What We'll Be Working On This Year in Social
Studies...
The social studies program that we use in Pleasant Valley is called History Alive by Teachers' Curriculum Institute. Sixth grade social studies focuses on world history. We will start off the year studying early people and their life ways. As the year progresses we will be covering such topics as Ancient Egypt, Medieval Times, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, The Holocaust, and many other interesting topics. The links below provide an overview of the various lessons that we will be covering and access to web sites that correlate with each chapter (see below for more details).
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Early Humans
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Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Rome
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Medieval Times
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Renaissance
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Industrial Revolution
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World War I
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World War II and The Holocaust
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Geography
Each week, students complete 8-10 questions about topics relating to geography. An atlas is available to be checked out from our classroom or they are able to use their social studies book. Another resource that has a great set of maps is the student's Write Source 2000 books. The Internet is also a great resource for finding answers to the geography questions. The best sites that I have found are www.worldatlas.com and www.factmonster.com.
We will also have map quizzes throughout the year that require the students to label countries in various regions of the world. The table below shows the dates that the quizzes will take place. The completed map is due one week prior to this and for regions that include a capitals quiz, the capitals quiz will take place one week after the countries quiz. You can practice for this using the interactive online maps, or by downloading a blank practice map.
| Region | Countries Quiz | Interactive Online Map | Downloadable Practice Map |
| Middle East | September 15 | Middle
East Africa Asia |
Middle East Practice
Map Middle East Countries List Middle East Map Instructions Middle East Fill In Front Middle East Fill In Back |
| Europe #1 | October 30 | Europe |
Europe Practice
Map Countries List Europe #1 Instructions |
| Europe #2 | December 8 | Europe |
Europe Practice
Map Europe #2 Instructions Europe #2 Fill In |
| Africa | January 26 | Africa | Practice Map |
| South America | February 23 | South America | Countries List |
| Asia | April 6 | Asia |
Practice Map Countries List Asia Instructions |
| North America | May 4 | Central America |
Countries List North America Instructions |
Current Events
We may also complete a current event occasionally throughout the year. Students are to read an article from any newspaper, or from the Internet. They are to attach a copy of this article to the back of the current event form that they fill out. Current events can typically be on an article of the students choice, however, on occasion I will give them a particular topic that they must read and report on. The article should be appropriate length. A photo with a caption is not an acceptable article. If an article accompanies the photo, the student may choose to use that article as their current event. On the current event form, there are six boxes to complete. These include a summary of the event, where it took place, the cause and effect, a comparison, prediction, and the students personal reaction.
Click here to download a current event form.
