Social Studies (SS)
Deep Understanding of Social Studies
Social studies teachers have a deep understanding of content knowledge and essential ideas of Ohio’s social studies standards. Using this knowledge social studies teachers engage students in learning about self, family, community, state, country, and world by using the following Ohio standards: history, government, people in societies, economics, geography, citizenship rights and responsibilities as well as social studies skills and methods. Social studies teachers have a conceptual understanding of the integration of each of the standards included in Ohio’s Social Studies Academic Content Standards. |
Standard SS 1: History
Social studies teachers use materials drawn from the diversity of human experience to analyze and interpret to students significant events, patterns and themes in history of Ohio, the United States and the world. |
SS 1.1 Time, Continuity and Change
- Understand time as it relates to personal events and/or historical occurrences.
- Present the concept of time as it relates to then and now in relationship to the benchmark.
- Interpret connections between ideas and movements.
SS 1.2 People and Environments
- Explain cultural perspectives.
- Demonstrate knowledge of historical development and growth in both people and societies.
- Analyze conflict and its consequences related to historical events.
Standard SS 2: People in Societies
Social studies teachers use knowledge of perspectives, practices, and products of cultural, ethnic and social groups to assist students in analyzing the impact of their commonality and diversity on local national, regional and global settings. |
SS 2.1 Groups and Institutions
- Know the cultural characteristics that identify groups.
- Explain the role of diverse cultural institutions in shaping the world in relationship to American society.
- Analyze the consequences of oppression, discrimination and conflict between and within cultures.
SS 2.2 Diffusion
- Identify the impact of cultural practices and products on national heritages.
- Compare products and practices of cultural groups and the implications of collective interactions
Standard SS 3: Geography
Social studies teachers use knowledge of geographic locations, patterns and processes to show students the interrelationship between the physical environment and human activity, and to explain the interactions that occur in an increasingly interdependent world. |
SS 3.1 Locations and Places
- Use descriptors to understand location (including map literacy).
- Explain how the characteristics of a place reflect a society’s economics, politics, social values, ideology and culture.
SS 3.2 Human Environmental Interactions
- Examine and interpret interactions of human beings with their physical environments.
- Analyze geographic changes caused by human activities and natural occurrences.
Standard SS 4: Economics
Social studies teachers use knowledge of economic reasoning skills, major economic concepts, issues and systems in order to illustrate to students choices made as producers, consumers, savers, investors, workers and citizens in an interdependent world. |
SS 4.1 Production, Distribution and Consumption
- Know and explain, key economic vocabulary as it relates to a competitive market system (examples: supply and demand, prices, incentives, profit, and specialization).
- Explain economic principles that pertain to choices and financial literacy.
- Explain the impact of economic systems on personal and global welfare as it relates to presence or lack of productive resources.
SS 4.2 Government and the Economy
- Identify connections between government policies and the economy.
- Know and explain the role government plays in public services, redistribution of income, regulatory economic activities, and promotion of economic growth and stability.
Standard SS 5: Government
Social studies teachers use knowledge of the purposes, structures and processes of political systems at the local, state, national and international levels. They lead to understand that people create systems of government as structures of power and authority to provide order, maintain stability and promote the general welfare. |
SS 5.1 Power, Authority and Governance
- Explain the purpose, function and authority of government at indicated grade levels.
- Describe types of governments and their theoretical and practiced characteristics.
- Know forms of government, analyze their similarities and differences and engage students in understanding these concepts.
SS 5.2 Rules and Law
- Explain rights and responsibilities of individuals to family, social groups, communities and the results of adherence to or violation of rules and laws.
- Recognize, have knowledge of, and convey to students local, state and national symbols, landmarks and documents specific to the United States.
Standard SS 6: Citizenship
Rights and Responsibilities
Social studies teachers use knowledge of rights and responsibilities of citizenship in order for students to examine and evaluate civic ideals, to participate in community life and the American democratic system. |
SS 6.1 Civic Ideals and Practices
- Know, analyze, interpret and evaluate sources of citizenship’ rights and responsibilities.
- Know and communicate historical origins that influenced the rights of United States’ citizens.
- Teach students to recognize and have knowledge of ways people achieve governmental change through active participation.
SS 6.2 Rights and Responsibilities
- Teach the historical origins that influenced the rights citizens have today.
- Explain how individual rights are balanced between the rights of others and the common good.
- Identify how the practice of citizenship rights and responsibilities help to strengthen a democracy
Standard SS 7: Skills and Methods
Teachers collect, organize, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources. Teachers use knowledge of oral, written, and multimedia skills to provide experiences that address real-world settings. Skills and methods for learning the standards are on-going at every level throughout the curriculum. This standard serves as a tool for connecting mastery of content. Teachers will need knowledge of content and students in order to select appropriate teaching methods. Knowledge of classroom strategies that are research based including but not limited to: constructivist classrooms, cooperative learning and differentiated instruction must be evident. |
Teachers must acquire the following understandings and skills related to this standard to be effective social studies educators:
SS 7.1 Obtain Information
- Obtain oral, visual, print and electronic information from a variety of primary and secondary sources (ex. maps)
- Analyze and evaluate the reliability and credibility of sources
SS 7.2 Think and Organize
- Design learning opportunities for problem solving including cause and effect and compare and contrast
- Understand how to make predictions, draw inferences, and reach conclusions using various sources of information
SS 7.3 Communicate Information
- Provide group experiences to analyze issues and make decisions based on information
- Communicate and create opportunities to critique orally, visually in writing data and other information in presentation format
SS 7.4 Solve Problems
- Provide students with opportunities to identify problems and work in groups to solve them.
- Teach students to analyze issues both individually and in groups and then to make decisions.
SS 8: Integrate Content of Social Studies Standards with Other Disciplines
“Effective social studies education necessitates an interdisciplinary approach because inquiry into any real-world matter related to citizenship is holistic and multidisciplinary in nature. It requires the use of a variety of sources (books, periodicals, videos and other forms of media, art, music, the community, and students’ own lives) relevant to the nature(s) of the inquiry. A prominent goal of social studies education is the development of a well-rounded synthesis of content and skills that students need for quality decision-making and active social participation”.
Ohio Department of Education, Academic Content Standards K-12 Social Studies, p. 207 |
Effective teachers will gain knowledge and continuously improve their skills in integrating subject matter across the curriculum.
SS 8.1 Connect Social Studies to Real-World Issues
- Introduce the human dimension of social studies through narratives of individuals and major events and developments.
- Present ethical issues faced by society.
- Think critically about the impact of technological change on society, including the benefits, drawbacks and ethical considerations of technological advances.
SS 8.2 Connect Social Studies to Other Subject Areas and Student Lives
- Promote a holistic appreciation for social studies by incorporating all disciplines, when applicable.
- Design lessons that actively connect social studies with science, math, English language arts and fine arts.
- Place social studies in the context of the real world by relating it to current events and providing opportunities for community involvement.
SS 8.3 Incorporate Quality Trade Books into Instruction
- Establish and support classroom and departmental libraries that include a substantial amount of social studies resources.
- Know historical fiction, fiction about contemporary people of other cultures, and nonfiction trade books to increase students’ interest in social studies and enhance their knowledge.
SS 8.4 Develop Communication and Comprehension Skills in the Content Areas
- Develop the skills of writing in social studies in order to clearly communicate the full extent of ideas, knowledge and understanding.
- Make connections among personal experiences, knowledge about the world, and the written text. Explain the connections between contemporary and historical events and texts. Use texts to ask critical questions, make predictions, visualize, summarize, paraphrase, compare, synthesize, or reformulate ideas and themes.
- Evaluate the author’s purpose using Social Studies Skills and Methods benchmarks/indicators.
- Facilitate classroom discourse to provide multiple opportunities for students to talk about texts by drawing on students’ prior experiences, content knowledge and diverse backgrounds
Scope and Sequence: Ohio Social Studies Curriculum
The scope and sequence of social studies education can be utilized by educators on a need to know basis. Knowing what is taught at various levels makes for an informed and well-prepared teacher. |
Preschool: Early Learning
At this level, it is important to build the schema for understanding vocabulary related to growth and development as children begin to move through their primary years of schooling. “For young children, the family, school, neighborhood and community are content-rich workshops, inviting exploration and inquiry into the study of social units. These social study contexts invite children to locate, acquire, organize and generate information through field trips and first-hand experiences.”
Kindergarten: A Child’s Place in Time and Space
This begins the study of the child as an individual who has a place in the world outside of home. The vocabulary important to use at this grade includes, “rules”, “others” and “responsibility”. They look at their culture and that of others. They begin to understanding the skill of decision making. They seek the answer to the questions, “Where do I fit at school and at home?” “Am I part of something bigger?”
Grade One: Families Now and Long Ago, Near and Far
The first grade builds on the concepts developed in kindergarten by focusing on the student as a member of a family. Students look at how families lived long ago and how diverse families can be. They look at the cultural implications for families. This is the beginning of organizing the world spatially through map skills. They build foundations for understanding the principles of government and their role as citizens. The focus remains on the individual’s role in the family – long ago, now, near and far.
Grade Two: People Working Together
It is in the second grade that students are introduced to the role of work. They are moved to expand their thinking from the individual to the individual’s role as a cooperative member of the work world. What is a job? How do we develop the concept of work? How was it different in the past? How is it today? Our students live in a mutable world and it is imperative that they develop critical thinking around the concept of working together and reaching outward.
Grade Three: Communities: Past and Present, Near and Far
The local community serves as a focal point. We have now moved from the individual to the family to the community as students expand their thinking and focus. Remember that all the while students are looking at the historical past and present and at places that are far and near. The study of local history is the focus here and it is important to use artifacts and narratives to enrich this year.
Grade Four: Ohio: Its Past, Its Location, Its Government
In the fourth grade, students move from their local community to the state of Ohio. It is important that all of the standards are taught at this grade. Historical, societal, economic, and government contexts are equally important.
Grade Five: Regions and People of North America
The focus for this year is geography of the continent of North America. This is the first year of a two year sequence that builds the foundation for geographic thinking and understanding of the world. For students, a sense of place and its importance is developed. It is this foundation that will support the four year historical sequence that begins in the seventh grade. By looking at the distribution of the indicators at this grade, it is clear that the focus is on geography (See table below).
Distribution of Indicators
Social Studies Curriculum Standards |
Numbers of Indicators |
History |
6 |
People in Societies |
5 |
Geography |
10 |
Economics |
7 |
Government |
2 |
Citizenship & Responsibilities |
3 |
Skills and Methods |
9 |
This does not mean, however, that the 5th grade OAT will focus on geography. Remember, the test will include both 4th and 5th grade indicators and benchmarks.
Grade Six: Regions and People of the World
The 6th grade also focuses on geography – yet again we expand the view from the North American Continent to the world. The focus is on world regions. As students get older their studies become sequential and more sophisticated. We first look at geography and the affects it has on a region. The focus is not historical. The perspective of past and present is primary.
Grade Seven: World Studies from 1000 BC to 1750:
Ancient Civilizations through the First Global Age
The 6th grade course of study has given a geographic and cultural foundation for the 7th grade historical focus on World Studies from 1000 B.C. to 1750. The chronology is the framework for all seven standards to be incorporated into the curriculum. The importance of the geographic foundation built in the 6th grade course of study is paramount to student success in the 7th grade.
Grade Eight: U.S. Studies from 1607 to 1877:
Colonization through Reconstruction
The curriculum of the 8th grade is the second year of a historical sequential focus for students. Students have now moved from understanding their individual place in school and family to understanding the world and their place in it. Again, as in the 7th grade, all seven social studies standards play important roles in the curriculum. The content is the early years of U.S. History from 1607 to 1877.
Grade Nine: World Studies from 1750 to the Present:
Age of Revolutions, Through the 20th Century
The 9th grade course of study is the third year of a chronological study of history. The content is world studies from 1750 through the 20th century. This curriculum continues to spiral content knowledge of the 6th and 7th grades. It is important for students to understand the geography content in the 6th grade curriculum, and the early historical content of the 7th grade curriculum, in order to spiral that knowledge as the 9th grade content of world studies brings the students to a more contemporary understanding of the world.
Grade Ten: U.S. Studies from 1877 to the Present:
Post Reconstruction, Through the 20th Century
The 10th grade is the fourth and final chronological study of history. The 5th grade geographical look at the North American Continent is the foundation for the chronological historical study of the U.S. from 1607 to 1877 presented in the 8th grade. The 10th grade study of U.S. from 1877 through the 20th century is the culmination of the study of our historical world. The conceptual link of past and present, near and far has come full circle.
Grade Eleven: Political and Economic Decisions
The 11th grade curriculum is a study of the U.S. government and economy. Its purpose is to give mature students a historical as well as a practical understanding of political and economic systems. The focus begins to return to the individual, as consideration is given to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, as well as personal obligations required for members of a free society.
Grade Twelve: Preparing for Citizenship
The 12th grade year is designed for the mature student to practice citizenship. The student, by researching and designing a Senior Project that demonstrates higher level thinking and problem solving, in an authentic attempt to research, design and construct knowledge that leads to the solution, and or a better understanding, of an issue or issues facing society will have come full circle in the study of social studies.
Go to Mayerson Academy Professional Development Opportunities for Social Studies
Go to Mayerson Academy Professional Development Framework: Teachers Home |
