward came through with a guiding text, Canada’s Natives of Long Ago. Each week a different group of aboriginal groups was studied alongside their geographical area in Canada.

In all, it seemed to be a well received class and it was a pleasure to break into this new genre of teaching for the company in such a wonderful way. In the spring, Kratos will gear up to work with the same group of children in a science unit. If you have a need, contact us to see if we can customize a course just for you.