LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Social Studies — Kindergarten

Goal 4: The learner will explain celebrated holidays and special days in communities.

Objective 4.01. Explore how families express their cultures through celebrations, rituals, and traditions.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

First Americans of North Carolina and the United States
This lesson will use shared reading, center time, hands-on projects, and journal writing to help learners discover facts about first Americans, particularly those in the region that is today North Carolina, while at the same time developing their English language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Format: lesson plan (grade K English Language Development and Social Studies)
By Adriane Moser.

Resources on the web

World view: National anthems around the world
Students visit the World Viewer exhibit in National Geographic's Xpedition Hall and explore the different geographic information about countries around the globe. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Music Education and Social Studies)
Provided by: National Geographic
Weeping camel: Finding rituals in our daily lives
In this Xpeditions lesson, students identify characteristics of traditional and modern rituals found in different cultures. Through reading stories about rituals, students identify some of their characteristics. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade K Social Studies)
Provided by: National Geographic
Native American cultures across the U.S.
Students discuss the differences between five Native American tribes within the U.S. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Social Studies)
Provided by: National Endowment for the Humanities
Mummies: Honoring the dead
In this Xpeditions lesson, students think about how their own cultures honor the dead and how some ancient cultures, including the Egyptians, honored their dead through mummification. Students look at pictures of mummies and write or draw pictures about... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Information Skills and Social Studies)
Provided by: Xpeditions
The meaning behind the mask
Students explore the cultural significance of masks, discuss the use of masks in stories, and then investigate the role masks play in ceremonies and on special occasions in various African cultures. After students have studied these masks, they are then... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Theater Arts Education)
Provided by: ESITEment
Culture goggles: Same holy land, different holidays
Students visit the Culture Goggles exhibit in National Geographic's Xpedition Hall, where they will select a religion to see how a Christian, a Jew, or a Muslim might view the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Social Studies)
Provided by: National Geographic