Social Studies

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Social Studies

The curriculum of the Social Studies Department challenges our students to become responsible, informed citizens and life-long learners.  Our curriculum also prepares students to be College and Career Ready through its adaptation of the Connecticut Common Core State Literacy in Reading and Writing Standards for Social Studies, Grades 9-12.                 

The Social Studies Curriculum, in turn, requires its teachers to be experts in their content areas and flexible in their instructional approaches.  Professional organizations, such as the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS), the Connecticut Council for Social Studies, and the AP College Board provide staff members with opportunities to access instructional resources, pedagogical trends, and instructional insights from colleagues.

The development of responsible, informed citizens and life-long learners is at the heart of the mission of the high school School Social Studies Department.  Preparing our students to be College and Career Ready is also a central tenet of our department’s work.  The curriculum, therefore, challenges students to:

  • Develop and demonstrate Social Studies content and skills mastery through a range of assessments, including (but not limited to) authentic assessments, objective tests, argumentative and informational writing assignments, and research papers/projects.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how the historical past influences our contemporary world.                
  • Utilize critical thinking skills when constructing questions and positions on given topics.
  • Determine the meaning of words describing political, social, and/or economic concepts of history/social studies.                
  • Compare and contrast depictions of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
  • Clearly express ideas in verbal and written modes.                
  • Write discipline-specific argumentative and informational/explanatory texts routinely over an extended period of time or shorter time-frames.
  • Research, gather, and synthesize relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources.               
  • Recognize and evaluate the validity of multiple perspectives, sources, and viewpoints while acknowledging an individual’s right to an opinion.
  • Incorporate technology into their academic research.                
  • Extend their academic learning beyond the walls of our classrooms through extra-curricular activities such as Enfield Youth Vote, the Model United Nations Club, and Darfur Awareness Committee.
  • Make appropriate academic, social, and personal choices.

 

 

 
   
Social Studies Resources
No resource available.