Fourth Grade Social Studies
Curriculum Overview
District 30 Social Studies Curriculum Foundations
Common Beliefs
District 30 promotes high standards and holds high expectations for all learners in our schools. We have
a common vision for what graduates of our schools will know and be able to do with respect to social
studies knowledge and skills. Specifically, upon completion of our program of social studies instruction,
District 30 graduates will be able to:
•
Think critically about social and economic issues and evaluate and propose solutions to issues
• Delve into historical events and periods and emerge with an understanding of how the past informs
the future
• Examine local issues that impact our city, state and nation as well as the ability to understand larger,
global issues that impact citizens locally
• Consider perspectives different from their own to understand various sides of an issue, event, or
movement
• Communicate effectively and respectfully
We believe that all of our students are capable learners who will move to high school and the world of
higher education equipped with the necessary skills and understandings that will allow them to transition
into rigorous course work and onto pathways for deeper study in the field of social studies or related
areas.
Philosophy
“Social Studies educators teach students the content knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values
necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a participatory democracy.”
-The National Council for the Social Studies
Social Studies is the integrated study of the social sciences to promote informed citizenship. Our
curriculum is designed to tell the story of who we are as citizens of the United States and of a larger
global society. As educators of 21st century learners, our job is to prepare students to be able to critically
participate as active citizens with the ability to intelligently and compassionately participate in our
democracy in this millennium (NCSS, Media Literacy, 2009). Our curriculum thoughtfully integrates the
disciplines of history, geography, economics, and government to help young people develop the ability to
make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic
society in an increasingly interdependent world.
Social studies curriculum in District 30 focuses on supporting student growth so that they:
• Develop a strong content base so that students understand that the past informs the future
• Develop local, national and global perspectives which emphasize interconnectedness among people
and events
• Build understanding of how to work to address environmental concerns and human rights issues
• Build understanding of how to participate in the economic development of the United States and the
global community
• Expand their ability to thrive, contribute and produce in a participatory culture that uses
information/communication technologies and media literacies for collaboration and networking
The Process
The District 30 Social Studies Curriculum guide is aligned with the Illinois State Standards as well as
Common Core Standards. It is also based upon the ten themes that form the framework of social studies
standards, which were developed by the National Council for the Social Studies (1994) and National
Geographic's five themes of geography (1986).
District 30 students are taught content, concepts, and skills through a wide variety of methods, including
but not limited to, engaging learning strategies, incorporation of technology and tools for media literacy,
and the integration of literature. Multiple assessment tools are used to measure student progress. In
addition, the formulation of this curriculum is based on the Backwards Design model (Wiggins &
McTighe), a research-based set of strategies for curriculum and assessment design.
District 30 Social Studies curriculum has been designed and written by a team of District 30 teachers who
considered the many important aspects of teaching and learning in the development of social studies
curriculum. These practices and design elements enable the District 30 staff to address the unique needs
and learning styles of individual students.
Fourth Grade Social Studies Maps
Unit Map—Illinois/Midwest
Essential Questions:
• Why have people settled in Illinois and the Midwest Region, both past and present?
• How does geography affect the economy of any region?
• How do landforms, climate, and the location of natural resources affect the way
people live and work?
• Why is it important to recognize and honor historical contributions?
• What motivates people to settle in a region and what is the effect on future
generations of their families?
• How do people utilize and share resources?
• How can we use and preserve natural resources of any region while responsibly
meeting our needs?
• How do the people of a region work together when the goals and interests of
different groups conflict?
• What creates the culture of a region?
Enduring Understandings (what students should know and understand):
• Lifestyles in Illinois are dependent on the history, resources and geography of the
area.
• Landmarks provide historical, cultural, geographical, and governmental links to our
past.
• Human intervention can preserve or destroy natural resources,and threats past,
present, and future impact those resources.
• In Illinois, drinking water comes from a variety of sources.( wells, Lake Michigan,
rivers)
• Chicago, Illinois has been and remains a transportation hub.
• People use maps and other geographic representations and instruments to gather
information about people, places, and environments.
• Trade is dependent upon geography and transportation in any region.
• Settlement in any region is influenced by a variety of factors.
• Individual citizens and government determine how resources are allocated today
and how they will be used and preserved in the future.
•
Maps provide geographical, historical. political, and cultural information.
What students should know (vocabulary, facts, and information):
• States and capitals of the Midwest Region:
• Ohio, Columbus
• Indiana, Indianapolis
• Michigan, Lansing
• Wisconsin, Madison
• Illinois, Springfield
• Minnesota St. Paul
• Iowa, Des Moines
• Missouri, Jefferson City
• North Dakota, Bismarck
• South Dakota, Pierre
• Nebraska, Lincoln
• Kansas, Topeka
Skills (what students should be able to do):
• Identify main landforms and waterways, and explain how they affect the lives of
people in the region in which they live.
• Describe the climate of the region and analyze how it affects people and wildlife.
• Describe how supply and demand effect the region's economy.
• Explain how changes in technology and transportation contribute to the growth of
industry in the region.
Unit Map—Regions (Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, West)
Essential Questions:
• Why do people settle in these regions? Why have they in the past?
• How does geography affect the economy of any region?
• How do landforms, climate, and the location of natural resources affect the way
people live and work?
• Why is it important to recognize and honor historical contributions?
• How do people utilize and share resources?
• How do we use and preserve natural resources of any region? How do we meet our
needs and be responsible citizens of the earth?
• How do the people of a region work together when the goals and interests of
different groups conflict?
• What creates the culture of a region?
Enduring Understandings (what students should be able to understand):
• People use maps and other geographic representations and instruments to gather
information about people, places, and environments
• Trade is dependent upon geography and transportation in any region.
• Settlement in any region is influenced by a variety of factors.
• Individual citizens and government determine how resources are allocated today
and how they will be used and preserved in the future.
• Maps provide geographical, historical. political, and cultural information.
What students should know (vocabulary, facts, and information):
• Vocabulary/Facts and information Northeast - coast, human resources, culture,
industry, cape, bay, coastal plain, market economy, profit,, capital resources, culture,
immigration, government branches. Representative, election, democracy,
skyscraper, canal. lock, mass production, mill, wage, American Revolution,
Declaration of Independence, megalopolis, population density, pollution
• Vocabulary/Information Southeast - producer, consumer, opportunity cost,
peninsula, delta, adapt, dam, scarcity, export, boycott, research, hub communication,
transportation, ethnic group, planned community, highlands, wetlands, coastal
plains
• Vocabulary/Information Southwest - Vocabulary- geothermal, irrigation,
specialization, mission, hydroelectric power, arid, national park, specialization,
wagon train, transcontinental railroad, weathering, habitat, conservation, extinct,
seasonal, ecosystem, climate, elevation, migrant worker, port cities, mesa , aqueduct,
dam, canyon, cave, cavern, border, mission rebellion, capital
• Vocabulary/Information West - pass, expedition, geyser, technology. gorge,
sawmill, mint, Mormon, oasis, source, tributary, river basin, drought, irrigation,
reservoir, habitat, conservation, waste water
Skills (what students should be able to do):
• Identify how the main landforms affect the lives of people in each region.
• Describe how the economy of the region depends heavily on natural resources.
•
Identify the major industries in each region.
• Identify the influences that attracted settlers to each region.
• Explain why many people moved to the cities in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
• Explain why people settled near rivers and other bodies of water.
• Explain how the state and national government are divided and how what their
responsibilities are.
• Identify the components of democracy and what it means to be a good citizen
Unit Map—European Exploration
Essential Questions:
• How did economics motivate Europeans to explore new and far away lands?
• How did European exploration and expansion affect the people who were native to
the Americas?
• How did the trade patterns established by the European settlements and the
exchange of goods and services affect the Americas and other parts of the world?
Enduring Understandings (what students should understand):
Students will understand European explorers were seeking:
• new trade routes
• wealth
• religious freedom
•
to spread Christianity
• acquisition of new land
• improved lifestyle
Positive outcomes of exploration were:
•
exchange of ideas and natural resources
Negative outcomes of exploration:
• exchange of diseases
• conflicts over possession of land
• forced labor
Technology advanced as a result of European exploration, which allowed for further
exploration:
• compass
• astrolabe
• improved maps
Explorers experienced challenges such as:
• fear of things they didn't understand
• the threat of death by disease or starvation
• natural barriers to travel ( weather and geographical obstacles)
What students should know (vocabulary, facts, and information):
• Vocabulary – explorers, slavery, import, export, navigation, circumnavigate,
expedition, colony, merchant, kingdom, caravan, technology, profit, slavery, astrolbe,
compass, crew, settlement, epidemic, empire, conquistador, mission, convert,
hacienda, revolt
• Explorers: Marco Polo, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco Da Gama, Christopher Columbus,
Pedro Alvarez Cabral, Amerigo Vespucci, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Magellan, Hernan
Cortes, Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Alvar
Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Estevanico Dorantes
Skills (what students should be able to do):
• Demonstrate understanding that explorers were looking for new ways to enhance
their lifestyles.
• Explain the cause and effect relationship of trade and exploration.
• Articulate the effects of exploration on the Native Americans.
• Describe how technology and exploration were linked.