6th Grade Social Studies: Complete Curriculum of Sixth Grade Social Studies

Sixth Grade Social Studies is taught to the National Council for the Social Studies (U.S.) standards, covering world history, geography, economics, and global connections. Learners will explore the continents and regions, major countries and empires past and present, migration patterns, world religions, and cultures. Learners will have two journal writing prompts each week, and will also write a research paper. Research paper writing will be scaffold throughout the semester and will continue learning from fifth grade social studies about reputable sources, citing sources, making an outline, and drafting, proof reading, and editing the final paper.

I am currently enrolled in my final course through the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History master of arts in American history program. In addition, I have bachelor of arts degrees in English, journalism, and political science. I was the director of a social justice center for three years during which time I routinely taught about and facilitated conversations about historical and current political events for both teen and adults participants. Before that, I was a newspaper editor and reporter for 15 years. I have been teaching history, social studies, and English Language Arts classes for the past five years. I am currently lead teacher at The Foster Woods Folk School, which focuses on education, storytelling, and the arts within an ecosocial justice framework aimed at celebrating and improving our connections as a global community of human and non-human earthlings. In this role, I work with learners of all ages with a primary focus of working with learners in grades three through 12.  

There is daily homework to be completed outside of class time. Homework includes reading and writing assignments, as well as worksheets and other learning projects. There is also a final research paper that includes scaffold assignments throughout the 20-week course. 

Weekly homework is assessed as follows for learners seeking a letter grade and letter of completion: 
Comprehension Quiz: 15 Percent 
Writing Assignment: 30 Percent
Project/Worksheet: 25 Percent
Class Participation: 15 Percent
Scaffold Research Paper Assignments: 15 Percent

Scores on the weekly homework account for 75 percent of the final grade with the research paper counting for 25 percent of the final grade. 

Students who earn a C (70 percent) or higher in the course will receive a letter of completion. 

50 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 2 - 4 hours per week outside of class.

The sixth grade social studies course pulls from a myriad of sources. We will use many primary sources to explore historical events and periods through the eyes of people who were firsthand witnesses. These may include diary entries, letters, court testimonies, and other sources. Assigned readings will come from sources such as NewsELA, Zinn Education Project, Learning for Justice, MI Open Book Project World Geography Text, and MI Open Book Project Ancient World History. 

As far as lecture development, I pull on several sources including the McGraw Hill World History and Geography: Ancient Civilizations Grade 6 textbook.