Ahava~Love Assembly

Grade 2 History and Social Studies Week 15 | Teacher Guide

Grade 2 | HISTORY AND SOCIAL STUDIES

WEEK 15 • TEACHER GUIDE AND ANSWER KEY • DAYS 71–75

Read each lesson aloud with the child and model the worked example before practice. Do not show this key during practice. Accept oral, drawn or written answers where the child cannot yet write the whole answer. On Day 75, read aloud if needed but give no hints.

Week 15 Student Textbook | Week 15 Practice Workbook | Week 15 Teacher Guide | Week 14 Student Textbook | Week 16 Student Textbook | Grade 2 index

Day 71: Why a Nation Remembers

Standard: SS24.2.13b

Practice record: Five national holidays, printed on the Week 15 Practice Workbook.

Worked example: Who decides which days are federal holidays? Worked answer: Congress.

  1. Independence Day.
  2. November.
  3. So that people remember and learn from the people and events that shaped the nation, and pass that history on. Accept any answer about remembering or honoring important people and events.

Teaching note: These lessons teach the history of each day: when and why it began and whom or what it remembers. There are no celebration or observance activities.

Day 72: Independence Day and Washington’s Birthday

Standard: SS24.2.13b

Practice record: Timeline of two holidays, printed on the Week 15 Practice Workbook.

Worked example: On what day of the year is Independence Day? Worked answer: July 4.

  1. 1870.
  2. Washington’s Birthday.
  3. Washington led the army in the war for independence and was the first President. He gave power back to the people when he stepped down, so the nation remembers him as a founder. Accept any answer that gives a reason from his life.

Teaching note: Many people call the February holiday Presidents’ Day, but the federal law still names it Washington’s Birthday. Teach the history only; no celebration activities.

Day 73: Memorial Day and Veterans Day

Standard: SS24.2.13b; SS24.2.13c

Practice record: Two days that remember people who served, printed on the Week 15 Practice Workbook.

Worked example: What was Veterans Day first called? Worked answer: Armistice Day.

  1. Memorial Day.
  2. Birmingham.
  3. Memorial Day remembers people who died while serving. Veterans Day honors everyone who has served, including living veterans. Accept any answer that contrasts those who died with all who served.

Teaching note: Alabama connection: Birmingham is known for Raymond Weeks’ 1947 event, the first to use the name Veterans Day. Teach the history only; no celebration activities.

Day 74: Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Alabama

Standard: SS24.2.13b; SS24.2.13c

Practice record: King’s work in Alabama, printed on the Week 15 Practice Workbook.

Worked example: On which day of the week is Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Worked answer: Monday.

  1. Montgomery.
  2. 3 years (1986 – 1983 = 3).
  3. He worked peacefully for equal rights for all people. Evidence: in Montgomery he led the group that ran the bus boycott, or in 1965 he helped lead the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. Accept any reason with an Alabama event from the lesson.

Teaching note: Connect to Week 13 (the bus boycott) and Week 14 (Rosa Parks). Teach the history only; no celebration or service-day activities.

Day 75: Independent Check: National Holidays

Standard: SS24.2.13b; SS24.2.13c

Practice record: How five holidays began, printed on the Week 15 Practice Workbook.

Worked example: Which holiday falls on July 4? Worked answer: Independence Day.

  1. Memorial Day.
  2. 1986.
  3. Example: Veterans Day honors everyone who has served in the military, because they served to protect the nation. Accept any holiday with what it remembers and a reason from the lessons.

Teaching note: Independent check: read aloud if needed, but give no hints.

Sources

U.S. Office of Personnel Management, What are Federal holidays? (dates set by 5 U.S.C. 6103) | Congressional Research Service, Independence Day Speech Resources: Fact Sheet (Declaration adopted July 4, 1776; July 4 made a holiday in 1870) | Congressional Research Service, Birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln: Fact Sheet (holiday 1879 and 1885; third Monday in February; official name Washington’s Birthday) | National Park Service, Memorial Day History (Decoration Day; General John Logan; May 30, 1868 at Arlington) | National Archives, Prologue blog: The Origins of Veterans Day (Raymond Weeks, Birmingham, November 11, 1947; renamed 1954) | U.S. Army, History of Veterans Day (Armistice Day; name changed to Veterans Day in 1954) | Encyclopedia of Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (law signed 1983; first observed January 20, 1986; born January 15, 1929) | New Georgia Encyclopedia, Martin Luther King Jr. (Dexter Avenue Baptist Church; Montgomery Improvement Association; Letter from Birmingham Jail) | National Park Service, Letter from Birmingham Jail (written April 16, 1963) | National Park Service, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail (March 1965 march for voting rights)

Week 15 Student Textbook | Week 15 Practice Workbook | Week 15 Teacher Guide | Week 14 Student Textbook | Week 16 Student Textbook | Grade 2 index