Social Studies Department

         The revised middle school social studies curriculum is designed to provide students with a firm foundation in the structures and concepts of the systems of geography, economics, politics, and culture that exist in today's world as well the historical basis of those systems.  Included in this foundation are the requisite skills necessary for students to independently acquire, interpret, evaluate, and communicate information.  This foundation will help students build a more complex and comprehensive understanding of the systems and history of the United States and world in high school. 

     There are two major strands that run through each unit. The first strand is specific present day content in geography, economics, government, or culture. The second strand is always history.  The history strand progresses chronologically by unit with ancient history to approximately 1000 CE in grade six, early modern world history in seventh grade, and US history to 1865 in grade eight.  However, history is sometimes studied from the "present content" perspective such as Communist China in sixth grade.

                                        Pacing
            There are four units corresponding with the four grading periods for each school year. Each unit is broken down into smaller sections called Lesson Sequences that group ideas and content together for a meaningful course of instruction. The 1esson sequences provide a path to teach and learn the rigorous content standards established for each nine week unit.