Social Studies Grade Six
Goals of the Course
Students will:
A typical Grade 6 class consists of students at various levels of cognitive and social development. The curriculum suggests that students study events and people of the past as well as those in places great distances from their own experiences. As such the material might appear to require a level of abstract thinking well beyond the capabilities of the majority of Grade 6 students, who are typically still at the concrete operational level. Careful attention should, therefore, be given to providing the students with a variety of concrete materials (e.g. maps, pictures, charts, artifacts), a wealth of concrete experiences (e.g. discussions, creating contextual dramas or role-plays, simulation games), as well as frequent analogies to what is within their own realm of experience.
A typical Grade 6 class also consists of students from various ethnic and racial backgrounds. The teacher will need to be culturally aware and sensitive to their diverse needs and provide the students with a variety of learning situations, as well as some options within any given learning experience. It may be possible to also utilize the experiences of some of the students or their families to add to the global perspective of the Social Studies program.
Generally speaking, students at this grade level are becoming more aware of, and interested in, the world beyond their own country and want to know more about how they fit into the larger global picture. A flexible curriculum that allows appropriate use of current events and dealing with current issues as they arise will enhance the Social Studies program.
The students are also becoming more other-directed and are developing a social conscience. As such they tend to be "doers" and derive satisfaction from making plans and decisions, being involved in meaningful projects, and working with others to achieve worthwhile goals. The students should be given the opportunity during the course of the year to co-operatively plan and follow through on some activities that will benefit themselves and/or others.
Many students are ready and able to deal with a variety of information as well as to organize and share it in different ways. However, they will need to be given instruction in locating and processing the information and will need numerous opportunities to practise these abilities. If possible, the teacher should plan and carry out many of the social studies activities in co-operation with a teacher-librarian or with other teachers where integration with other subjects may occur.
Course Content and Objectives
The Grade 6 course develops four major concepts: location,
interaction, identity and interdependence. Each one of these
major concepts contains a number of sub-concepts as indicated by
the following conceptual map. The content used in Grade 6 will
focus mainly on the Atlantic region, while in Grade 7 it will be
mainly on the Pacific Rim. By choosing the specific content wisely
for these two grades, teachers will be able to present a broad
picture of Canada's interrelationships with the countries of the
world.
General objectives for the course follow from the conceptual map and from the required learnings. They are outlined as knowledge, skills/abilities and values objectives. Each specific knowledge objective is written as a main understanding, a learning outcome dealing with the suggested content or other content the teacher might decide to use.
It is possible to indicate specific knowledge objectives for each part of the content and strategies. However, skills/abilities and value objectives often apply to several parts of both content and strategies. Thus skills and value objectives should not necessarily be read as belonging to only one part of the content.
The suggested material in the Content column is more than can be reasonably covered by all students in one year. In some instances, teachers may choose to work through the suggested content with all students, but at other times this suggested material should be seen as an opportunity to adapt instruction for students with different levels of intellectual ability and motivation. Teachers may also choose to substitute locally developed material where appropriate. Such material should reflect community interests and should also meet the skills/abilities and values objectives.
Conceptual Map: Canada and Its Atlantic Neighbours
Location: Identifies a position or place either in terms of a spot position or in terms of boundaries.
Interaction: Identifies the action or influence on each other, between/among individuals and/or groups and the various environments of which they are a part.
Identity: Identifies an individual, a group, or a nation in terms of beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and lifestyles.
Interdependence: Identifies the inter-relationships that exist between or among individuals, groups or institutions. It exists in both cultural and natural phenomena.
Using the Curriculum
Document
The content of the curriculum is organized in four units of study,
each developing in detail one major concept.
Each unit has a three page overview that outlines core and optional materials.
The Common Essential Learnings have been identified as they may be incorporated into each unit of study. The Foundational Objectives, as outlined in each introductory section, identify the major focus for each unit. Throughout the units, the C.E.L.s have also been identified in the Suggested Teaching Strategies column. This is not to imply that they are incorporated only as strategies, but should be read as an integral part of what is contained in the Content/Concepts, Knowledge, Skills/Abilities, and Values columns. Unit 3 may be regarded as a model unit in that the C.E.L.s have been identified within the context of these other objectives as well.
The curriculum content begins with an introductory unit dealing with map reading skills, moves through a study of historical experiences and current lifestyles of Atlantic region peoples, and ends with a study of interdependence in a global context. As such, the teacher may choose to work through the four units of study sequentially, as developed.
A teacher may change the sequence in a number of ways.
When using an integrated approach to learning, the teacher should be very conscious of helping the students make the necessary connections with the special focus of each subject. For example, in teaching Unit 2, the teacher may have the students read historical fiction novels dealing with the experiences of immigrant families. In Language Arts the focus may be on examining the plot or character development in each novel and comparing and contrasting the lives of different immigrant families. In Social Studies the focus might be to develop the concept of immigration, to understand the events and experiences within the context of time and place, to empathize with the characters, and to express alternate points of view. A teacher-librarian or other teachers in the school may be helpful in planning and conducting integrated learning experiences for students.
With an integrated learning experience, student evaluation should also be integrated. It may be appropriate, for example, to use one set of criteria to evaluate for two different subjects. It may be appropriate to evaluate an activity using a number of different criteria that would reflect the objectives of the different areas of study. Using the example above, in evaluating a project involving a novel study, the criteria used to arrive at marks for Language Arts and Social Studies could reflect the objectives of the respective curricula.
A number of Atlantic region countries have been suggested for study: Canada (eastern), U.S.A. (eastern), Mexico, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, France, Spain, Morocco, Nigeria (West Africa). Although the teacher may choose to focus on some or all those listed, there may be others within the Atlantic region that may be selected. For example, a teacher may want students to study a region in which a major event is occurring. An attempt should be made, however, to study at least one region from each of the following: North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa.
Each unit has some sections of it identified as being optional. The reasons for this designation are varied. It may be that the material is taught in other subjects (e.g. climate in Unit 1), the material is difficult and perhaps not relevant to some Grade 6 students (e.g. controlling strategies in Unit 4), or the material is part of the curriculum at another grade level (e.g. longitude and latitude in Unit 1 - Grade 7). The teacher may omit the optional sections, or may use them under special circumstances or with a special group of students.
It is assumed that teachers will use their professional judgement in how to make the best use of this curriculum document.