Textbook
Social Studies-The United States: Scott Foresman
Concepts that will be covered:
Early Life, East and West
Connections Across Continents
Colonial Life in North America
The American Revolution
Life in a New Nation
A Growing Nation
War Divides the Nation
Expansion and Change
The United States and the World
Textbook Work and Tests
As we progress through the chapter, students will be completing worksheets to check their understanding of each topic. They will be given a review sheet at the end of the chapter and will be asked to complete it. We will go over all the answers on the review sheet to ensure they are studying the correct material. We will also play a review game the day before the test.
States & Capitals Curriculum
In addition to the above curriculum, we will study the states and capitals within the United States. Students will be required to know all fifty states, their postal abbreviations, and their capitals. These tests are broken up into smaller sections and allow the students to learn them in a smaller grouping. They will be given a blank map that we will fill out together. These maps will act as their study guides! They need to practice every night. There will also be a test over all of the states we've covered so far after the region test is complete. This ensures they are not forgetting the previous states they've learned as we move across the map. Their final 50 states test will be in the spring. They will be given a blank map and will be required to fill it in.
Students will also be given a state page about each state. These sheets provide different facts about each state, however, students will not be tested about this information. Instead, they will answer 10 questions about each state. They are given class time to complete this and will be due the next day if they don't finish.
Links for Studying the States:
Printable map of the U.S. (with and without capitals):
http://www.mrprintables.com/printable-map-of-the-united-states.html
Online Games for Learning the Locations of the States and their Capitals:
http://www.mapmsg.com/games/statetris/usa/
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/flash/states_puzzle_lines2.html
http://www.scholastic.com/play/states.htm
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm
http://www.vectorkids.com/maps.htm
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html
Assessment
Assessments will be based on homework, projects, quizzes, and tests.
Grades
Grades are recorded on a point basis.