Edison School District

Developing a desire for lifelong learning

Learning and Working Now and Long Ago

Students in kindergarten are  introduced to basic spatial,        temporal, and causal                 relationships, emphasizing the geographic and historical          connections between the world today and the world long ago. The stories of ordinary and                  extraordinary people help            describe the range and continuity of human experience and           introduce the concepts of           courage, self-control, justice, heroism, leadership, deliberation, and individual responsibility.        Historical empathy for how         people lived and worked long ago reinforces the concept of

civic behavior: how we interact respectfully with each other,     following rules, and respecting the rights of others.

Students understand that being a good citizen involves acting in certain ways.

Þ Follow rules, such as sharing and taking turns, and know the consequences of breaking them.

Þ Learn examples of honesty, courage, determination,      individual responsibility, and patriotism in American and world history from stories and folklore.

Þ Know beliefs and related  behaviors of characters in   stories from times past andunderstand the consequences of the characters’ actions.

Þ Students recognize national and state symbols and icons such as the national and state flags, the bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty.

Þ Students match simple descriptions of work thatpeople do and the names of related jobs at the school, in the local community, and from historical accounts.

Students compare and contrast the locations of people, places, and environments and describe their characteristics.

Þ Determine the relative locations of objects using the terms near/far, left/right, and behind/in front.

Þ Distinguish between land and    water on maps and globes and    locate general areas referenced in historical legends and stories.

Þ Identify traffic symbols and map symbols (e.g., those for land,    water, roads, cities).

Þ Construct maps and models of neighborhoods, incorporating such structures as police and fire stations, airports, banks,  hospitals, supermarkets, harbors, schools, homes, places of   worship, and transportation lines.

Þ Demonstrate familiarity with the school’s layout, environs, and the jobs people do there.

Þ Students put events in temporal order using a calendar, placing days, weeks, and months in proper order.

 

Students understand that history relates to events, people, and places of other times.

Þ Identify the purposes of, and the people and events honored in, commemorative holidays, including the human struggles that were the     basis for the events (e.g.,

Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Washington’s and   Lincoln’s Birthdays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day).

Þ Know the triumphs in    American legends and   historical accounts through the stories of such people as Pocahontas, George  Washington, Booker T. Washington, Daniel Boone, and Benjamin Franklin.

Þ Understand how people lived in earlier times and how their lives would be           different today (e.g., getting water from a well, growing food, making clothing, having fun, forming organizations, living by rules and laws).