Social Studies is an umbrella term encompassing the disciplines of history, geography, civics and
government, economics, and psychology.
TEKS in Social Studies The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) is the state curriculum for
kindergarten to grade 12. The TEKS organizes the social studies content
inductively, from the known to the unknown. In this alignment, children begin
learning about the self in kindergarten and expand their knowledge with each
successive grade, eventually encompassing the community, the state, the nation,
and the world.
Key Components of Kindergarten Social Studies Child, Home, Family, and Classroom.
Curriculum 1. The child as an individual.
2. Home and Families
3. State and national heritage
4. Patriotic holidays and the contribution of historical character
Key Components of 1st Grade Social Studies Curriculum Child's Relationship to the Classroom, School and Community
1. The concept of chronology developed by distinguishing among past, present, and
future
2. Anthems and mottoes of Texas and the United States
3. Relationship among the classroom, school, and community.
Key Components of 2nd Grade Social Studies Curriculum Local Community
1. Impact of significant individuals and events in the history of the community, state
and nation
2. Concepts of time and chronology by measuring calendar time by days, weeks,
months, and years
3. Relationship between the physical environment and human activities
4. Functions of government and the services it provides.
Key Components of 3rd Grade Social Studies Curriculum How Individuals Change Their Communities and the World
1. Past and present heroes and their contributions
2. People who overcame obstacles
3. Economic, cultural, and scientific contributions made by individuals.
Key Components of 4th Grade Social Studies Curriculum History of Texas
1. History of Texas from its beginning to the present
2. Events and individuals of the 19th and 20th centuries
3. Human activity and physical features of regions in Texas and the Western
Hemisphere
4. Native Americans in Texas and the Western Hemisphere
5. European exploration and colonization
6. Types of Native American governments
7. Characteristics of Spanish and Mexican colonial governments
Key Components of 5th Grade Social Studies Curriculum United States History
1. History of the United States from its beginning to the present
2. Significant events and individuals of the late 19th and 20th centuries, including
contributions of important inventors and scientists
3. Regions of the United States that result from physical features and human activity
4. Characteristics and benefits of the free enterprise system
5. Roots of representative government
6. Important ideas in the Declaration of Independence
7. Meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance
8. Fundamental rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights
9,. Customs and celebrations of racial, ethnic, and religious groups in the United
States
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Key Components of 6th Grade Social Studies Curriculum People and Places of the Contemporary World
1. This part of the curriculum is designed to introduce students to the concepts of
cultural geography. The discipline of geography explores patterns, relationships,
and processes at least to global scale.
2. People and places of the contemporary world
3. Societies from the following regions in the world: Europe, Russia and the
Eurasian republics, North America, Middle America, South America, Southwest
Asia-North Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and
the Pacific realms.
4. Influence of individuals and groups from different cultures on selected historical
and contemporary events
5. Different ways of organizing economic and governmental systems
Literature Based Approach Ideal way to integrate Social Studies with language arts.
Through the use of authentic multicultural literature, teachers can expose children to
quality reading as well as the cultures of the many ethnic and linguistic groups living
in the United States.
Social studies is strongly linked with English Language Arts and Reading. It not only
requires strong reading and writing skills but also support reading by providing an
understanding of the history as well as the physical and cultural characteristics of a
place.
Thematic Instruction In this approach, a teacher or teachers select a theme and organize content area
instruction around it. It can be done in a self-contained classroom or in a
departmental format in which several teachers teach the content.
Ideal for ELL's because the use of a common theme in multiple content areas
makes content more cognitively accessible for them.
Maps; Globes Symbolic representation can pose challenges for children in kindergarten through
grade 4 and occasionally in grades 5 and 6. _________ and __________ are tools
for representing space symbolically.
Globes are a mathematical model of the Earth and show correct, unaltered (not distorted)
distance, size, and shape of continents and bodies of water. They can also help in
studying the proportion of land and water.
Globe for Kindergarten through 3rd grade Teachers should use a simplified 12-inch globe that uses no more that 3 colors to
represent land elevation and no more than 2 colors to represent water depth. The
globe should include only the largest river, cities, and oceans.
Globes for grades 4 through 6 can be 16-inch globes and contains additional details and usually seven colors to
represent land elevation and three colors to represent water depth.
Maps are a flat representation of the world and distort the distance, size , or shape of the
continents and bodies of water.
Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection presented by the Flemish geographer and
cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
Steps to the Inquiry Teaching Approach develop a question, propose a hypothesis, collect and organize data, analyze the
collected data, draw conclusions from the data to answer the question, form a
generalization based on the conclusions
Evaluating Internet Materials purpose? url? author? accuracy? objectivity?
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Chronology arrangement of events in order of occurrence
Century 100 years
Prehistory period before writing was developed
Domestication of Plants plants required that people stay in one place, food surpluses made it possible for
community to specialize in activities besides farming, skills were traded for food,
farming societies formed settlements that led to more complex economies
Civilization complex society with a government, religion, writing, and learning
Monotheism the belief of one Supreme Being
Polytheism the belief in many gods
Rosetta Stone large black stone found in Egypt containing a hieroglyphics message in Greek,
Egyptian Script, and Egyptian which allowed archeologists to use Greek to decode
and read the recorded history of the ancient Egyptians
Civil War a war in which groups of people from the same place or country fight each other
Magna Carta signed by King John of England in 1215 establishing the kings recognition of the
rights of his nobles, kept the power of the English king from becoming 'absolute' -
limiting his power
Renaissance c. 1400-1600 when Europe experienced a rebirth in philosophy, learning art, and
science (ex: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus (showed Earth resolved
around the sun) and Galileo (inventor of the telescope))
Frederick Koenig invented the printing press, books could now be printed in large numbers, and
became less expensive, new ideas spread more quickly
Isaac Newton mathematician and physicist who developed the idea of the scientific method,
Principa Mathematica (1687) described laws of motion and of gravity (*one of the
most important scientific books ever published)
Nationalism a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country
Imperialism a policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically,
economically, or socially
occurred during the empire building of the 19th century when countries of Europe
colonized and controlled vast areas of of Africa and Asia
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Conscription a law that required men to serve in the military or be drafted
Cold War time period after World War II when the US and Soviet Union prepared for war,
lasted from the end of WW II (1945) until the end of the Soviet Union (1991)
Atlatl a spear used by early hunters over 10,000 years ago
Vikings 1000 A.D, led by Leif Eriksson sailing from Greenland and established fishing and
hunting bases in 'Vinland' in Canada
Christopher Columbus first European to 'discover' the Americas sailing from Spain with the Nina, Pinta, and
Santa Mariam in August 1492, found land in the Bahamas in October 1492,
Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October, his discoveries
opened the way to Western European exploration of the Americas and led to
exchanges of people, plants, animals, and ideas between Europeans and Native
Americans
Native Americans vs. Europeans between 10-25 million natives lived in America, conflict between the Europeans and
Native Americans arose over land ownership until the Indian Removal Act of 1830
and the last battle in 1890 at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
Native American Group - Iroquois northeastern North America
Native American Group - Cherokee southeastern North America
Native American Group - Sioux north central plains of North America
Native American Group - Navajo southwestern North America
Native American Group - Inuit far northern fringe of North America
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