Social Studies: Weekly Update
March 22nd, 2024
Weekly Guidance from The Quran:
"O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You sent prayers upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory."
Grade 4
This week, the 4th-grade students were introduced to the causes of the Civil War.
After the Industrial Revolution and Westward Expansion in the United States, the people's focus turned to the conflict of whether slaves should be considered humans or properties. As the build-up of tensions was not only by one event, the students were given the project of creating a flashcard game to help them see the different causes. Students created their own “playing cards” about the causes of the Civil War. Each notecard included the cause, an image representing the cause, and an explanation of its importance. This interactive game allowed them to debate among themselves on which reason was more intense compared to the other. Afterward, they were introduced to what officially began the war, which they will continue to learn in-depth next week.
Grade 5
During this week, our 5th-grade class paused their general studies to practice historical-based essay writing.
After completing our chapter on World War II, the students were introduced to Document-Based Questions (DBQ), as they are a significant part of advanced history classes. This included several documents to be analyzed before constructing an essay. For each document, they were given specific methods to annotate such as "HIPP" and the usage of context clues. After going through a few examples, the students were able to experience an actual DBQ essay to see and improve their historical writing skills. We will be continuing our general studies next week with the introduction of the Cold War.
Grade 7
This week in 7th grade, we took a break from learning about China and started a mini-lesson on essay writing in social studies.
The students were introduced to the practice of writing Document-Based Questions (DBQ), which included 8 documents to be analyzed before constructing an essay. For each document, the source was studied in depth, questions regarding the document were answered with supporting evidence, and if it supported the main essay questions, it was added as a positive. Furthermore, the students practiced by writing timed practice essays about what they have learned with the inclusion of supporting historical documents. Next week, we will continue completing the general information on China.