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    Our Philosophy

    The National Council for Social Studies has created standards that focus on ten "themes" that cut across all the social sciences.  The approach to teaching these themes emphasizes inquiry and thinking.  Standards provide important guidelines and resources for analyzing and revising social studies programs.
     
    Understanding By Design, or UbD, is a dynamic design approach which serves as a key model for the construction of the curriculum as well as units of study and individual lesson plans.  UBD is a "backward" design approach.  In other words, designing lessons for understanding begins with what we want students to be able to do, then determine the acceptable evidence, and finally the planning and construction of the learning experiences and instruction.  Within this framework, "Enduring Understandings" are first identified.  These are the big ideas that will anchor the unit or course.  Next, prerequisite knowledge and skills are established that students need to successfully accomplish key performances and gain the "Enduring Understandings."  The final area of consideration is "knowledge worth being familiar with", which includes information that students will be exposed to during the course of study.

    Our social program implements the History Alive approach to teaching social studies.  The program is designed to engage students and help them to master social studies skills and content through proven strategies.  
     
    Carl Sandburg Middle School's social studies program implements a standards-based curriculum with emphasis on higher order thinking, connections to other subjects and the real world.  Lessons incorporate active learning and multiple learning styles.  The goal of our approach is in-depth thorough investigation and extensions of learning.  A variety of assessment tools are used to evaluate student progress.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Historical Analysis Skills
    Scope and Sequence
    • Grade 5 – Interpret the documents using informative writing. Give evidence from the documents to support your answer. Be sure to cite the document referenced for each support. The question should ask students to demonstrate their ability to identify facts versus opinions, point of view and cause and effect.
    • Grade 6 – Interpret the documents using informative writing. Give evidence from the documents to support your answer. Be sure to cite the document referenced for each support. The question should ask students to demonstrate their ability to identify facts versus opinions, point of view and cause and effect.
    • Grade 7 – Analyze and interpret the documents using informative writing. Documents should be from a variety of sources. Students must support their answer with evidence from the documents, citing the documents used. The documents should ask students to demonstrate their ability to identify facts versus opinion, point of view, cause and effect, patterns, primary versus secondary sources and students should question the credibility of the source.
    • Grade 8 – Analyze and interpret the documents using informative writing. Documents should be from a variety of sources. Students must support their answer with evidence from the documents, citing the documents used. The documents should ask students to demonstrate their ability to identify facts versus opinion, point of view, cause and effect, patterns, primary versus secondary sources and students should question the credibility of the source and identify any bias of the author/artist.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Middle School Social Studies Curriculum 
    Scope and Sequence
     
     
    Grade 5: American History - Colonization through the Causes of the American Revolution

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     Grade 6: World History I - Beginnings through Rome

         Understanding the World of the Past and Present

         The Development of Societies 

         The Five Characteristics or Features of a Civilization
     
         Ancient Mesopotamia
     
         Ancient Greece
     
         Ancient Egypt
     
     
    Grade 7: World History II - Legacy of Rome through the Middle Ages
     
         Legacy of the Roman Empire
     
         Islam and the Middle East

         We    st African Civilizations
     
         Civilizations of China and Japan
     
         Meso-America (Maya, Inca, Aztec)
     
     
    Grade 8: U.S. History I - 1763 to the Causes of the Civil War
     
         The Causes of the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War
     
         The Confederation Era and Constitutional Convention 
     
         The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights
     
         The Early Republic
     
         An Era of Change 
     
         The Westward Movement and Expansion of America 
     
         The Causes of the Civil War

     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Our Staff

    Grade 5: American History - Colonization through the Cuases of the American Revolution
    Ms. Diane Lennon
    Mrs. Dawn Toth
    Grade 6: World History I - Beginnings through Greece
     
    Mrs. Suzanne Bethke
     
    Mr. Charlie Kirk
     
    Grade 7: World History II - Legacy of Rome through the Middle Ages
     
    Mr. Anthony Vizzini
     
    Grade 8: U.S. History I - 1763 to the Causes of the Civil War
     
    Mrs. Adrienne Glaser
     
    Mr. Steve Simons