Middle School Social Studies: Ancient Civilizations of North America

This year-long social studies curriculum is designed to be inclusive to neurodiverse students including twice-exceptional students by providing appropriately leveled text, support for AAC users, embedded graphics, dyslexia-friendly font, and executive functioning supports including explicit instruction on notetaking and study skills.  This class meets two days a week and homework materials are provided for learners for two additional days. This allows them to complete the full social studies standards while building self-led learning skills and self-advocacy skills such as pacing.
Strategies like visual thinking, background connections, and other supports are utilized in every lesson launch to allow learners to feel comfortable and confident for the hard work and discussion of learning about history. Additionally, it is inquiry-based allowing learners to ask and learn the answers to their questions through consulting sources and discussion with others. Further, each lesson integrates art (such as sculptures, painting, or literature), informational text, and paragraph writing. This class uses the Nearpod platform. 
Sources include Teaching Tolerance, Social Studies for Social Justice, Ted-ED, AP US History Standards and supporting materials, The Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, National Geographic, Ancient Civilizations by Clarendon Learning, Exhibits developed by the MET, Facing History and Ourselves, and The National Archives, primary source materials including art, writing, maps, and other artifacts, and a variety of news pieces.
Timeline
	Week 1: This week students learn about the arrival of humans to North America. They are presented with multiple theories including land bridges and ocean-based migration as well as support for both theories. Students are informed that contemporary archeologists lean towards the ocean migration theory.  Students learn about the Olmec Civilization through an art study. They also begin to learn about the “Myth of the Moundbuilders” and the Adena Cultures.   
	Week 2: This week students study civilizations and how they succeed, interconnect, disappear, and spread. Students will identify common factors among early Mesoamerican cultures. They will also learn the unique challenges that come from studying these civilizations. They will also complete activities researching the cultural revival of Mayan and Aztec cultures in Mexico. 
	Week 3: In this week, students explore early misconceptions surrounding the studies of Ancient Civilizations including the Blythe Geogyphs, “Americas Lost City” Cahokia, and the Toltec Civilization. Students learn that these "mysteries" were framed that way by settlers but are easily explained when ways of knowing like oral histories are respected. In all of my classes on ancient people, we learn about the current history of these societies to help learners build connections to the present and understand they are living. We will discuss sample events including young climate leaders to present role models and embrace Social-Emotional-Learning. 
	Week 4: This week learners will produce their own knowledge and complete a research presentation. Learners will be encouraged to research ancient civilizations in a part of North America they feel connected to such as their state, the home of a loved one, the setting of a tv show/book, or home of a sports team. They will learn to use appropriate research sources to identify a pre-colonization society and research their history, government, how climate and geology impacted their ways of living, as well as their present.