Social Studies
Room 15: Mr. McDonald Bio
We cannot escape history. - Abraham Lincoln
A nation that forgets its past can function no better than an individual with amnesia. - David McCullough
About Social Studies:
Find the Diocesan Social Studies Curriculum here.
How Social Studies class works...
Class Structure, Daily Routine, Grades, Extra Credit, etc.
Homework Guidelines
How to Submit an Assignment from Notability to Showbie
Sample Paper
Challenge Work (and Eyewitness to History)
Information on Note Taking...
Bring Back Handwriting: It’s Good for Your Brain
Note Taking Research Item 1
Note Taking Research Item 2
Grades Comparison for i-pad and handwritten notes
6th Grade
Curriculum Highlights
6th Grade Curriculum:
In 6th grade Social Studies, we study what history is, history's relationship to archaeology and geography, human prehistory, the cradles of civilization, major empires of the ancient Middle East, Greek civilizations, Roman civilization, the rise of Christianity, Byzantine civilization, the rise of Islam, the early Middle Ages, and the High Middle Ages, including the concept of feudalism, the crusades, and the rise of West European monarchies. Throughout the course, the historical importance of developments in Judaism, Christianity, and the Church is emphasized.
Who Said It?
"It was built against the will of the immortal gods, and so it did not last for long."
Class Notes, etc.
New Unit (not on 12/16 test)
Assignments
See Showbie and Homework Calendar.
Weblinks
Smithsonian: Human Evolution Evidence
Life in Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia
BBC: Development of Pyramids Gallery
Ancient Egypt
Time Maps: Syria 1500 BC -- 1000 BC
Time Maps: Phoenicians
Jewish Virtual Library
Time Maps: Assyria
Time Maps: Minoan Civilization
Ancient Greece
The Gracchi Brothers
The Bible's Table of Contents
BBC History: Anglo-Saxons
BBC History: Alfred the Great
BBC History: King Henry II (Henry Plantagenet)
BBC History: King John
Readworks web site
--Home Room 11 class code:
--Home Room 12 class code:
7th Grade
Curriculum Highlights
7th Grade Curriculum:
In 7th grade Social Studies, we study the beginning of the Modern Era, the Age of Exploration, the British Colonies, the American Revolution and its causes and purposes, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the economic and territorial growth of the United States from coast to coast, the institution of slavery and the causes of the Civil War, and the Civil War itself.
Who Said It?
"Neglected by Congress below, distressed with the small-pox; want of Generals and discipline in our Army, which may rather be called a great rabble, our credit and reputation lost, and great part of the country; and a powerful foreign enemy advancing upon us, are so many difficulties we cannot surmount them."
Class Notes, etc.
Assignments
See Showbie and Homework Calendar.
Weblinks
Digital History
U.S. Constitution
1790 Census
Readworks web site
--Home Room 13 class code:
--Home Room 14 class code:
8th Grade
Curriculum Highlights
8th Grade Curriculum:
In 8th grade Social Studies, we study Reconstruction, the settlement of the Great West, the corporate revolution and amazing economic growth of the Gilded Age, the Progressive Age, World War I and its causes and results, economics, the 1920s, the Great Depression, World War II and its causes and results, the civil rights movement, and the Cold War.
Who Said It?
"America is the only idealistic nation in the world."
Assignments
See Showbie and Homework Calendar.