Second Grade · History · week 3

Family artifacts show the past

Examine a family artifact and explain what it tells us about the past.

An artifact is an object made or used by a real person, usually a while ago. An old photograph, a toy, a letter, a recipe card, or a medal can all be artifacts. Each one is a clue about the past.

Artifacts do not talk, but they still tell a story if you look closely. An old rotary telephone tells you people once dialed calls by turning a wheel, not tapping a screen.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Look around your home together for one or two real family artifacts: an old photo, a toy, a piece of jewelry, a letter, a tool.
  • Ask your child to examine it closely and describe what they notice before you explain its story.
  • Tell the true story behind the object: who owned it, when, and why it mattered.
  • If you do not have an old object handy, look at a very old photograph together instead -- it counts as an artifact too.
Talk about it:
  • What is the oldest object in our home, that you know of?
  • What does that object tell us about the person who used it?
  • If someone found one of YOUR objects in 50 years, what would it tell them about you?

Mastery looks like: They can look at a real object and explain, with a real clue, what it tells us about the past.

Common stumbles: Describing what an artifact looks like without saying what it tells us about the people who used it.

Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of History for this learner.
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