Social Studies 5: Society and Self

Grade 5 Social Studies dovetails with English in a humanities course that integrates the study of stories and cultures.  Students explore the relationship between past and present using maps, charts, and other geographic tools to better understand people, places, resources, and environments on earth.  They observe and analyze the interaction between people, the environment, and culture, in order to understand what constitutes a civilization.  Students develop critical thinking skills, such as supporting a claim with facts and transferring knowledge to new scenarios, through study of these essential questions:

• Who am I?  How do I express myself?
• Where am I in place and time?  What are necessary human stories to be heard?
• Who are the change makers?  How do our stories prompt change, growth and revolution?  How does the world work?
• How do we organize ourselves?  How is the natural world organized?  What human needs require structure?
• Who are the stakeholders in sharing?  How can we share the planet?  What are planetary outcomes in sharing?

Within the context of these questions, student work focuses on literature studies, vocabulary activities, and the writing process. Students also complete projects, presentations, simulations, essays, and contests in geography, spelling, poetry, and short stories, including Battle of the Books.  Resources include our class young adult fiction books, a teacher-made anthology of poems and short stories, references to the History Alive textbook, and guest speakers, in addition to a wide range of articles and texts in our extensive online databases.