Introduction

Introduction The Integrated Social Studies/English Language Arts Curriculum for the Grades K-7 project received its impetus from the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Curriculum Council, and was developed by teachers during curriculum development workshops over the last twelve years. The decision was made to use the methodology of Understanding by Design developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, and to create a web-based curriculum that would be available to all teachers. The New York State Social Studies Framework is the basis of unit development. The model of continuous improvement shapes the revision and enhancement of the curriculum yearly.

Based on the following design principles to ensure the development of high quality units, the curriculum is:

• teacher friendly – The lessons include specific procedures, clearly spell out the materials needed, and provide the appropriate student worksheets, informational texts, and rubrics
• standards based
• aligned to the key ideas, conceptual understandings, content specifications, and social studies practices found in the Framework
• incorporates Reading Informational Text, Writing, and Speaking and Listening found in the Common Core Learning Standards
• open to integration of already developed units done in individual districts
• integrated with best practices in instructional technology and 21st Century Skills which include:
  • encouraging higher order thinking
  • involving collaborative learning
  • using informational sources that cannot be found elsewhere or are not as rich
  • engaging the research spirit
  • infusing video clips
  • utilizing real-time data
  • utilizing interactive whiteboards effectively
  • having real world connections
  • allowing for online publishing or input from others
    

Sample Lessons

These sample lessons are provided for districts who are interested in previewing the materials before implementing this curriculum in their district. All materials are web-based, and are reviewed and revised each year. This is a "living, breathing" curriculum. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Marla Gardner or Fred Ende at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES. (914) 248 - 2332.

• Kindergarten Lesson - The Morning Meeting
• Grade 1 Lesson - All Families Are the Same, Yet Different
• Grade 2 Lesson - It's Your Right To Vote
• Grade 3 Lesson - Brazil's Economy
• Grade 4 Lesson - New Technology, New Ways to Travel
• Grade 5 Lesson - Sugar and the African Slave Trade
• Grade 6 Lesson - Turning Points – Making a Claim about the Neolithic Revolution
• Grade 7 Lesson - A Spirit of Reform
• Common Core Module for Grade 2
• C3 Inquiry for Grade 4:  
  A new C3 Inquiry "How did New Yorkers Feel about the Issue of Slavery?" has been added. It addresses slavery and abolition as required in the new New York State Social Studies Framework, and follows the C3 Model.

Please note that you will not be able to link to the other lessons in the curriculum. You will have access to all files and links for one lesson only, for each grade level. If links go to other sections of the curriculum, they will not be operational.

Unit Outlines and Materials List

• Scope and Sequence:
  This is an outline of the entire Integrated Social Studies/ELA curriculum. This file lists all unit and lesson names for the curriculum for all seven grade levels.
• Recommended Books:
  Please note: There are dozens of books on each of the key ideas and concepts in the SS/ELA curriculum. We have been asked to compile suggestions to aid the social studies supervisor who wishes to purchase books to complement SS/ELA. The list linked here containsthe books suggested by teachers and used in our lessons. Many you probably already have many of them. If you own books with a different title that are on the same key idea or concept, there is no need to purchase new ones; your books can be simply substituted in each lesson.

Developed at
PUTNAM/NORTHERN WESTCHESTER BOCES
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES

Marla Gardner, Director
Greg Brown, Regional Social Studies and Blended Learning Coordinator
Mirla Morrison, Social Studies Consultant
Linda Brandon, Instructional Technology Consultant

For further information regarding this curriculum and staff development program, please contact Greg Brown (914) 248-2382. (gbrown@pnwboces.org)

©2014 by Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES, 200 BOCES Drive, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4399

All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Curriculum Center.

Revised 9/28/16