Social Studies
United States and Massachusetts Government
and Civic Life
Social Studies
United States and Massachusetts Government
and Civic Life
Embedded Files
United States and Massachusetts Government
and Civic Life
Social Studies Overview
Social Studies Overview
The primary purpose of a History and Social Science education is to prepare students to have the knowledge and skills to become thoughtful and active participants in a democratic society and a complex world. The Social Sciences include history, geography, civics, economics, and sociology. In addition, students learn how to use and evaluate primary and secondary sources, distinguish between fact and opinion, and conduct research. The future of democracy depends on our students’ development of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will enable them to embrace democracy’s potential, while recognizing its challenges and inherent dilemmas.
Unit One: Foundations of Government
Unit One: Foundations of Government
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Explain the purpose of leaders, rules, & enforcement in multiple communities
- Identify examples and key elements of a social contract
- Describe several positive traits of leadership for executives & representatives
- Describe some philosophical ideas and historical government structures (including Britain and ancient Greece/Rome) that influenced the Founders
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
- Why do we need government?
- How do people & communities balance freedom and security?
- What does “great leadership” mean in a democracy?
- Who needs a social contract?
- What are the big ideas that the U.S. government is based on?
Instructional Snapshot
Instructional Snapshot
- Create simulation of 1 or more forms of government
- Create a “social contract” for small or large groups to use when working together
- Discuss the longtime tensions between freedom and security
Unit Two: Democracy in Action
Unit Two: Democracy in Action
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Summarize the process of voting, including the Electoral College system and municipal resources and responsibilities (City Clerk, ballots, etc.)
- Explain the significance of concepts like voter eligibility, election turnout, campaign regulations, districting, gerrymandering, absentee/mail-in ballots
- Make informed judgments about candidates for public office
- Distinguish the platforms and the purpose of at least 2 political parties
- Analyze several pros & cons of the US electoral system
- Explain several pros & cons of digital news and social media for democracy
- Explain ways to evaluate media items about political topics in multiple areas like purpose, intended audience, message, genre, bias, and credibility
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
- How does the U.S. system of representative democracy really work?
- Does the U.S. have fair elections?
- How do we know what we know about political and civic issues?
- How does a free press support democracy?
Instructional Snapshot
Instructional Snapshot
- Conduct mock elections
- Determine where you are on the political spectrum and which political party you associate with based on the political platforms
Unit Three: Local & State Government
Unit Three: Local & State Government
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Compare and contrast the functions of local and state government
- Explain the structure of state government including the 3-branch system, the purpose of some executive departments, and the 2-house legislature
- Explain how bills can become a law or an amendment to existing law and how regulations & orders are applied by executive departments
- Describe the major components of Newton’s government structure including the roles and functions of the mayor, executive departments, City Council and its committees, and the School Committee
- Identify some specific tax-supported facilities and services provided by the Massachusetts and Newton governments (example: school funding)
- Summarize unique elements of the Massachusetts Constitution, including the free school requirement and the Preamble’s declaration of inalienable rights
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
- How do state and local governments impact people’s lives?
- What do elected leaders actually do?
- How are taxes used to support residents of Massachusetts and Newton?
- What does the Massachusetts Constitution really say?
Instructional Snapshot
Instructional Snapshot
- Identify and analyze the makeup of Newton’s and Boston’s city governments
- Analyze the municipal and state budget
Unit Four: Action Civics
Unit Four: Action Civics
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Design and implement an action civics project that demonstrates civic engagement and works to make a systemic local change
- Describe the importance and impact of civic engagement
- Explain the roles and tactics of public-service advocacy groups to encourage specific government action
- Conduct various unique forms of mini-research like interviews, surveys, digital and personal outreach, and document analysis
- Apply (and reflect upon the role of) “soft skills” like cooperation
- Group self-organization and dialogue to achieve consensus
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
- How can young people work civically to improve their community?
- What does it mean to succeed in a civic engagement project?
- What is “systemic change”?
- How does the government really get anything accomplished?
Instructional Snapshot
Instructional Snapshot
- Identify a student-driven, non-partisan community issue
- Develop and implement an action plan
- Reflect on the experience
Unit Five: Context of America’s Founding
Unit Five: Context of America’s Founding
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Summarize key messages of the Declaration of Independence including the social contract, inalienable rights, and “free states”
- Explain how slavery was interconnected to the economy and society of the Northern and Southern colonies/states
- Identify key reasons for rebels’ desire to break away from Britain
- Explain the purpose and inspiration of the 1787 Convention
- Explain the primary differences of opinion about the US Constitution inside and outside the convention in 1787 and 1788
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
- What does the Declaration of Independence actually say?
- How was slavery connected to the American Revolution?
- What problems was the Constitution designed to solve?
- What problems did the Constitution intensify or cause?
- What role did compromise play in the creation of the U.S. government?
Instructional Snapshot
Instructional Snapshot
- Evaluate the philosophical underpinnings of the Declaration and how it serves as a cornerstone of our government
- Debate and discuss the compromises built into the US Constitution
- Analyze how the institution of slavery was embedded in 1780s society and politics, which caused certain decisions to be made at the Philadelphia Convention
Unit Six: Framework of US Government
Unit Six: Framework of US Government
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Explain important similarities and differences between the relative powers of the national government and Massachusetts government (as listed in the 9th and 10th Amendments and Commerce Clause)
- Describe the structure of the US Constitution, including major sections like the Preamble, Supremacy and Commerce clauses and the first 3 articles
- Assess constitutional powers & restrictions of the president and Congress, including impeachment, vetoes, military control, and emergency authority
- Explain the significance of enumerated & implied constitutional powers (related to the “Elastic Clause”)
- Analyze the Supreme Court’s interaction with the president & Congress
- Describe the basic operation of the federal court system, including the circuit courts and how the Supreme Court accepts and decides cases
- Identify the steps to amend the Constitution as outlined in Article V
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
- How does federalism calm and complicate government in the U.S.?
- How was the Constitution framed to guard against tyranny?
- What does the Constitution actually say? Who gets to decide what it means?
- Why is the U.S. Constitution considered to be a “living document”?
Instructional Snapshot
Instructional Snapshot
- Create parallels between current events and constitutional concepts
- Compare and contrast the goals of the Preamble with the text of the Constitution
Unit Seven: Interpretations of Citizens’ Rights
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Summarize the individual rights granted by all ten Bill of Rights amendments
- Summarize the rights granted by the “Reconstruction Amendments” and the 19th Amendment and the historical struggle to achieve those rights
- Describe the role of political protest in American democracy
- Explain the 1st Amendment protections for the free press
- Research and analyze at least one significant Supreme Court decision that concerns individual rights, equality, or majority/minority conflict
- Explain several ways to gain official U.S. citizenship
- Describe multiple rights & responsibilities of citizens compared to non-citizens
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
- Why is the U.S. Constitution considered to be a “living document”?
- What do the 1st Amendment and the rest of the Bill of Rights actually say?
- How have rights been expanded since the U.S. Constitution was ratified?
- How have they been limited?
- How have court decisions changed the meaning of the Constitution?
- What does it mean to be a citizen? What rights do non-citizens have?
- What special rights have been granted to people in Massachusetts?
Instructional Snapshot
Instructional Snapshot
- Analyze the Supreme Court cases involving student rights
- Profile “Change Makers” who worked to expand the legal definition of a citizen in America
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