Social Studies Unit Overview
Kindergarten
Me in My World
In this unit, students will discover, explore, experience, and interact with the world
around them. They will develop a sense of their individual selves and their place in the
world through interactions and meaningful experiences with family, friends, school, and
the larger community. Students will use mapping as a tool to define themselves, their
family, their place within the classroom and within the world. Simultaneously, they will
become active citizens within and beyond the classroom.
Essential
Questions
• What
makes
each
person
an
individual?
• What
is
my
place
in
my
family?
• What
is
my
place
in
my
classroom?
• What
is
my
place
in
my
school?
• What
is
my
place
in
my
community?
• What
is
my
place
in
my
country?
• What
is
my
place
in
our
world?
• Why
must
we
follow
rules,
accept
responsibilities,
share
ideas
and
problem
solve
together?
Open Circle
Open Circle is a social competency program that helps students learn about the
importance of being a positive classroom and school member. Throughout the year, with
teacher facilitation, students problem solve and role-play “sticky” social situations using
shared vocabulary.
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010
Social Studies Unit Overview
Grade One
Family
In this unit, students will learn about their own identity within the context of a family and
the classroom. They will learn that each person and family has unique characteristics that
are of value and should be respected. They will learn that people are similar and different
win various ways. They will practice mapping skills locating their family connections
around the world.
Essential Questions
 What is a family? (definition of relationships/members/composition)
 What makes a family? (Support/care/love)
 How are families similar? unique?
 How do families help each other? (within and between)
 What is my role in my family? (timeline)
 How am I globally connected?
Japan
In this unit, students will learn about contemporary Japan. They will compare and
contrast specific aspects of children’s lives in both countries, including school life, family
life, and celebrations. They will be introduced to major geographic features and how
they are represented on a map of Japan.
Essential Questions
 How does the place where people live affect their lives?
 How are Japanese children and their families similar to you and your
family?
 How do traditions shape life in Japan?
Open Circle
Open Circle is a social competency program that helps students learn about the
importance of being a positive classroom and school member. Throughout the year, with
teacher facilitation, students problem solve and role-play “sticky” social situations using
shared vocabulary.
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010
Social Studies Unit Overview
Grade Two
Citizens, Communities, and Continents:
People who Make a Difference in Communities around the World
In this yearlong study, students develop an understanding of world geography,
communities, the rights and responsibilities of citizens within a community, and
individuals who have brought about change in our world. Embedded within a study of
continents and oceans, students develop an understanding of a community, globally and
locally. Students develop an understanding that traits such as honesty, compassion,
respect, responsibility, and courage are the building blocks of citizenship and positive
change in the world. Students continue their social development through participation in
the social competency program, Open Circle.
Key Concepts
 Individuals can bring about change in our world.
 A person’s character traits are reflected in his/her actions.
 There are different types of communities and differences between
communities.
 A community exists to meet its members’ needs.
 Members of a community have responsibilities.
 Communities change over time.
 Places in the world can be represented in different way (mapping).
 Land and water masses in the world have specific names (continent,
country, ocean, river, mountain range)
Open Circle
Open Circle is a social competency program that helps students learn about the
importance of being a positive classroom and school member. Throughout the year, with
teacher facilitation, students problem solve and role-play “sticky” social situations using
shared vocabulary.
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010
Social Studies Unit Overview
Grade Three
Places, Pathways, and Points of View: Massachusetts—Our Home
The third grade social studies curriculum is designed to develop an understanding of
early Massachusetts and U.S. history from the settlement of the Pilgrims through the
1760s. History and geography are explored as students encounter differing perspectives
and relationships between groups of people. Historic viewpoints are experienced through
active debate, role play, persuasive writing, and/or research. Students continue to
strengthen mapping skills through the use of historic, contemporary, state, and world
maps.
Key Concepts
 Knowing the past informs us about today.
 History is a story of the past: a story of what people thought, how they
lived, and what choices they made.
 Historic events can be viewed from different perspectives.
 People move for a variety of reasons.
 Settlement and colonization intended and unintended outcomes.
 Communities require law and order to thrive. (Mayflower Compact)
 Maps can be interpreted using: cardinal directions, scale, key, symbols,
compass rose, latitude and longitude, equator and prime meridian.
 Different maps tell different stories.
 States make up countries and countries make up continents.
Open Circle
Open Circle is a social competency program that helps students learn about the
importance of being a positive classroom and school member. Throughout the year, with
teacher facilitation, students problem solve and role-play “sticky” social situations using
shared vocabulary.
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010
Social Studies Unit Overview
Grade Four
Immigration
In this unit, students develop an understanding of why people move and why people live
where they live. Students conduct research using technology, texts, and oral histories to
discover when, why, and how different individuals and immigrant groups experienced the
process of leaving their home country and the process of arrival in America. Both early
and modern-day immigration are explored during this unit.
Key Concepts
 People move to other countries for various reasons.
 Immigrants settle where they do for cultural and economic reasons.
 Modern day immigration differs from “early” immigration.
Regions of the U.S.
In this unit, students develop an understanding of the fundamental concepts in geography
such as location, place and region. Through map analysis, using both traditional maps
and Google Earth, research, and discussion, students learn how geography, economy and
culture influence the regions of the United States.
Key Concepts
 Different types of maps provide different types of information.
 Geography, economy and culture dictate why people live in certain
regions.
Canada/Mexico
In this unit, students will apply what they have previously learned about U.S. regions to
Canada and Mexico. Specifically, students will explore the geography, economy and
culture of both of these North American countries.
Key Concepts
 Canada, Mexico and the United States are the three countries that make up
North America.
 Canada and Mexico are independent nations.
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010


Native peoples, both past and present, influence Canada and Mexico’s
culture.
Ethnic and religious groups influence Canada and Mexico’s culture.
Open Circle
Open Circle is a social competency program that helps students learn about the
importance of being a positive classroom and school member. Throughout the year, with
teacher facilitation, students problem solve and role-play “sticky” social situations using
shared vocabulary.
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010
Social Studies Unit Overview
Grade Five
Pre-Colonial America
In this unit, students study the geography of North America, early Native Americans and
their migration to North America. Students also spend time understanding the motives
for 15th and 16th Century European explorations.
Essential Questions:
 What effects does geography have on groups of people and their cultures?
 What motivates exploration and migration?
 What are some of the consequences—intended and unintended—of
exploration?
 How did cultural differences and similarities between Europeans and
American Indians influence their interactions?
Colonial America and the American Revolution
In this unit, students learn about the development of the English colonies in the 17th and
18th Centuries. Through analysis, research, and debate, students interact with history
regarding the events that led to and resulted in the American Revolution.
Essential Questions:
 How did the geography of North America affect settlement patterns and
the economic, political, and cultural development of different colonial
regions?
 How did life in the three colonial regions set the stage for colonists to join
in the cause for independence?
 Why did colonists from distinct regions join to create an independent
nation?
 In what ways was the American Revolution a war of ideas?
American Independence
In this unit, students learn the development of democratic ideas and institutions in 18th
century America, including the ideas and events that lead to the independence of the
thirteen colonies and the formation of a national government under the U. S. Constitution.
Essential Questions:
 What are the basic political principles of American democracy and what
were their origins?
 How do the constitution and Bill of Rights reflect and preserve these
principles?
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010
Open Circle
Open Circle is a social competency program that helps students learn about the
importance of being a positive classroom and school member. Throughout the year, with
teacher facilitation, students problem solve and role-play “sticky” social situations using
shared vocabulary.
Weston
Public
Schools
Fall‐2010