K-5 Social Studies
All K-5 students receive Social Studies instruction during a distinct block of time in their student schedule. The Interboro School District has adopted TCI’s Elementary Social Studies series as the core resource for students in our primary and intermediate grades. Using TCI Elementary Social Studies, teachers engage learners with developmentally appropriate informational texts and primary sources as well as interactive simulations that promote inquiry-based and hands-on learning. All programming is aligned with both the national College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies and Pennsylvania’s state standards focused in the overarching areas of Civics, History, Geography, and Economics.
Kindergarten - Me and My World
Unit One: History
Compelling Question: What would my life have been like long ago?
- Who am I?
- What is a family?
- How is our life different from long ago?
Unit Two: Civics
Compelling Question: How can I help a new student at our school?
- How do I get along with others?
- How do I make friends?
- How do I solve problems with others?
- How can I be a good helper at school?
- How do Americans celebrate?
Unit Three: Geography
Compelling Question: Where is my place in the world?
- What is in my neighborhood?
- Where am I in the world?
- How do people live around the world?
Unit Four: Economics
Compelling Question: How can I meet my needs while taking care of our world?
- What do people need and want?
- How can I help take care of the world?
Grade 1 - My School and Family
Unit One: Civics
Compelling Question: How do we help others?
- How do we get along in school?
- Why is it important to learn from each other?
- Why do schools have rules?
- How are we good helpers at school?
- What groups do we belong to?
Unit Two: Economics
Compelling Question: What can a trip to the store teach us about economics?
- Who works at your school?
- What do families need and want?
- How do family members care for each other?
- What do good neighbors do?
Unit Three: Geography
Compelling Question: How can you show where you live?
- What is a map?
- How are families special?
- Where do families live?
- What are family traditions?
Unit Four: Economics
Compelling Question: In what ways have schools and families changed over time?
- What was school like long ago?
- How do families change over time?
Grade 2 - My Community
Unit One: Geography
Compelling Question: How does geography affect our community?
- What is a community?
- How are communities different?
- How do we use maps?
- What is geography?
Unit Two: Economics
Compelling Question: How do people decide what they want, and how do they get it?
- How do people use our environment?
- How are goods made and brought to us?
- Who provides services in a community?
- How can I be a smart consumer?
Unit Three: History
Compelling Question: How can I be a historian?
- How can we learn about Native American cultures?
- How do families learn about their past?
- How do communities change?
- How did one community change?
Unit Four: Civics
Compelling Question: Why should you do the right thing even when no one is watching?
- How can one person make a difference?
- How do leaders help their communities?
- What does a good citizen do?
- What do communities share?
Grade 3 - Our Community and Beyond
Unit One: Geography
Compelling Question: How does Liberty State Park relate to geography and how humans interact with geography?
- Understanding the geography of the world
- Finding places in the United States
- Geography and the way we live
- Native Americans and their environments
Unit Two: History
Compelling Question: How do history and culture shape your community?
- Settling in the United States
- Diversity in the United States
- Making communities better
- Cultures around the world
Unit Three: Economics
Compelling Question: How are choices people make affected by available resources?
- Understanding our economy
- Choices in a free market
- Using money wisely
- The United States and global trade
Unit Four: Civics
Compelling Question: How can being an active citizen benefit others?
- Providing public services
- Government in the United States
- Citizenship and Participation
- Making a difference in the world
Grade 4 - Regions of Our Country
Unit One: Discovering the Social Sciences
Compelling Question: How can the four core social sciences help us learn about our region of the country?
- The four core social sciences
- Exploring regions of the United States
- The peopling of the United States
Unit Two: The Northeast
Compelling Question: What is it like to live in the Northeast region?
- A tour of the Northeast
- Population density and life in the Northeast
Unit Three: The Southest
Compelling Question: What is it like to live in the Southeast region and how does it compare to my own?
- A tour of the Southeast
- The effects of geography on life in the southeast
Unit Four: The Midwest
Compelling Question: What is it like to live in the Midwest region and how does it compare to my own?
- A tour of the Midwest
- Agricultural changes in the Midwest
Unit Five: The Southwest
Compelling Question: What is it like to live in the Southwest region and how does it compare to my own?
- A tour of the Southwest
- A case study in water use: the Colorado River
Unit Six: The West
Compelling Question: What is it like to live in the West region and how does it compare to my own?
- A tour of the West
- Cities of the West
Unit Seven: Studying Your State
Compelling Question: How can I use inquiry to learn about my state?
- The geography of your state
- The history of your state
- The economy of your state
- The government of your state
Grade 5 – America’s Past
Unit One: America’s Geographic Setting
Compelling Question: Did the benefits of European exploration outweigh the costs?
- Geography of the United States
- Native Americans and their land
- Native American cultural regions
- How and why Europeans came to the Americas
- Routes of exploration to the Americas
Unit Two: Colonial Times
Compelling Question: How did geography affect the development of colonial America?
- Early English settlements
- Comparing the colonies
- Slavery in the Americas
- Life in Colonial Williamsburg
Unit Three: The American Revolution
Compelling Question: How might a frayed rope be a metaphor for the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies?
- Tensions grow between the colonies and Great Britain
- To declare independence or not
- The Declaration of Independence
- The American Revolution
Unit Four: Civics and Economics in America
Compelling Question: How did the Constitution and Bill of Rights give Americans a foundation for political and economic success?
- The Constitution
- The Bill of Rights
- Our role in government
- Shaping America’s economy
Unit Five: Manifest Destiny to Today
Compelling Question: How did technology transform the United States?
- Manifest destiny and settling the West
- The diverse peoples of the West
- The causes of the Civil War
- The Civil War
- The Modern United States