• Engage in Democratic Processes

    • demonstrate an understanding of the virtues that citizens should use when interacting with each other and the virtues that guide official government institutions.

      • Discuss democratic principles such as equality, fairness, and respect for legitimate authority.

      • Discuss how people can improve their communities in the present and over time.

    • demonstrate an understanding of the important institutions of their society and the principles that these institutions are intended to reflect.

      • Describe roles and responsibilities of people in authority in school and community settings.

      • Explain how all informed citizens play important roles in the community.

      • Explain the need for and purposes of rules in various settings such as the family, classroom, and school.

      • Explain how rules are made and the consequences for violating those rules.

    • demonstrate understanding of the processes and rules by which groups of people make decisions, govern themselves, and address public problems.

      • Describe how people can work together to make decisions in the classroom and school.

      • Engage in democratic processes to address authentic, real-world problems in the classroom or school.

  • Analyze and Address Authentic Civic Issues

    • develop skills and practices which demonstrate an understanding that historical inquiry is based on the analysis and evaluation of evidence and its credibility.

      • Collaboratively ask and respond to enduring essential questions of common concerns to the student and the community.

      • Recognize connections between compelling and supporting questions which help answer an essential social studies question.

      • Practice inquiry skills by responding to various levels of open-ended questions on a regular basis.

    • demonstrate the ability to investigate problems taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in arguments, structure of an explanation and other sources.

      • Discuss local problems and ways in which people are trying to address these problems.

      • With guidance and support, demonstrate understanding of social studies content through completion of authentic tasks and assessments.

  • Acquire, Apply, and Evaluate Evidence

    • develop skills and practices which demonstrate an understanding that historical inquiry is based on the analysis and evaluation of evidence and its credibility.

      • Identify a primary source of information and gather basic information from such sources.

      • Identify the author and date of a primary source using information found within the source itself with guidance and support.

      • With guidance and support, compare two primary or secondary sources about a particular event in history or contemporary events.

      • Make simple timelines from given information with guidance and support.

      • Discuss possible reasons for an event or development in the past.

      • Discuss how individuals and groups have shaped significant historical changes.

      • Identify point of view and give examples relevant to the student’s experiences.

    • demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and develop mastery of geographic tools and ways of thinking in order to become geographically informed.

      • Answer geographic questions using geographic information about the student’s own community.

      • Create and use basic maps, graphs, and other simple models to identify the physical and human features of the community.

      • Describe the community’s human and physical environment through the use of simple geographic representations and photographs.

      • Identify examples of how humans modify and adapt to their physical environment using its natural resources.

      • Discuss how the physical environment impacts our daily lives and affects human activities.

      • Discuss why and how people and goods move from place to place.

    • analyze the principles of economic systems and develop an understanding of the benefits of a market system in local, national, and global settings.

  • Read Critically and Interpret Informational Sources

    • comprehend, evaluate, and synthesize textual sources to acquire and refine knowledge in the social studies.

    • apply critical reading and thinking skills to interpret, evaluate, and respond to a variety of complex texts from historical, ethnic, and global perspectives.

      • Explain and discuss the author’s purpose, with guidance and support.

      • Locate facts that are clearly stated in a text (e.g. who, what, where, when, why, and how).

      • Ask and answer basic questions and engage in collaborative discussions about appropriate topics in a social studies text.

  • Engage in Evidence-Based Writing

    • summarize and paraphrase, integrate evidence, and cite sources to create written products, research projects, and presentations for multiple purposes related to social studies content.

      • Draw, label, dictate and write a narrative with guidance and support.

      • Draw, label, dictate, and write an informative product with guidance and support.

      • With guidance and support, draw, label, dictate, and write to express an opinion, providing reasons as support.

      • Express ideas independently through a combination of drawing and emergent writing.

    • engage in authentic inquiry to acquire, refine, and share knowledge through written presentations related to social studies.

      • With guidance and support, generate a list of topics of interest and questions about social studies.

      • Organize information found during group research, using graphic organizers and other aids with guidance and support.

      • With guidance and support, create a simple presentation, using audio, visual, or multimedia tools to communicate ideas and thoughts.