Humanities
6th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies
Essential Skills
· Grammar and Usage
· Critical Thinking/Reading Skills
· Well – Developed Paragraphs
· Multi-paragraph Essays
· Persuasive and Expository writing styles
· Speaking/Presentation Skills
· Listening Skills |
Critical Content
· Various Classroom Novel Studies and Literature Studies
· Short Stories from literature textbook
· Junior Scholastic Magazines
· Ancient Civilizations analysis through: architecture,
writing, art, religion, technology, social structure in
the civilizations of: Sumer, China and Greece
Resources |
History Alive: The Ancient World |
Houghton Mifflin: Triumphs |
|
Rigor is also infused through the requirement that students read increasingly complex texts through the grades. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.
7th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies
The language arts curriculum is integrated with the social studies American history from Revolution through Reconstruction to promote content relevance and interdisciplinary comprehension.
Units |
Areas of Focus |
Assessment Tools |
Revolution and Independence |
Causes and consequences of the American Revolution |
Expository and persuasive essay work
Textbook comprehension activities
Critical Thinking/Reading Activities
Novel unit study
Daily Language Workout
Grammar and spelling unit work
Speaking /listening/presentation skills |
The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi |
Historical fiction centered around the causes of American discontent with British rule |
Creating a New Nation |
Issues centering around the creation of the Constitution and the new republic |
CBA: Constitutional Issue |
State-mandated persuasive essay writing on a constitutional right |
The Early Republic and
A Changing Nation |
Issues arising from extending our country’s boundaries |
West Against the Wind by Liza Ketchum |
Historical fiction centered on the migration westward on the Oregon Trail |
A Nation Divided and Rebuilt |
Causes and consequences of the American Civil War |
Brady by Jean Fritz |
Impact of the Underground Railroad on the sectional tensions leading up to the American Civil War |
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton |
Discussion of young adult group dynamics |
Grammar and Usage |
Conventions and sentence structure
Vocabulary development
6 Traits of Writing |
Literary circles |
Varieties of genre, individual and group work |
8th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies
The language arts curriculum is integrated with the social studies American history from Reconstruction through present day to promote content relevance and interdisciplinary comprehension.
Major Units |
Areas of Focus |
Assessment Tools |
Westward Expansion |
Increasing growth and migration to the West, impact of the transcontinental railroad, and consequences to Native American population. |
Expository and persuasive essay work
Textbook comprehension activities
Critical Thinking/Reading Activities
Primary Source Analysis
Novel unit study
Daily Language Workout
Grammar and spelling unit work
Speaking /listening/presentation skills |
The Contender by Robert Lipstyle |
Young adult fiction centered on goal setting and being true to yourself. |
Immigration, Urbanization, and Industrialization. |
Issues on the growth of cities and industry. Research on social problems and the rise of progressivism. |
CBA: Causes of Conflict |
State-mandated persuasive essay on the reasons that cause conflict. |
Imperialism |
Issues arising from extending our country’s boundaries
|
No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt |
Historical fiction centered on what life was like for teenagers during the Great Depression. |
World War I and II |
Causes and consequences of the World Wars. |
Cold War and Civil Rights |
The rise of America as a world superpower, racial inequality, and the history of the Civil Rights movement. |
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee |
Discussion of racial inequality and coming of age. |
Grammar and Usage |
Conventions and sentence structure
Vocabulary development
6 Traits of Writing |
Literary circles |
Novel studies with a varieties of genre, individual and group work |