The North Allegheny Elementary Social Studies Curriculum utilizes a cohesive spiraling curriculum that promotes a diverse and rich understanding of the history, culture, economics, and geography of the students' community, state, nation, and world. It includes skill-building in literacy, the use of maps and globes, and interpreting historical and current events.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten students in North Allegheny will utilize Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s The World Around Us. Students are introduced to the basic elements of social studies with emphasis on their relationships with their peers, their school, their families, community, and the immediate world around them. Topics include friendship, family, basic geography skills using maps and globes, holidays, national and local historical figures or importance, and school and community rules.

Grade 1

The Families Living and Working Together text published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will be used at the first grade level. Students continue to study the basic elements of social studies with emphasis on their relationships with their peers, their school, their families, community, and the immediate world around them. Topics include friendship, family, basic geography skills using maps and globes, holidays, national and local historical figures or importance, and school and community rules

Grade 2

Second grade students will use Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Neighborhoods and Communities. This curriculum expands the students' study of social studies into their local communities and includes study of types of communities such as urban, rural, and suburban, as well as local government, work, and basic economic principles and civic education. Map and globe skill-building is expanded to the nation and the continent, and there is continued emphasis on holidays, and local and national historical figures of importance

Grade 3

Third grade students will use Communities Near and Far published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The students' study of their world is expanded from the community to the state level. Pennsylvania groups, history, government, and economy are the focus of the third grade curriculum, with more in-depth study of the people, events, and places that shaped our current local and state history and landscape. Students are also introduced to the three branches of the federal government and the roles that each branch plays. Map, globe, and geography skills continue to be expanded and refined during this year of study.

Grade 4

The American States and Regions text published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is used by fourth grade students. The curriculum continues to spiral outward as students explore the geography, culture, economics, and government of the United States. Students study the five major regions of the United States from a geographic, historical, and economic perspective while broadening their map and globe competencies. There is also increased emphasis placed on interpretation of current events, both nationally and internationally.

Grade 5

Fifth grade students will use Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s text The United States: Beginnings through the Civil War.  The elementary curriculum culminates with an in-depth study of early American history, from its origins to 1783. The curriculum weaves the study of current events and Pennsylvania history into the U.S. history curriculum whose major topics include: the early explorers, the colonial period, the Revolutionary War, and the framing of the Constitution and development of the Bill of Rights. Students leave fifth grade poised to begin concurrent studies of World and U.S. History, geography, culture, government, and economics.

Grade 6 | World Geography

Students undertake a year-long study of the geography of the world with emphasis on utilizing the tools and themes of geography to study the world’s regions and people in depth. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Western World Geography will be the primary text utilized in this course. The course begins with an overview of the essential elements of geography as the study of Earth and its people, including building skills related to the six essential elements of geography: studying the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and the uses of geography. Students then engage in an intense study of both physical and human geography with focus on the relationship between the physical characteristics of the Earth and the historical and cultural development of its people. Regional focus units include more in depth study Latin and Middle America. Finally, students will engage in ongoing geographicskill development and global competencies by mapping and examining demographics in all regions of the world, locating and studying places of interest related to current events, and exploring global themes such as population, energy, human rights, etc. 

Grade 7 | Ancient Civilizations

The course begins with a study of prehistory and early humans and continues with the ancient civilizations of the Middle East. Using Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Ancient Civilizations as the primary text, students will then trace the development of civilization through the cultural and historical contributions of the early empires of Egypt, Africa, Greece, Rome and Asia. The course concludes with a study of the emergence of Modern Europe through the middle ages. The course focuses on the development of mapping and analytic skills, historical thinking, use of primary sources, and increased global competencies.

Grade 8 | American History

This course traces the events and people that led to the creation of the United States of America and its history through 1890.  The primary text that will be utilized is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s U.S. History: Beginning to 1877.  It provides students with a sense of history and an appreciation of American culture and traditions. Throughout the course, the strands of citizenship, history, geography, and economics are woven into the student knowledge base. The students are also given numerous opportunities to develop and sharpen their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Major topics of the course include the Exploration/Colonization Review, the American Revolution, Constitutional Government, Westward Expansion, Growth of Democracy, the Civil War and post-war expansion of the West, immigration, industrialization, and Pennsylvania History. Study of American History continues in 9^th grade and culminates with the study of modern American History in 11^th grade.