Diocese of Sacramento

SOCIAL STUDIES

ACADEMIC CONTENT

STANDARDS

 

 for grades 3 - 5

The intellectual skills noted below are to be learned through, and applied to, the content standards for grades K-5. They are to be assessed only in conjunction with the content standards in grades K-5 and are not to be assessed in isolation.

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills


In addition to the standards for grades 1-5, students demonstrate the following intellectual, reasoning, reflection and research skills:

Grades K-5

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

1. students place key events and people of the historical era they are studying both in a chronological sequence and within a spatial context; they interpret timelines

2. students apply terms related to time correctly, including past, present, future, decade, century, and generation

3. students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the same

4. students use map and globe skills to determine the absolute locations of places and interpret information available through the map's legend, scale, and symbolic representations

5. students judge the significance of the relative location of a place (e.g., close to a harbor, trade routes) and analyze how those relative advantages or disadvantages can change over time

Research, Evidence and Point of View

1. students differentiate between primary and secondary sources

2. students pose relevant questions about events encountered in historical documents, eyewitness accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, maps, art and architecture

3. students distinguish fact from fiction by comparing documentary sources on historical figures and events with fictionalized characters and events

Historical Interpretation

1. students summarize the key events of the era they are studying and explain their historical contexts

2. students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying and explain how these features form the unique character of these places

3. students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events

4. students conduct cost/benefit analyses of historical and current events

 

HISTORY/SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS

Grade Three

 

Continuity and Change

 

Students in grade three learn more about our connections to the past and the ways in which particularly local, but also regional and national, government and traditions have developed and left their marks of current society, providing common memories.  Emphasis is on the physical and cultural landscape of California, including the study of American Indians, the subsequent arrival of immigrants and the impact they have had in forming the character of our contemporary society.

 

3.1 Students describe the physical and human characteristics of place and use contemporary maps, tables, graphs, photos, and charts to organize information about people, places and environments in a spatial context by:

1.     Identifying geographical features found in their local region (e.g., deserts, mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes).

2.     Tracing the ways in which people have used the resources of the local region and modified the physical environment (e.g., a dam constructed upstream changed a river or coastline).

 

3.2 Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago in the recent past, in terms of:

1.     The national identities, religious beliefs, customs, and various folklore traditions.

2.     How physical geography including climate influenced the way that local Indian nation(s) adapted to their natural environment (e.g., how they obtained their food, clothing, tools).

3.     The economy and systems of government, particularly those with tribal constitutions

4.     The interaction of new settlers with the already established Indians of the region.

 

3.3 Students draw from historical and community resources to organize the sequence of events in local history and describe how each period of settlement left its mark on the land, in terms of:

1.     The explorers who visited here, the newcomers who settled here, and the people who continue to come to the region, including the cultural and religious traditions of the different groups.

2.     The economies established by settlers and their influence on the present day economy, with emphasis on the importance of private property and entrepreneurship.

3.     Why their community was established, how individuals and families contributed to its founding and development, and how the community has changed over time, drawing upon primary sources (e.g., maps, photographs, oral histories, letters, newspapers).

 

3.4 Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives, and the basic structure of the United States government, in terms of:

1.     Why we have rules, laws, and the U.S. Constitution; the role of citizenship in promoting rules and laws; the consequences for violating rules and laws.

2.     The important of public virtue and the role of citizens, including how to participate in a classroom, community and in civic life.

3.     The stories behind important local and national landmarks, and the essential documents that create a sense of community among citizens and exemplify cherished ideals (e.g., the U.S. flag, the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Capitol).

4.     The three branches of government (with an emphasis on local government).

5.     How California, the other states, and sovereign tribes combine to make the nation and participate in the federal system.

6.     The lives of American heroes who took risks to secure freedoms (e.g., biographies of Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman).

 

3.5 Students demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills and an understanding of the economy of the local region. In terms of:

1.     How local producers have used natural resources, human resources and capital resources to produce goods and services in the past and present.

2.     How some things are made locally, some elsewhere in the U.S., and some abroad.

3.     How individual economic choices involve tradeoffs and the evaluation of benefits and costs.

 

HISTORY/SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS

Grade Four

 

California:  A Changing State

 

Students learn the story of their home state, unique in American history in terms of its vast and varied geography, its many waves of immigration beginning with pre-Columbian societies, its continuous diversity, economic energy, and rapid growth.  In addition to the specific treatment of milestones in California history, students examine the state in the context of the rest of the nation, with an emphasis on the U.S. Constitution and the relationship between state and federal government.

 

4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographical features that define places and regions in California by:

1.     Explaining and using the coordinate grid system of latitude and longitude to determine absolute locations of places in California and on Earth.

2.     Distinguishing between the two poles; the equator and the prime meridian; the tropics; and the hemispheres using coordinates to plot locations.

3.     Identifying the state capital and describing the basic regions of California, including how their characteristics and physical environment affect human activity (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate).

4.     Identifying the location of and explaining the reasons of the growth of towns in relation to the Pacific Ocean, rivers, valleys, and mountain passes.

5.     Using maps, charts, and pictures to describe how communities in California vary in land use, vegetation, wildlife, climate, population density, architecture, services, and transportation.

 

4.2 Students describe the major social and political interactions among the people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods, in terms of:

1.     The major nations of California Indians, their geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and how they depended upon, adapted to and modified the physical environment by cultivation of land and sea resources.

2.     The early routes (by ship and land) to, and European settlements in, California with a focus on the exploration of the North Pacific, noting the physical barriers of mountains, deserts, ocean currents, and wind patterns (e.g., Captain Cook, Valdez, Vitus Bering, Juan Cabrillo).

3.     The Spanish exploration and colonization of California, including the relationships among soldiers, missionaries, and Indians (e.g., biographies of Juan Crespi, Junipero Serra, Gaspar de Portola).

4.     The mapping, geographic basis of, and economic factors in the placement and function of the Spanish missions; how the mission system expanded the influence of Spain and Catholicism throughout New Spain and Latin America.

5.     The daily lives of the people, native, and non-native, who occupied the presidios, missions, ranchos, and pueblos.

6.     The role of the Franciscan on the change of California from a hunter-gatherer economy to an agricultural economy.

7.     The effects of the Mexican War for Independence on Alta California, including the territorial boundaries of North America.

8.     Discuss the period of Mexican rule in California and its attributes, including land grants, secularization of the missions, and the rise of the rancho economy.

 

4.3 Students explain the economic, social, and political life of California from the establishment of the Bear Flag Republic through the Mexican American War, the Gold Rush, and California statehood, in terms of:

1.     The location of Mexican settlements in California and other settlements including Ft. Ross and Sutter’s Fort.

2.     Comparisons of how any why people traveled to California and the routs they traveled (e.g., biographies and legends of James Beckwourth, Jedediah Smith, John C. Fremont, Juan Carbrillo).

3.     The effect of the Gold Rush on settlements, daily life, politics, and the physical environment (e.g., biographies of John Sutter, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Phoebe Apperson Hearst).

4.     The lives of frontier women (e.g., biographies of Bernarda Ruiz, Biddy Mason).

5.     How California became a state and how its new government differed from those during the Spanish and Mexican periods.

6.     The immigration and migration to California between 1850 and 1900; its diverse composition, the countries of origin and their relative locations, and the conflicts and accords among diverse groups (e.g., the 1882 Exclusion Act).

 

4.4 Students explain how California became an industrial power by tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development since 1850’s, in terms of:

1.     The story and lasting influence of the Pony Express, Overland Mail Service, Western Union, and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.

2.     How the Gold Rush transformed the economy of California, including the type of products produced and consumed, changes in towns (e.g., Sacramento, San Fransico) and economic conflicts between diverse groups of people.

3.     Rapid American immigration, settlement, and the growth of towns and cities.

4.     The effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl on California.

5.     The development and location of new industries since the turn of the century, such as aerospace, electronics, large scale commercial agriculture and irrigation projects, the oil and automobile industries, communications and defense, and important trade links with the Pacific Basin.

6.     California’s water system and how it evolved over time into a network of dams, aqueducts and reservoirs.

7.     The history and development of California’s public education system, including universities and community colleges.

8.     The impact of 20th century Californians on the nation’s artistic, cultural and development, including the rise of the entertainment industry (e.g., biographies of John Steirnbeck, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Walt Disney).

 

4.5 Students understand the structure, functions, and powers of the United States local, state, and federal governments as described in the U.S. Constitution, in terms of:

1.     What the U.S. Constitution is and why it is important (i.e., a written document that defines the structure and purpose of the U.S. government; describes the shared powers of federal, state, and local governments).

2.     The purpose of the state constitution, its key principles, and its relationship to the U.S. Constitution (with emphasis on California’s constitution).

3.     The similarities (e.g., written documents, rule of law, consent of the governed, three separate branches) and differences (e.g., scope of jurisdiction, limits on government powers, use of military) among federal, state and local governments.

4.     The structure and function of state governments, including the roles and responsibilities of their elected officials.

5.     The components of California’s governance structure (i.e., cities and towns, Indian rancherias and reservations, counties, school districts).

 

 

 

 

HISTORY/SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS

Grade Five

 

United States History and Geography: Making a New Nation

 

 

Students in grade five study the development of the nation up to 1850 with an emphasis on the population: who was already here, when and from where others arrived, and why people came.  Students learn about the colonial government founded on Judeo-Christian principles, the ideals of the Enlightenment, and the English traditions of self-government.  They recognize that ours is a nation that has a constitution that derives its power from the people, that has gone through a revolution, that once sanctioned slavery, that experienced the conflict over land with the original inhabitants, and that experienced a westward movement that took its people across the continent.  Studying the cause, course and consequences of the early explorations through the War for Independence and western expansion is central to students’ fundamental understanding of how the principles of the American republic form the basis of a pluralistic society in which individual rights are secured.

 

5.1 Students tract the routes and describe the early explorations of the Americas, in terms of:

1.     The entrepreneurial characteristics of early explorers (e.g., biographies of Columbus, Coronado) and the technological developments that made sea exploration by latitude and longitude possible (e.g., compass, sextant, astrolabe, seaworthy ships, chronometers, gunpowder).

2.     The aims, obstacles, and accomplishments of the explorers, sponsors, and leaders of key European expeditions, and the reasons Europeans chose to explore and colonize the globe (e.g., the Protestant Reformation, the Spanish Reconquista).

3.     The routes of the major land explorers of the United States; the distances traveled by early explorers; and the Atlantic trade routes that linked Africa, the West Indies, the British colonies, and Europe.

4.     Land claimed by Spain, France, England, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Russia on maps of North and South America.

 

5.2 Students describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the Indians and between the Indian nations and the new settlers, in terms of:

1.     The competition among the English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Indian Nations for control of North America.

2.     The cooperation that existed between the colonists and Indians during the 1600s and 1700s (e.g., the fur trade, military alliances, treaties, cultural interchanges).

3.     The conflicts before the Civil War (e.g., the Pequot and King Philip’s Wars in New England, the Powhatan Wars in Virginia, the French and Indian War).

4.     The role of broken treaties and massacres and the factors that lead to the Indians’ defeat, including the resistance of Indian nations to encroachments and assimilation (e.g., the story of the Trail of Tears).

5.     The internecine Indian conflicts, including the competing claims for control (e.g., actions of the Iroquois, Huron, Sioux/Lakota).

6.     The influence and achievements of significant leaders of the time (e.g., biographies of Abraham Lincoln, John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Chief Tecumuseh, Chief Logan, Chief john Ross, Sequoyah).

 

5.3 Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era, in terms of:

1.     The influence of location and physical setting on the founding of the original 13 colonies, their location on a map along with the location of the American Indian nations already inhabiting these areas.

2.     The major individuals and groups responsible for the founding of the various colonies and the reasons for their founding (e.g., John Smith and Virginia, Roger Williams and Rhode Island, William Penn and Pennsylvania, Lord Baltimore and Maryland, William Bradford and Plymouth, John Winthrop and Massachusetts).

3.     The religious aspects of the earliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism in Massachusetts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, Quakerism in Pennsylvania).

a.        Discuss various reasons why Catholics settled in the New World.

b.        Give examples of how Catholics were forced to practice their faith in secret.

4.     The significance and leaders of the First Great Awakening that marked a shift in religious ideas, practices and allegiances in the colonial period; the growth of religious toleration’s and free exercise.

5.     How the British colonial period created the basis for the development of political self government  and a free market economic system, unlike Spanish and French colonial rule.

6.     The introduction of slavery into America, the responses of slave families to the condition, the ongoing struggle between proponents and opponents of slavery, and the gradual institutionalization of slavery in the South. Discuss the Catholic Teaching of respect for the dignity of all human life.

7.     The early demographic ideas and practices that emerge during the colonial period, including the significance of representative assemblies and town meetings.

 

5.4 Students explain the causes of the American Revolution, in terms of:

1.     How political, religious, and economic ideas and interests brought about the Revolution (e.g., resistance to the imperial policy, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, tax on tea, Coercive Acts).

2.     The significance of the first and second Continental Congress and the Committees of Correspondence.

3.     The people and events associated with the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence and the document’s significance, including the key political concepts it embodies, the origins of those concepts, and its role in serving ties with Great Britain.

4.     The views, lives, and impact of key individuals during this period (e.g., biographies of King George III, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams).

 

5.5 Students understand the course and consequences of the American Revolution, in terms of:

1.     Identifying and mapping the major military battles, campaigns, and turning points of the Revolutionary War, the roles of the American and British leaders, and the Indian leader alliances on both sides.

2.     The contributions of France and other nations and individuals to the outcome of the Revolution (e.g., Benjamin Franklin’s negotiations with the French, the French Navy, the Treaty of Paris, The Netherlands, Russia, Marquis de Lafayette, Kosciuszko, Baron von Steuben,).

3.     The different roles women played during the Revolution (e.g., Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, Molly Pitcher, Phillis Wheatly, Mercy Otis Warren).

4.     The personal impact and economic hardship on families, problems of financing the war, wartime inflation, and laws against hoarding and profiteering.

5.     How state constitutions established after 1776 embodied the ideals of the American Revolution and helped serve as models for the U.S. Constitution.

6.     The significance of land policies developed under the Continental Congress (e.g., sale of western lands, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787) and their impact on American Indian land.

 

5.6 Students relate the narrative of the people and events associated with the development of the U.S. Constitution and analyze its significance as the founding of the American republic, in terms of:

1.     The shortcomings set fourth by the Articles of the Confederation’s critics.

2.     The significance of the new Constitution of 1787, including the struggles over its ratification and the reasons for the addition of the Bill of Rights.

3.     The fundamental principles of American constitutional democracy including how the government derives its power from the people and the primacy of individual liberty.

4.     How the Constitution is designed to secure our Liberia by both empowering and limiting central government; the powers granted to citizens, Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, those reserved to the states.

5.     The meaning of the American creed that calls on citizens to safeguard the liberty of individual Americans within a unified nation, to respect the rule of law, and to preserve the Constitution.

6.     The songs that express American ideals (e.g., know America the Beautiful, The Star Spangled Banner).

 

5.7 Students trace the colonization, immigration and settlement patterns of the American people from 1789 to the mid 1800’s, with emphasis on the defining role of economic incentives and the effects of the physical and political geography and transportation systems, in terms of:

1.     The waves of immigrants from Europe between 1789 and 1850 and their modes of transportation as they advanced into the Ohio and Mississippi Valley and through the Cumberland Gap (e.g., overland wagons, canals, flatboats, steam boats).

2.     The states and territories in 1850, their regional locations and major geographical features (e.g., mountain ranges, principal rivers, dominant plant regions).

3.     The explorations of the trans-Mississippi West following the Louisiana Purchase (e.g., draw maps, biographies and journals of Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, John Fremont).

4.     Experiences on the overland trails to the West (e.g., location of the routes, purpose of each journey; the influence of terrain, rivers, vegetation, and climate; life in the territories at the end of these trails.

5.     The continued migration of Mexican territories of the West and Southwest.

6.     How and when California, Texas, Oregon, and other western lands became part of the U.S., including the significance of the Texas War for Independence and the Mexican-American War.

7.     The location of the current 50 states and the names of their capitals.

 

 

 

 

History Tracking Sheet – Third Grade

 

History Tracking Sheet – Fourth Grade

 

History Tracking Sheet – Fifth Grade