•    Social Studies Curriculum : Kindergarten

     

    The School District of Clayton’s elementary K-2 Social Studies curriculum is grounded in the Learning for Justice Standards of Identity and Diversity. The focus on celebrating students’ individual characteristics strives to develop young people who have begun to explore the process of self-actualization. Through exposure to the diversity within families, schools and communities, we aim to develop cultural awareness and emerging empathy. To varying degrees of emphasis at each grade level, we introduce the five strands of social studies - history, civics, economics, geography and culture.  Each of these is woven into a narrative around the personal experience of each child and their increasing understanding of their place in the local, national and global communities. 

     

    Kindergarten students will begin to explore themselves and the world around them using the essential questions: 

    1. Who am I?

    2. Who are we?

    3. How do we get along in our diverse community?

    4. How can we make this community for everyone?

     

    Within the three social studies units, Kindergarten students will delve into the following topics:

     

    Unit 1: Community Builders in Action

    • Begin to identify reasons for making rules within schools

    • Discuss the concepts of individual rights

    • Describe the character traits of role models within family or school

    • Describe why groups need to make decisions and how decisions are made in families

    • Describe roles and responsibilities of leaders in families 

     

    Unit 2: This is Us

    • Create a personal history(yearlong exploration)

    • Compare one’s family’s life in the past and present

    • Describe the contributions of diverse people in one’s community

    • Describe cultural characteristics of one’s family and class members including language, celebrations, customs, holidays, arts, food and dress 

    • Describe how to resolve disputes in the classroom and on the playground

    • Share stories related to one’s family cultural traditions 

    • Describe how one’s family remembers and commemorates their culture

     

    Unit 3 : Where You Find Us

    • Identify maps as representations of real places

    • With assistance, read, construct and use maps of familiar places such as the home and classroom.

    • Match legend symbols to match features

    • Apply positional words to locations within classrooms

    • Describe examples of scarcity within one’s family

    • Describe examples of opportunity cost within one’s family

    • Describe examples of needs and wants within one’s family

     

    •