K-6 Social Studies Curriculum
Listed below are links to the Social Studies Curriculum Documents:
K-6 Thematic Strands
The following are the thematic strands within which we have tried to organize the social studies learning. These are
adapted from the National Council for the Social Studies thematic strands .
K-6 Social Studies Themes Document
K-6 Social Studies Common Outcomes
Common Outcomes encompass the learning for the entire school year. The Essential Common Outcomes provide a guide for that learning that should be mastered by the end of the school year.
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Falmouth Historical Society Curriculum for Grades 3 and 5
In 2009, the Falmouth Historical Society was awarded a grant that allowed them to develop a curriculum that supplements the grade 3 and grade 5 social studies standards of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. The district is currently piloting that curriculum. Below is a link to the Historical Society's curriculum page:
http://sites.google.com/site/falmouthinhistory/home
Grade 7: World Geography and History Curriculum Overview
Philosophy, Outcomes, Approach
The seventh grade course builds on the previous year in which grade 6 studied ancient and classical civilizations of Europe and Asia to the fall of the Roman Empire. In grade 7, students learn about the emergence of the modern world and reflect on the importance of acquiring a global understanding.
The grade 7 course focuses on the development of nations to the present in the regions of Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. Students investigate political, scientific, technological, and economic changes as they affect major events in world history. Students also learn the importance of geography to the history of these regions. They examine the emergence and expansion of world religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
The approach strongly supports the four strands of the History and Social Science Curriculum Frameworks: geography, history, government, and economics.
In terms of the geography standards, students explain how physical features, climate, location and available resources affected the settlement and development of kingdoms, empires, and nations in the regions. They use tables, charts and maps to apply the five principles of geography: location, place, human interaction with the environment, movement, and regions.
In terms of history, students learn to identify the achievements of empires and nations, compare/contrast institutions and beliefs, and analyze the causes, course and effects of religious, scientific, and technological movements.
Under the government strand, students identify political features for Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and South America on modern maps. They also compare and contrast how governments in these regions approach modern issues such as refugees and minority rights.
Finally, in the area of economics, students learn the major resources of nations in these regions and identify problems and solutions to low per capita income, scarcity of water, fertility of the soil, disease, and literacy rates.
Students use Internet sources from National Geographic, e-Library and ABC.CLIO accessing documents, maps and live-time visuals to analyze and synthesize information.
Grade 7 World History
Grade 8: U.S. History Curriculum Overview
Philosophy,Outcomes,Approach
The eighth grade course begins with a focus on the historical and intellectual origins of the United States derived from the European heritage. Students learn about the important social, political, and economic factors of the Revolution and the making of a national government. Students study the founding documents and the debates over the framing of the Constitution. 
They learn the basic concepts and principles of government enunciated in the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, they study the amendments as they apply to their lives as citizens in a democratic republic. Civic responsibility and rule of law are learned and practiced. Other themes include westward expansion, development of political parties, diplomatic policies, economic growth, social reforms, and civil war. In each area of study students analyze the social, political, intellectual, religious, economic, military, and geographic conditions that helped shape the United States.
Important to the study of these periods is the skill of reading primary source documents. Students will understand chronology, cause and effect, the role of the individual in history, and the significance of economics and technology to progress and change. The field trips, hands-on activities, the reading of historical fiction and biography, as well as historical research are essential to learning the history of our nation. This year of study provides a foundation in the central ideas, events, people, and works that have shaped American history.
Grade 8 U.S. History
Grades 9-12 Social Studies
Last modified on November 19, 2010 by Ryan Webber