The underlining goal of the Wellesley Public School social studies curriculum is to enable students to
become active, responsible citizens. The two units taught in second grade are meant to build
children's images and understandings of how people make meaning of their environment and live
their daily lives.
THE PURPOSE OF OUR STUDY OF NEW ENGLAND NOW AND LONG AGO is to help children understand
the impact of change on communities and environments, and to evaluate whether the purported
benefits of a given change will outweigh its costs. Children will focus particularly on the period from
1850 to the present, and will study the effects of technology and community growth. Having learned
from "improvements" and mistakes made long ago, they will be better prepared to make informed
decisions as they face change in the future.
The two guiding questions for this study are:
1) How are families who lived in New England during the 1800's different from your family?
2) How do inventions change people's lives?
Skills that students will acquire through this study:
• identify the six N.E. states and locate New England on a map of the U.S.
• understand the impact of New England climate on daily life
• become familiar with local maps and learn to identify streets and significant locations
• use old maps, artifacts, timelines, historical fiction, photographs, and primary sources to obtain
data and make sense of life long ago
• develop research skills using a range of resources
• make connections, draw conclusions, make inferences, and identify central themes
• recognize the value of historical fiction as a way to understand the past
During this unit, students will be introduced to basic mapping and research skills. They will
explore life long ago through stories of historical fiction, artifacts from long ago, photographs, and
conversations with people who know about life long ago. Children will compare present-day life
with life in the early 1800's. They will ponder the positive and negative effects of inventions as they
listen to the story, FATHER'S BIG IMPROVEMENTS (the story of a fictional family that begins in the
year 1888). Finally, children will create their own ideas for future inventions.
RELATED CLASS FIELD TRIP:
Old Sturbridge Village: In December, all of the second grades from Schofield take a full-day field trip
to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA to get an inside view of life in New England in the early to
mid-1800's. During our visit, children participate in a small-group workshop where they get to try
a daily activity from life long ago in New England. Then small groups take a guided tour of the
village where they get to see what homes and businesses were like in rural New England villages in
the early to mid-1800's and talk to staff members about life in that time.
RELATED FAMILY OUTING POSSIBILITIES:
Old Sturbridge Village: A stroll through this outdoor museum feels like a journey back in time to a
rural New England village in the 1830's. Visit homes, meetinghouses, a country store, a bank, a
printing office, a variety of mills, the blacksmith shop, the potter, the shoemaker, the cooper, and a
one-room schoolhouse. Authentically costumed staff carry out daily activities of an early 19th
century community and answer questions of the visitors.
