STANDARD 6: Social Studies

Standard 6: Social Studies

Mission: Social Studies education provides learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to be active, informed citizens and contributing members of local, state and world communities.

Standard 6.1 Social Studies Skills All students will utilize historical thinking, problem solving, and research skills to maximize their understanding of civics, history, geography and economics.
Big Idea: The development of social studies skills enables learners to apply the concept of time, location, distance, relationships and points of view to the study of contemporary and past peoples, places, issues and events.
6.1. A Social Studies Skills - For Further information on 5.1, See Page 21 of New Jersey's Social Studies Framework
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- Whose point of view matters? - How do you locate legitimate sources? - How are present events related to past events?	- There are varying perspectives on the meaning of historical events. - There are credible and questionable sources of information about historical and contemporary events. - Historians establish justifiable timelines to connect significant events.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 2:

1. Explain the concepts of long ago and far away.
2. Apply terms related to time including past, present, and future.
3. Identify sources of information on local, national, and international events (e.g., books, newspaper, TV, radio, Internet)
4. Retell events or stories with accuracy and appropriate sequencing.

5. Develop simple timelines.
By the end of Grade 4:

1. Explain how present events are connected to the past.
2. Apply terms related to time including years, decades, centuries, and generations.
3. Locate sources for the same information (e.g., weather forecast on TV, the Internet or in a newspaper).
4. Organize events in a time line.
5. Distinguish between an eyewitness account and a secondary account of an event.
6. Distinguish fact from fiction.
By the end of Grade 8:
1. Analyze how events are related over time.
2. Use critical thinking skills to interpret events, recognize bias, point of view, and context.
3. Assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources.
4. Analyze data in order to see persons and events in context.
5. Examine current issues, events, or themes and relate them to past events.
6. Formulate questions based on information needs.
7. Use effective strategies for locating information.
8. Compare and contrast competing interpretations of current and historical events.
9. Interpret events considering continuity and change, the role of chance, oversight and error, and changing interpretations by historians.
10. Distinguish fact from fiction by comparing sources about figures and events with fictionalized characters and events.
11. Summarize information in written, graphic, and oral formats.
By the end of Grade 12:
1. Analyze how historical events shape the modern world.
2. Formulate questions and hypotheses from multiple perspectives, using multiple sources.
3. Gather, analyze, and reconcile information from primary and secondary sources to support or reject hypotheses.
4. Examine source data within the historical, social, political, geographic, or economic context in which it was created, testing credibility and evaluating bias.
5. Evaluate current issues, events, or themes and trace their evolution through historical periods.
6. Apply problem-solving skills to national, state, or local issues and propose reasoned solutions.
7. Analyze social, political, and cultural change and evaluate the impact of each on local, state, national, and international issues and events.
8. Evaluate historical and contemporary communications to identify factual accuracy, soundness of evidence, and absence of bias and discuss strategies used by the government, political candidates, and the media to communicate with the public.

Standard 6.2 Civics All students will know, understand and appreciate the values and principles of American democracy and the rights, responsibilities and roles of a citizen in the nation and the world.
Big Idea: An understanding of the historical foundations and underlying values and principles of American democracy prepares learners to make informed, responsible decisions as citizens and to value participation as citizens of the nation and the world.
6.2. A Civic Life, Politics and Government
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- What is government and what can it do? - Why do rules, laws and government not always preserve individual rights and the common good? What can be done about it?	- Societies require rules, laws and government. - Governments can change based on the needs of people, their society and their culture. -Citizens can influence government in many ways if they choose to participate.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 2:

1. Explain the need for rules, laws, and government.
2. Give examples of authority and recognize problems that might arise from lack of effective authority.
3. Describe how American citizens can participate in community and political life.
4. Explain that justice means fairness to all.
5. Explain that a responsibility means something you must or should do
6. Explore basic concepts of diversity, tolerance, fairness, and respect for others.
By the end of Grade 4:

1. Describe the characteristics of an effective rule or law (e.g., achieves purpose, clear, fair, protects rights and the common good).
2. Differentiate between power and authority.
3. Recognize that government exists at the community, county, state, and federal levels.
4 Recognize national, state, and local legislators and government officials and explain how to contact them for help or to express an opinion.
5. Describe the contributions of voluntary associations and organizations in helping government provide for its citizens.
By the end of Grade 8:

1. Discuss the sources, purposes, and functions of law and the importance of the rule of law for the preservation of individual rights and the common good.
2. Describe the underlying values and principles of democracy and distinguish these from authoritarian forms of government.
3. Discuss the major characteristics of democratic governments.
4. Describe the processes of local government.
5. Discuss examples of domestic policies and agencies that impact American lives, including the Environmental Protection Agency (e.g., clean air and water), the Department of Labor (e.g., minimum wage) and the Internal Revenue Service (e.g., Social Security, income tax).
6. Explain how non-governmental organizations influence legislation and policies at the federal, state, and local levels.
By the end of Grade 12:
1. Analyze how reserved and jointly held powers in the United States Constitution result in tensions among the three branches of government and how these tensions are resolved (e.g., Marbury v. Madison-1803; Federalist #78; United States v. Nixon-1974, claims of Executive Privilege by Presidents Nixon, Clinton, and Bush).
2. Apply the concept of the rule of law to contemporary issues (e.g., impeachment of President Clinton, use of Executive Privilege, recess appointments to federal courts, the Senate’s advise and consent process, and the use of litmus tests).
3. Analyze how individual responsibility and commitment to law are related to the stability of American society.
4. Evaluate competing ideas about the purpose of the national and state governments and how they have changed over time (e.g., the American version of federalism, the powers of the federal government and the states, differing interpretations of Article I, Sections 8-10).
5. Discuss how participation in civic and political life can contribute to the attainment of individual and public good.
6. Evaluate ways that national political parties influence the development of public policies and political platforms, including political action committees, McCain-Feingold Act, platform committees, and political campaigns.
7. Analyze how public opinion is measured and used in public debate (e.g., electronic polling, focus groups, Gallup polls, newspaper and television polls) and how public opinion can be influenced by the government and the media.

6.2. B American Values and Principles
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
-How have the basic values and principles of American democracy changed and in what ways have they been preserved?	- Our government was founded on the principles of fairness, equality and respect for diversity.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 2:

1. Identify symbols of American values and beliefs such as the American Flag and the Statue of Liberty
By the end of Grade 4:

1. Identify the fundamental values and principles of American democracy expressed in the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the first New Jersey Constitution.
2. Explain the significance of symbols of American values and beliefs, including the Statue of Liberty, the Statue of Justice, the American Flag, and the national anthem.
3. Describe how American values and beliefs, such as equality of opportunity, fairness to all, equal justice, separation of church and state, and the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, contribute to the continuation and improvement of American democracy.
4. Evaluate the importance of traditions, values, and beliefs which form a common American heritage in an increasingly diverse American society.
By the end of Grade 8:

1. Analyze how certain values including individual rights, the common good, self-government, justice, equality and free inquiry are fundamental to American public life.
2. Describe representative government and explain how it works to protect the majority and the minority.
3. Describe the continuing struggle to bring all groups of Americans into the mainstream of society with the liberties and equality to which all are entitled, as exemplified by individuals such as Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Nat Turner, Paul Robeson, and Cesar Chavez.
By the end of Grade 12:
1. Analyze major historical events and important ideas that led to and sustained the constitutional government of the United States, including the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Judiciary Act of 1789, the first Cabinet under George Washington, and Amendments 1-15.
2. Propose and justify new local, state, or federal governmental policies on a variety of contemporary issues (e.g., definition of marriage, voting systems and procedures, censorship, religion in public places).
3. Describe historic and contemporary efforts to reduce discrepancies between ideals and reality in American public life, including Amendments 13-15, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1875, the Abolitionist movement, the Civil War, and the end of slavery in the United States.
4. Discuss how a common and shared American civic culture is based on commitment to central ideas in founding-era documents (e.g., United States Constitution) and in core documents of subsequent periods of United States history (e.g., Washington’s Farewell Address; Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions-1848; The Gettysburg Address; President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech -1941; President Kennedy’s Inaugural Address-1961; the 17^th, 19^th, and 24^th Amendments; Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”).
5. Analyze the successes of American society and disparities between American ideals and reality in American political, social, and economic life and suggest ways to address them (e.g., rights of minorities, women, physically and mentally challenged individuals, foreign born individuals).
6. Explore the importance and presence of voluntarism and philanthropy in America and examine the role of local, state, national, and international organizations such as the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the Rotary.

6.2. C The Constitution and American Democracy
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- How does the government established by the Constitution embody the purposes, values and principles of the American dream? - How can a government decision be based on a Constitution that does not explicitly state the answer? - Why have the roles and responsibilities of U.S. citizens changed?	- The Constitution is a living document that helps in defining the roles and responsibilities of government and of citizens.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples
By the end of Grade 2:

1. Identify community and government leaders (e.g., mayor, town council, President of the United States)
By the end of Grade 4:

1. Discuss how the Constitution describes how the United States government is organized and how it defines and limits the power of government.
2. Discuss how governmental bodies make decisions and explain the impact of those decisions on school and community life.
3. Identify major services provided by state and local government.
4. Delineate the respective roles of the three branches of the federal and state governments.
By the end of Grade 8:

1. Discuss the major principles of the Constitution, including shared powers, checks and balances, separation of church and state, and federalism.
2. Compare and contrast the purposes, organization, functions, and interactions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of national, state, and local governments and independent regulatory agencies.
3. Discuss the role of political parties in the American democratic system including candidates, campaigns, financing, primary elections, and voting systems.
4. Discuss major historical and contemporary conflicts over United States constitutional principles, including judicial review in Marbury v. Madison, slavery in the Dred Scott Decision, separate but equal in Plessy v. Ferguson, and the rights of minorities in the Indian Removal Act.
5. Discuss major historical and contemporary conflicts over New Jersey constitutional principles (e.g., the impact of the New Jersey School Law of 1881 which required integration in the state’s public schools, Hedgepeth and Williams v. Trenton Board of Education, the Mount Laurel Decision, Jackman v. Bodine, Abbott v. Burke).
6. Research contemporary issues involving the constitutional rights of American citizens and other individuals residing in the United States, including voting rights, habeas corpus, rights of the accused, and the Patriot Act.
By the end of Grade 12:
1. Debate current issues and controversies involving the central ideas of the American constitutional system, including representative government (e.g., Electoral College and the popular vote), civic virtue (e.g., increasing voter turnout through registrations and campaigns), checks and balances, and limits on governmental power.
2. Analyze, through current and historical examples and Supreme Court cases, the scope of governmental power and how the constitutional distribution of responsibilities seeks to prevent the abuse of that power.
3. Compare the American system of representative government with systems in other democracies such as the parliamentary systems in England and France.
4. Compare and contrast the major constitutional and legal responsibilities of the federal government for domestic and foreign policy and describe how disagreements are resolved.
5. Describe the nature of political parties in America and how they reflect the spectrum of political views on current state and federal policy issues.
6. Explain the federal and state legislative process and analyze the influence of lobbying, advocacy groups, the media, and campaign finance on the development of laws and regulations.

6.2. D Citizenship

11. Summarize information in written, graphic, and oral formats.

1. Discuss the sources, purposes, and functions of law and the importance of the rule of law for the preservation of individual rights and the common good.

1. Analyze how certain values including individual rights, the common good, self-government, justice, equality and free inquiry are fundamental to American public life.