Elementary School 

Kindergarten: Myself and My Community

The goal of social studies education is for children to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Students begin to acquire these skills at the kindergarten level through learning experiences that allow them to explore themselves, their relationships and their communities. Students explain the purpose of local government, explain rules and responsibilities of individuals in their local community and identify several key symbols that represent the key components of being an American and a Kentuckian. Students explain how people use and communities provide goods and services. They explore geographic relationships in their local community by identifying the physical geography and explaining how humans impact the environment. Students learn to identify events and changes taking place in the school and local community by classifying events as taking place “today,” “yesterday” and “long ago.”

Grade 1: Impact on Community and State

The goal of social studies education is for children to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. First graders continue to work toward this goal by beginning to understand how they can impact their community and the state in a variety of ways, and how they are impacted by the communities in which they live. They explore the interplay between people of the past and modern communities by expanding their studies from a personal to a local level, to include the state. Students describe the purpose of Kentucky government, identify Kentucky leaders and identify how civic identity is shaped by symbolic figures, places and events. Students identify and describe what goods and services are produced in Kentucky and explain why the goods and services produced are traded with other communities. Students describe how culture and experience influence the cultural landscape of places and regions within their community and state. Students explore geographic relationships at different scales and make models and maps to show locations of familiar surroundings using cardinal and relative directions. Students compare life in Kentucky in the past to life in Kentucky today within the context of “today,” “yesterday” and “long ago.”

Grade 2: North American Interactions

The goal of social studies education is for children to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Second graders continue to work towards this goal by beginning to understand how communities work together throughout North America (Canada, Mexico and the U.S.). Students explain the need for civic and political structures and compare the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Students explain patterns of human settlement and compare the ways various cultural groups connect and interact within North America. Students describe how examples of capital, human, and natural resources are related to goods and services, and they categorize different limited resources as renewable and non-renewable. Students identify and compare the diverse cultural groups of North America and engage in learning the motivations of diverse groups in the past and today within the context of “today,” “yesterday” and “long ago.” 

Grade 3: Global Interactions

The goal of social studies education is for children to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Third graders continue to work toward this goal by applying the concept of community globally, understanding the impact of interaction between groups within the continent of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania (Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia). Students explain the basic purposes and functions of differing governing bodies in the world while comparing how diverse societies govern themselves. Students illustrate the relationship between supply and demand and describe examples of economic interdependence. Students explain how the cultural aspects of a region spread beyond its borders and how culture influences how people modify and adapt to their environments. Students compare diverse world communities in terms of members, customs and traditions to their local community while explaining how world events impact Kentucky. Students also investigate how communities work together while acknowledging the different perspectives of diverse groups in today’s world.

Grade 4: Migration and Settlement

The goal of social studies education is for children to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Fourth graders continue to work toward this goal by examining the reasons why and how people move from one place to another through their study of the migration and settlement of Colonial America. Students will describe diverse forms of self-government used by various groups in Colonial America while assessing the ability of various forms of government to foster civic virtues and uphold democratic principles. Students will compare and contrast different ways that the government interacts with the economy. Students will describe and evaluate the relationship between resource availability, opportunity costs, migration and settlement. Students will compare the distinctive cultural characteristics of groups that immigrated or were brought forcibly to the United States from other nations or regions. Students will explain examples of conflict and collaboration among diverse groups of people as they encountered one another. 

Grade 5: Colonization to Constitution

The goal of social studies education is for children to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Fifth grade students will work toward this goal by examining the conflict and compromise that resulted from migration and settlement to understand the tensions and factors that led to the fight for independence and the establishment of the United States. Students will analyze the development and establishment of the U.S. federal government. Students will describe why the government collects taxes and what goods and services it provides society. Students will analyze how cultural, economic and environmental factors encouraged and restricted the movement of people, ideas and goods to and within the United States. Students will describe the impact of foundational documents on the development of the United States to inform their analysis on how a founding principle is applicable to today. 

Middle School

Grade 6: Development of Civilizations

The goal of social studies education is for students to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Sixth graders continue to work toward this goal by investigating the emergence and development of civilizations in River Valley Civilizations (Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India and Ancient China) and Classical Empires between 3500 BCE-600 CE. Students will explain the origins, functions and structures of governments. Students explain how markets exist whenever there is an exchange of goods and services. Students compare how human and environmental characteristics of a region influenced the movement of people, goods and ideas. Students will compare the origins and development of early world religions. Students will describe how River Valley Civilizations transitioned to empires. Through an understanding of ancient history, students develop an appreciation for the foundations of the modern world. 

Grade 7: Growth and Expansion of Civilization

The goal of social studies education is for students to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Seventh graders continue to work toward this goal by examining how movement and migration impacted the interactions between expanding civilizations through conquest and trade in Afro-Eurasia (North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Europe) and the Americas from 600-1600. Seventh graders will compare political institutions and their impacts on people in empires. Students will compare how different economic systems choose to allocate the production, distribution and consumption of resources. Students will examine ways in which one culture can both positively and negatively influence another through cultural diffusion, trade relationships, expansion and exploration. Students will evaluate the political, geographic, economic and social impact of the expansion of empires during this period. Grounding students’ understanding of large empires in examples from across the entire globe, students will see how the accomplishments, developments, conflicts, migrations and interactions of the early modern world establish the foundations of modern society. 

Grade 8: The United States: 1600-1877

The goal of social studies education is for students to develop thinking and decision-making skills that prepare them for responsible citizenship in a democratic society. Eighth graders continue to work toward this goal by investigating how conflict and compromise impacted the founding and development of the United States between 1600-1877 in the Colonial Era, Revolutionary Period, Early Republic, Westward Expansion, Civil War and Reconstruction. Eighth graders will analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to the definition of who is a citizen, the expansion of the definition over time and the changes in participation over time. Students will assess how regions of the United States specialized based on supply and demand due to their geographic locations. Students will explain how global interconnections impacted culture, land use and trade in the United States. Students will explain the role of changing political, social and economic perspectives had on the lives of diverse groups of people. 

High School

World History, United States History, Civics made up of multiple strands from Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (9-12 sequence based upon school adoption)

Effective social studies education in the high school classroom challenges students to be prepared for responsible civic engagement in the future. The founders of the United States emphasized that the vitality and security of a democracy depends upon the education and willingness of its citizens to participate actively in society. Life in the American democratic republic is constantly changing; as a result, students must transition to life beyond high school with the content knowledge, skills and dispositions to adapt to the challenges and complexities of the ever-changing modern world in order to sustain democratic traditions. In social studies education in the high school classroom, students are compelled to revisit and develop further understanding of fundamental beliefs about society and the institutions of the United States to construct new social contexts and relationships. By developing discipline specific inquiry skills in high school, students apply their conceptual knowledge through questioning, investigating, using evidence and communicating conclusions so they are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to be civically, economically, geographically and historically informed, engaged citizens.

The civics standards promote knowledge of the historical foundations and principles of American government toward the goal of productive civic engagement. Additionally, the standards focus on understanding the unique roles of local, state and national institutions. By developing inquiry skills in civics, students apply their conceptual knowledge through questioning, investigating, using evidence and communicating conclusions in order to gain knowledge and apply the skills needed to be engaged citizens. 

The economics standards explore how people satisfy unlimited wants with scarce resources through the concepts of economic decision making. Students explore economic issues at both the micro and macroeconomic levels using graphs, charts and data to analyze, describe and explain economic concepts. By developing economic inquiry skills, students apply their conceptual knowledge through questioning, investigating, using evidence and communicating conclusions so they are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to be economically informed, engaged citizens. 

The geography standards emphasize patterns and processes at a variety of scales, from local to global. Within the geography standards, the interplay between human systems and the natural environment is evident. The standards promote the use of a variety of geographic methods and tools for spatial analysis. By developing inquiry skills in geography, students are able to apply their conceptual knowledge through questioning, investigating, using evidence and communicating conclusions so they are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to be geographically informed, engaged citizens. 

The United States history standards explore events, movements and ideas from 1877 to the present. Each concept standard is outlined with a specific time period to limit the scope and sequence of the topics covered through that standard. Beginning with analyzing the causes and consequences of the Industrialization of America, students explore reasons for and responses to the move from rural to urban spaces and to the open West. As students study the United States’ transition to a manufacturing economy and the movement of people, they are exposed to the conflicts and compromises within a diverse social and ethnic population that begin in 1890, through its role as a nation on the global stage in World War I. Beginning with the Great Depression of 1929, students further analyze the role of economic and political influences on what it means 140 to be an American domestically and in World War II. Further conflicting ideologies, starting in 1945, challenge students to investigate competing viewpoints as demographics shift in America. As students continue their analysis of the collapse of the Cold War Order and Modern Challenges, students are encouraged to focus on the roles played by the United States in the modern world and their own place as a citizen within that context. By developing inquiry skills in history, students apply their conceptual knowledge through questioning, investigating, using evidence and communicating conclusions so they are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to be engaged citizens. 

The world history standards engage students in historical thinking focused on the Pre-Modern era to the present. Each concept standard is outlined with a specific time period to limit the scope and sequence of the topics covered through that standard. Starting in the period 1300 through 1450, the Regional Transformation and Consolidation era develops many of the foundations of world history by requiring students to explore empires around the world and their early prominence on the world stage. The period 1450 through 1750, the Transregional and Global Interactions era, covers the global integration of ideas and movement by connecting major trends in world history like the Renaissance, Exploration and the Enlightenment. The next period, 1750 to 1900, covers the Political and Economics Revolutions era by developing many of the crucial concepts that lead to a need for more resources and the corresponding global competition. In the period 1900 to 1945, the standards cover Global Conflict through looking at the World Wars, other conflicts and how changes on the global scale attempted to prevent future conflicts. The final period, 1945 to the present, focuses on the Cold War, Decolonization and the Modern World while covering many of the changing cultural components of the present age. The standards are designed to develop students' knowledge of important social studies concepts (for example, people, places, events, ideas and documents) and their use of disciplinary thinking skills in world history. By developing inquiry skills in history, students apply their conceptual knowledge through questioning, investigating, using evidence and communicating conclusions so they are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to be engaged citizens.

Electives

African American Studies will trace the historical, political, societal, economic and cultural issues from ancient Africa through  to contemporary issues facing African Americans. The goal of Jefferson County Public School’s African American studies elective is to answer a year long compelling question by examining supporting questions, sources, and communicating conclusions through discussion, argumentative writing, and taking informed action.  This inquiry based learning approach enables students to better understand history through the perspectives and experiences of African Americans while building the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and experiences necessary to meet the needs of an engaged citizenry for an equitable democracy.