Grades 7-8: NYS Social Studies and ELA Standards (Key Ideas and Performance Indicators)
Social Studies Standard 5: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity of establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.
Key Idea 2: The state and federal governments established by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of New York embody basic civic values (such as justice, honesty, self-discipline, due process, equality, majority rule with respect for minority rights, and respect for self, others, and property), principles, and practices and establish a system of shared and limited government. (Adapted from: The National Standards for Civics and Government, 1994)
Students in grades 7 and 8 will demonstrate this understanding by-
- Understanding how civic values reflected in United States and New York State Constitutions have been implemented through laws and practices
- Understanding that the New York State Constitution, along with a number of other documents, served as a model for the development of the United States Constitution
- Comparing and contrasting the development and evolution of the constitutions of the United States and New York State
- Defining federalism and describing the powers granted the national and state governments by the United States Constitution
- Valuing the principles, ideals, and core values of the American democratic system based upon the premises of human dignity, liberty, justice, and equality
- Understanding how the United States and New York State Constitutions support majority rule but also protect the rights of the minority
Key Idea 3: Central to civics and citizenship is an understanding of the roles of the citizen within American constitutional democracy and the scope of a citizen’s rights and responsibilities.
Students in grades 7 and 8 will demonstrate this understanding by-
- Explaining what citizenship means in a democratic society, how citizenship is defined in the Constitution and other laws of the land, and how the definition of citizenship has changed in the United States and New York State over time
- Understanding that the American legal and political systems guarantee and protect the rights of citizens and assume that citizens will hold and exercise certain civic values and fulfill certain civic responsibilities
- Discussing the role of an informed citizen in today’s changing world
- Explaining how Americans are citizens of their states and of the United States
Key Idea 4: The study of civics and citizenship requires the ability to probe ideas and assumptions, ask and answer analytical questions, take a skeptical attitude toward questionable arguments, evaluate evidence, formulate rational conclusions, and develop and refine participatory skills.
Students in grades 7 and 8 will demonstrate this understanding by-
- Respecting the rights of others in discussions and classroom debates regardless of whether or not one agrees with their viewpoints
- Explaining the role civility plays in promoting effective citizenship in preserving democracy
- Participating in negotiation and compromise to resolve classroom, school, and community disagreements and problems
English Language Arts Standards
Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
Grade 7 and 8 students will demonstrate this standard by-
- Reading from informational texts such as textbooks, biographies, autobiographies, reference materials, magazines, journals, newspapers, primary and secondary historical sources, online and electronic databases, and websites
- Locating and using school and public library resources independently to acquire information about how the United States was created, the development and adoption of the United States and New York State Constitutions and the Bill of Rights
- Applying thinking skills such as defining, classifying, and inferring data, facts, and ideas from informational texts about how the United States and New York State Constitutions provide structure and outline how our governments function
- Using indexes in textbooks and other reference materials to locate information about how the government under the new United States Constitution operated during its early years
- Formulating questions about how democracy was extended during the Age of Jackson
- Comparing and contrasting information about the abolition movement and slavery from a variety of different contemporary sources including newspapers, diaries, government documents, broadsides, and debates
- Drawing conclusions about the success of the Progressive Reform movement in terms of how well it extended democracy and reformed government
- Writing information essays about the legal basis of citizenship describing how an individual becomes a citizen, the rights of citizenship, and how individuals can demonstrate responsible citizenship
- Writing news articles for a classroom newspaper highlighting the important events leading up to and including the writing, signing, and adoption of the United States Constitution
- Writing research reports about the Civil War Amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th) explaining how they were designed to extend the rights of citizenship to recently-freed slaves
- Using outlines and graphic organizers to plan reports and essays about the reform movements of the 19th century
- Listening to lectures, small group presentations, classroom discussions, and videotaped interviews about United States Supreme Court decisions related to the civil rights movement
- Viewing and listening to videotapes about immigration to the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries focusing on civil liberties and rights
- Presenting oral reports about various human rights violations including the internment of Japanese-Americans and the Nazi Holocaust
- Participating in classroom debates, mock trials, and panel discussions about important United States Supreme Court decisions related to civics and civil rights (e.g., Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Miranda v. Arizona, and Tinker v. Des Moines)
Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
Grade 7 and 8 students will demonstrate this understanding by-
- Reading to analyze and evaluate information, ideas, opinions, issues, themes, and experiences found in literary texts, historical articles in newspapers and magazines, public and government documents, editorials, and letters to the editor
- Evaluating the validity and accuracy of information, ideas, and opinions related to a public policy issue as students: define the problem or issue, identify conflicting viewpoints, propose alternative solutions, evaluate the consequences of each solution, select a solution to the problem or issue, and develop an action plan for implementing their solution
- Identifying different points of view expressed during the debates over the adoption of the United States Constitution
- Writing essays about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship focusing on the criteria that should be used to determine effective, responsible citizenship
- Writing editorials and letters to the editor for the school or local newspaper selecting a community problem or issue, proposing alternative solutions, evaluating these solutions, and formulating a way to solve the problem or resolve the issue
- Listening to public debates or speeches, interviews, small and large group discussions, and multimedia presentations about a local or community problem or issue in order to formulate a solution and action plan
- Speaking in small groups, debates, and interviews to present information related to an historical event/issue, local public policy problem, or school-related issue