Brookside School

Welcome to 8th Grade Social Studies!

8th grade Social Studies Curriculum Overview:  Citizenship in Action

The 8th grade Social Studies program seeks to develop citizens that are personally responsible, participatory, and justice-oriented. We will look to achieve this goal through four units of study throughout the year.

The first unit, Citizenship, asks the essential question, “What does it mean to be a citizen?” and will focus on Civics, Philosophy, and History.

The second unit, Order and Organization, asks the essential question, “ How is justice determined?” and will focus on Law, Government, and U.S. History.

The third unit, Issues and Change, asks the essential question, “ Why should we care about public policy issues?” and will focus on Economics, Politics, and Information Literacy.

The fourth unit, Our Multiple Communities, asks the essential question, “ Why are communities important to our lives?” and will focus on Civics and Global Affairs.

Additionally, throughout the year, we will utilize technology and media and examine key current events.

Students will learn through the use of:

• Deliberations and discussions

• Research assignments

• Reading, writing, and critical analysis of text

• Collaborative projects

• Social participation

A capstone experience throughout the quad-district 8th grade classes will be the development of a service learning project.  The goals of this project are to:

• Identify a community in need

• Identify a community of resources

• Research and develop an action plan

• Carry out the service

• Reflect, share, and celebrate