The Social Studies Department fosters active, empathetic and global citizens who respect varying human experiences. By studying the complexities of the past and learning to be reflective and critical thinkers, students will be prepared to participate in a democratic society and influence the future.
Students will understand the importance of different perspectives in building a strong community.
Students will understand the relevance of the past and connection to their own individual lives.
Through strengthening their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, students will learn to make arguments, discuss and explain conclusions, and use valid reasoning to support their thinking.
In 6th and 7th grade, teachers use Investigating History, a history curriculum developed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in collaboration with Primary Source, a global education nonprofit based in Watertown. We chose to adopt these resources because the curriculum meets the needs of our 6th and 7th grade students.
Investigating History is designed to be fully aligned to the Massachusetts state history standards, developing students’ deep knowledge of world history while engaging them in the work that real historians do. Through Investigating History, students will learn to ask their own questions about historical events; make sense of images, text, and artifacts from the past; and make arguments in which they connect their learning to real-life issues and current events.
Students begin the year reviewing geography and map skills. Next, they study Early Humans during the Paleolithic and the Neolithic Eras. They continue the year by studying regions of the world by examining physical geography, nations in the region today, selected ancient and classical societies before 1000 CE. The regions for grade six are:
Western Asia, The Middle East, and North Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America
Students investigate guiding questions such as, “How does geography affect how societies develop and interact?” and “How have human societies differed from one another across time and regions?” In studying these topics, students apply grade 6 reading, writing, and speaking and listening skills. Moreover, they learn vocabulary in context and concepts related to history and social science.
Students will continue their global exploration in the regions of Asia, Oceania and Europe through the lens of geographical and historical studies. Our goal is not just to improve our knowledge and understanding of the world around us and the past, but also to learn how to become culturally competent global citizens and critical thinkers. Through the development of map skills and geography skills, students examine how the world looks today and how things like climate and landscape impact how humans live from region to region. Using their historical, literacy, and critical thinking skills, students investigate how the oldest civilizations of these regions developed and made lasting advancements that humans still use to this day. Whether it's discovering more about how Earth’s landscape has affected global history or debating the causes of the fall of Rome, this class will take us on a journey across continents and time while teaching us more about the rich array of human experiences that have shaped our world today.
The units that seventh grade students study are:
South and Central Asia
East Asia
The Silk Routes
Southeast Asia and Oceania
Europe
In 8th Grade Civics, students will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to become informed and active participants in a democratic society and a complex world. Through the use of primary documents, current events and varied sources, students will explore diverse perspectives, analyze how and why government institutions developed, explore how government evolves through legislation and court decisions, and how individuals exercise their rights. Students will place themselves in the curriculum by examining their role in society and how current events and government institutions and actions shape their experience. They will practice researching, reasoning, making logical arguments, and thinking for themselves as they come to their own conclusions. The students will participate in a culminating Civic Action Project that asks students to apply what they have learned to issues that they care about personally. This will allow them to demonstrate their understanding of how civic responsibilities maintain a healthy democracy in the nation and the Commonwealth.
In 8th grade, teachers use Democratic Knowledge Project’s Civic Engagement in Our Democracy, a project-based civics curriculum aligned with the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework. The curriculum provides students and teachers with the tools they need to experience deeper civic learning in support of students' emerging civic identities.