SOCIAL STUDIES

HISTORY & SOCIAL SCIENCE

History and Social Science (Social Studies) instruction at BESD moves students forward in the pursuit of active, informed citizenship that includes the development of content knowledge, disciplinary skills and processes, and the integration of inquiry elements as described in the Arizona History and Social Science (HSS) Standards.

Adopted HSS Resources

Discovery Education K-8

Discovery Education provides engaging high-quality content, grab-and-go digital lessons, creative collaboration tools, and practical professional learning resources to give educators everything they need to engage all learners and create a lasting educational impact in any learning environment.


Discovery Techbooks (3-8)

Social Studies Techbook is a standards-aligned, core-curricular resource that uses an inquiry-based approach to enhance literacy and critical thinking skills, allowing students to approach inquiry through the 5Es: Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, and Evaluate. From stories of ancient cultures to current events, this comprehensive digital textbook takes concepts off the pages and brings lessons to life.

Into Reading Connections(K-5)

Into Reading has created tools that show the connections between the units in the reading program and the Arizona Social Studies and Science Standards.

Social Studies Resources:

HSS Process Skills

The Arizona History and Social Science Standards are premised upon a rigorous and relevant K-12 social studies program within each district and school in the state. Engaging students in the pursuit of active, informed citizenship will require a broad range of understandings and skills including:

Think analytically by:

  • Posing and framing questions

  • Gathering a variety of evidence

  • Recognizing continuity and detecting change over time

  • Utilizing chronology to examine cause and effect relationships

  • Drawing and combining reasonable inferences from a variety of sources to build an understanding of complex questions

Read widely and critically by:

  • Examining, interpreting, and contextualizing primary sources focusing on author, purpose, and audience of each source

  • Identifying and comparing historical, geographic, economic, and political science interpretations from a wide variety of secondary sources

  • Utilizing broader understanding to discern subtext in primary and secondary sources

Communicate cogently and in a compelling manner by

  • Developing and defending evidenced based arguments

  • Utilizing multiple perspectives for comprehensive explanations

  • Practicing and cultivating a wide variety of diverse types of writing

  • Engaging in constructive conversations around history and social science topics


Social Studies Contact Information:

If you are a BESD teacher and need online access to any of these programs, please contact the Integration Support Team, integration@besd33.org.

If you are a BESD teachers and need hard copies of the TEs or the classroom materials, contact your school librarian.