Eighth Grade Curriculum Guide
EIGHTH GRADE AT THE ORCHARD SCHOOL
Social Studies
Though a large portion of eighth-grade social studies at The Orchard School focuses on the history of the United States, students will use that information as a tool to better understand the United States, and the world, as they exist today. Students build on critical thinking skills and implicit reasoning to create theories about cause and effect relationships and the connections between events during the periods studied. The most crucial part of this work is to determine how past events have directly and indirectly shaped the present. Social studies curriculum is based on Indiana Academic Standards.
Eighth Graders will grow as historians and global thinkers by:
• Distinguishing between and applying implicit and explicit reasoning. • Identifying and explaining implicit cause and effect relationships. • Asking critical questions about unfamiliar topics to gain understanding. • Identifying plausible motivations for social and political movements and events. • Drawing parallels and creating connections between past and current events. • Recognizing the long-standing impact a cultural movement can have. • Grasping that domestic issues can have international consequences.
Topics of study
• Credibility and implicit reasoning • History of the United States • Events leading to and the process of colonizing the Americas. • Economic and societal structures leading to the American Revolution • Makeup and interaction of the federal government • Development and expansion leading to the American Civil War • Causes and impacts of World Wars I and II • Current events, based on relevance and importance • Marginalized groups and social justice
THE ORCHARD SCHOOL
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator