Introduction:

Our K-5 Elementary school students will be integrating a combination of the McGraw Hill Impact Textbooks for Social Studies as well as project-based learning with projects that immerse students in the curriculum, allowing them to apply what they are learning in social studies to hands-on projects at the end of each quarter. Students will follow the Massachusetts Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks for each grade.

What is project-based learning? Project-based learning involves students learning how to take the content they are learning about in the classroom and applying it to projects where they can design, develop, and construct solutions to problems and present informed ideas about events in history and modern times. Project-based learning is a way to bring students’ curiosity beyond the classroom so they can see the connections between historical events and modern times. It also teaches students how to think beyond the textbook and to become creative thinkers and problem-solvers.

Below is more detailed descriptions each grade will be covering;

Third Grade: In Quarter 1, third graders will learn about their local, national and global communities. They will examine how a community’s land, resources and climate affect the way people live and work, as well as how people relate to their environment and how the environment affects their lives. In Quarter 3, Students will examine ways to improve the environment. Finally, in Quarter 4, students will examine the government and economics of the United States.

Fourth Grade: Fourth graders will spend Quarter 1 studying the land and people of the United States, including its civics, economy and resources. Students will spend Quarters 2, 3 and 4 studying the regions of the United States, including the climate, geography, resources, people, landmarks, and economies of each region.

Fifth Grade: Fifth graders will start Quarter 1 by examining Native American life and culture in different regions of the United States. In Quarter 2, they will study the Age of Exploration including early explorers, the life of early settlers, and the impact of settlements and exploration on the new world, including how they impacted the lives of Native Americans living on the North American continent. Quarter 3 will be spent studying the acts and events leading up to the American Revolution as well as the creation of the new government after the war. In Quarter 4, students will examine the growing nation, the Civil War and Reconstruction.