Glendale Riverhills

Purpose of the Glendale-River Hills 4-8 Social Studies curriculum

To make our kids good citizens

To that end, we want our grade 4-8 Social Studies curriculum and instruction to:

  • Be relevant and important to kids’ current lives
  • Provide a coherent scope and sequence
  • Give kids opportunities to connect with students around the world
  • Infuse the culture into the present (e.g. field trips, dress-up days)
  • Engage students in memorable projects: museums, web quests, simulations and roles, presentations
  • Include reading material that is current, grade- and age-level appropriate; fiction that ties into concepts
  • Give students exposure to alternate perspectives (current and historical)
  • Get kids involved in experiences outside of their culture / comfort zone
  • Engage students in discussing and debating issues and in decision-making about the future and give them practice with the skills needed to do those well)
  • Give students opportunities and practice in making informed and reasoned decisions, supporting those viewpoints and explaining their decisions with evidence
  • Give kids direct preparation for active citizenship
  • Encourage students to be active in the community, to celebrate and promote community involvement
  • Emulate community in Glen Hills
  • Build on the diversity of the lives and experiences of kids
  • Include the full range of contributions to society from diverse perspectives
  • Make use of current events as content
  • Engage students with minds-on activities around important ideas, not just hands-on activities

Grade 4: Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story

The Wisconsin Historical Society collaborated with history scholars, reading specialists, and curriculum coordinators.

Literacy strategies in the Teacher's Edition, and activities in the Student Activity Guide, provide ways to reach the full spectrum of Wisconsin learners.

Photographs, historical documents, and artifacts from the Wisconsin Historical Society's collections and other Wisconsin collections - shown in full color-provide students with supporting visual evidence. More than 100 detailed maps help teach geography skills. Chapters conclude with resources encouraging students to extend their history journey beyond the classroom.

Web materials include correlation charts for each chapter to Wisconsin Model Academic Standards.

Assessments, available in Word format, can be easily customized by teachers.

Timelines and key words at the start of each chapter provide continuity.

Big questions in the Thinking Like a Historian model help students develop critical thinking skills.

Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story takes students and teachers on a journey from the time before glaciers to the diverse state we are today:

  • Learn about the Menominee, Ho-chunk, and Ojibwe who have lived here for centuries. View documents from Marquette's and Jolliet's travels.
  • Hear the story of escaped slave John Greene, who finds freedom in an integrated 1860s Grant County community.
  • See artifacts owned by Civil War general and Wisconsin governor, Lucius Fairchild.
  • Meet Mai Ya Xiong, born in a Thai refugee camp, who goes on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

See Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story web site for more information and sample pages

Grades 5 & 6: Social Studies Alive!

Grade 5: Social Studies Alive! America's Past



Social Studies Alive! America’s Past covers American history from the first migrations into the Americas through the 20th century. Intense interaction with the personalities, places, and events that structured our nation leads students to be both keen observers of and informed participants in U.S. history.
See TCI web site for more information.

Grade 6: History Alive! The Ancient World


History Alive! The Ancient World introduces students to the beginnings of the human story. As they explore the great early civilizations of Egypt and the Near East, India, China, Greece, and Rome, students discover the secrets of these ancient cultures that continue to influence the modern world.
See TCI web site for more information.

Grades 7 & 8: McDougal Littell American History

McDougal Littell American History is a comprehensive, interactive program that presents the history of theUnited States in a way that middle school students understand. Avariety of print and technology resources help teachers meet the needsof diverse student populations by addressing different learning stylesand levels.

See Holt McDougal web site for more information