Social Studies

Key Concepts - Kindergarten to Grade 4

Kindergarten | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grades 5 to 8


Kindergarten: Being Together

Cluster 1 - Me
  • important groups
  • places important to children
  • basic needs (food, clothing, safety rules)
  • rules and responsibilities
  • Remembrance Day
Cluster 2 - People Around Me
  • important people
  • cooperation and conflict
  • communication (art, dance, song, facial expression, body language, sign language)
  • time, recurring events
  • work and resources
  • celebrations
Cluster 3 - World Around Me
  • living in Canada
  • world needs (food, clothing, shelter...)
  • landmarks (parks, statues, buildings, natural landmarks...)
  • mapping (globes, maps, models- as representations of actual places)
 

Grade 1: Connecting and Belonging

Cluster 1 - I Belong
  • personal identity
  • my family
  • family celebrations
  • family connections to the past
  • Remembrance Day
Cluster 2 - My Environment
  • Manitoba, Canada
  • media influence
  • mapping (globes, maps, land and water masses)
  • community landmarks and places
  • environment
  • needs and wants
  • official languages and national anthem
  • Remembrance Day

Cluster 3 - Connecting with Others

  • diversity
  • rights and responsibilities
  • interdependence
  • rules and laws
  • conflict/bullying
  • global connections
 

Grade 2 : Communities in Canada

Cluster 1 - Our Local Community
  • community: resources, physical characteristics, interactions
  • community groups (cultural, linguistic, First Nations...)
  • past and present stories of their local community
  • individual and community heritage and culture
  • community leadership
  • important people, events, and places
  • Remembrance Day
  • mapping (location)

Cluster 2 - Communities in Canada

  • Aboriginal communities in Canada
  • Canadian communities
  • natural resources, work, goods and services (how these factors shape life in communities)
  • immigration from different parts of the world
  • communities change over time
  • mapping (location)
Cluster 3 - The Canadian Community
  • origins of place names
  • global connections (food, immigration, media...)
  • national and provincial symbols
  • diversity (cultural, linguistic, geographic, artistic...)
  • Canadian needs
  • media influences on choices and decisions
 

Grade 3: Communities of the World

Cluster 1 - Connecting with Canadians
  • rights and responsibilities
  • connections with other Canadians
  • community leadership (formal and informal)
  • decision making (conflict, bullying)
  • Canadian citizenship (national anthem)
  • Remembrance Day
Cluster 2 - Exploring the World
  • mapping (maps, aerial photographs and satellite images)
  • mapping (equator, hemispheres, continents, oceans)
  • common concerns and connections between world communities
  • community services
  • human rights (housing, education, security, food, water...)
  • international support organizations (United Nations, UNICEF, Red Cross...)
Cluster 3 - Communities of the World
  • global human diversity
  • contemporary world communities (physical, social, cultural; daily life, traditions)
  • indigenous communities of the world
  • mapping (location of communities or countries)
  • media influences on perceptions of people and places
Cluster 4 - Exploring an Ancient Society: one of ancient Egypt, China, Japan, the Vikings, Incas, Mayas, or Aztecs
  • ways of life
  • customs, stories, traditions
  • cultural expressions (art, architecture, music, dance, writing,stories, religious practices)
  • senduring contributions (ideas, inventions, art, architecture, stories)

Grade 4: Manitoba, Canada, and the North: Places and Stories

Cluster 1 - Geography of Canada
  • physical geography of Manitoba and Canada
  • mapping (geographic regions, oceans, major landforms, lakes, waterways, provinces, territories, capital cities)
Cluster 2 - Living in Canada
  • government (levels, responsibilities)
  • leadership (Manitoba and Canada)
  • power and authority (formal and informal)
  • citizenship and democracy
  • symbols and monuments (national, provincial, territorial)
  • commemorative days (national, provincial, territorial)
  • media influences on perceptions of people and places
Cluster 3 - Living in Manitoba
  • physical features
  • environmental stewardship and sustainability
  • people, places and communities of Manitoba (historical, cultural or environmental)
  • diverse artistic and cultural achievements
  • global connections
  • mapping (lakes, rivers, landforms, vegetation, forests, parks, cities, towns, First Nations communities, resources...)
Cluster 4 - History of Manitoba
  • stories of events and individuals from Manitoba's past
    stories of early settlement
  • contributions of diverse ethnic and cultural communities (Aboriginal, francophone, European)
Cluster 5 - Canada's North - Yukon, NWT, Nunavut
  • physical and human geography of the territory(ies)
  • stories, traditions, and changes in ways of life in Canada's North
  • Aboriginal contributions to the Canadian community
  • contribution of the North to the Canadian community
  • mapping (physical features, natural resources)