Curriculum

8th Grade Social Studies

World War I

Essential Question

How did World War I impact America and transform Europe?

Highlights

The causes of the war, the new weapons, trench warfare and the outcome of the war. 

World War II

Essential Question

How did World War II impact America?

Highlights

The causes of the war, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. home front, the fighting in the European and Pacific theaters, the atrocities of the Holocaust, the D-Day invasion and the use of atomic weapons.  

The Civil Rights Era

Essential Question

How did Americans respond to discrimination during the civil rights era?

Highlights

Segregation, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Brown v Board of Education, Little Rock Nine, 

March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, MLK, Malcolm X, Equal Rights Amendment

American Civics

The Constitutions of the United States & Illinois

The Vietnam War Years

Essential Question

What were the causes and effects of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War?

Highlights

Space Race, Cuban Missile Crisis, Assassination of JFK, Domino Theory, Guerrilla Warfare, 

Tet Offensive, Anti War Movement, Vietnamization, LBJ, Nixon