Sixth Grade Social Studies Curriculum Development

Focus: World Geography, History & Culture: Patterns of Continuity and Change

Time Period: Beginnings of Human Society to the Emergence of the First Global Age (1450) – Represents the first five Eras of the National Standards

  • First formal look at a study of the world
  • Focus heavily on the discipline of geography by using the themes of location, place, movement, human-environment interaction and region to understand the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations and societies from the beginning of human existence to the Age of Exploration
  • Take a systematic look at the history and culture of various world regions including the development of economic, political and social systems through the lens of change and continuity
  • Examine the various factors that shaped the development of civilizations, societies and regions in the ancient world
  • Examine both similarities and differences among these areas [regions]
  • Integrate various civilizations, societies and regions from every continent (Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas)
  • Recognize and interpret the “lessons of social studies;” those transferable understandings that are supported throughout time by recurring themes and issues.

Organizationof the new Essential Standards around five broad conceptual strands:

Curriculum developers should take an integrated approach to designing curriculum that will help students understand the ancient world. Thus, were possible, each strand should be included in each unit of instruction. In this way, students will be able to take a more holistic approach to their studies.

  • History
  • Geography and Environmental literacy
  • Economics and financial literacy
  • Civics and Government
  • Culture

National World History Standards:

The periodization of the new Essential Standards for sixth grade social studies is based on the five eras identified by the National Standards for World History,

Era 1: The Beginnings of Human Society Giving Shape to World History

Era 2: Early Civilizations and the Emergence of Pastoral People, 4000-1000 BCE

Era 3: Classical Traditions, Major Religions, and Giant Empires, 1000 BCE-300 CE

Era 4: Expanding Zones of Exchange and Encounter, 300-1000 CE

Era 5: Intensified Hemispheric Interactions, 1000 – 1500 CE

Organization of the curriculum around conceptual units of instruction:

We recommend that districts/schools organize their curriculum around integrated units of instruction. While the sixth grade standards use periodization as a way to focus content, the lens by which curriculum developers should design units of instruction should be informed by the broad concepts identified by the standards. These organizing concepts or conceptual lenses will provide students deeper and richer understanding of these periods of time by focusing on the generalizations or lessons of social studies (also known as big ideas or essential understandings).

For example, if you want to use the five eras of World History as unit foundations, what topics would lend itself to a more in-depth study of each era that are based on the major concepts from the Essential Standards? What generalizations would students have to understand for each unit that are both tied to specific strands, but also show the integration of each strand?

Some major concepts for which student should understand in sixth grade social studies are:

  • Continuity and change (over time and in various civilizations, societies, and regions)
  • Conflict and cooperation
  • Compromise and negotiation
  • Migration and population distribution
  • Cultural expression/practices and diffusion
  • Human-environment interaction
  • Trade and economic decision-making
  • Societal organization (economic, political, and social systems)
  • Technology and innovation
  • Quality of life
  • Citizenship

If you elected to organize your curriculum around units of instruction, here are some suggestions for including era one in your curriculum.

  • For one, you could develop a stand-alone unit that focuses on the work of anthropologists and archaeologists to reconstruct early history in terms of human evolution and cultural development. This would include migration patterns of the early inhabitants of the earth, theories of human development, the change from nomadic to more sedentary societies due to the development of agricultural techniques, etc.
  • Or, you could incorporate this information in a larger unit on the development of the first civilizations. You could shape this unit by showing the continuity and change from the nomadic way of life to the development of major civilizations. This unit would, perhaps, place more emphasis on the civilizations and use the earlier period info to set the context for change.

1 | Page Last Revised: 2/15/12