Grade 4 Social Studies

Communities of learners rely on everyone's responsible participation.

Groups of people (families, classrooms, institutions, etc.) make rules to create responsibilities and protect freedoms.

People benefit from and are challenged by working together.

Model ACS Citizens demonstrate core values and approaches to learning when interacting with one another.

Identify purpose, create and adopt classroom rules

Review and demonstrate classroom routines (bathroom, transitions, lining up, walking in the hallway, raising a hand to ask a question)

Follow the sequence of a morning meeting (greeting, sharing, group activity, morning message)

Follow the sequence of a closing circle (quick share, song or chant)

Use deliberative processes when making decisions or reaching judgements as a group

Identify ACS Core Values and develop scenarios that demonstrate them

Identify ACS Approaches to Learning and develop scenarios that demonstrate them

Identify "if...then" scenarios and actions that reflect core values and approaches to learning

Identify rights and responsibilities of themselves as "classroom citizens" and "ACS citizens"

Inquiry is an authentic process used by social scientists to solve authentic problems.

Social scientists study people and how they interact in the world.

Social scientists consider discipline-specific questions, use discipline-specific tools and follow specific processes when studying an issue, an event, or a problem.

Social science is a multi-disciplinary subject that relies on multiple perspectives and ways of thinking.

Identify questions, tools and processes of various types of social scientists

Follow discipline-specific processes when addressing issues and solving problems

Work together to create action plans

Define social science

Explain the roles of various social scientists (geographers, historians, economists, political scientists, cultural anthropologists) and global citizens

The US government is based on democratic principles. The fundamental principles of other governments may be similar to or different from those of the US government.

The United Arab Emirates is a constitutional federation established in December 1971.

The process of selecting leaders, solving problems, and making decisions differs across governments in nations and communities around the world.

The definition of citizenship and the role of the citizen vary across different types of political systems, and citizens play a greater role in the political process in some countries than in others.

Explore the concept of leadership and the relationship between leaders and followers

Identify the purpose of government

Explore various forms of government and sort by who holds the power

Identify ways in which government leaders are selected around the world, including the US and the UAE

Compare governments and leadership selection processes around the world

Identify advantages and disadvantages for various forms of government

Discuss role of citizens within various forms of government

State a claim in response to the question, "Does it matter how leaders are chosen?" and support with source-based evidence and reasoning

Critique evidence-based claims of self and others

Design an ideal government system for a fictitious country

Each community develops an economic system that addresses three questions: what will be produced, how will it be produced, and who will get what is produced?

World communities have needs, wants, and limited resources. To meet their needs and wants, communities trade with others. Technological developments in transportation and communication have influenced trade.

Construct a definition of "trade"

Engage with economic vocabulary via hands-on activities

Consider global interdependence via hands-on activities

Analyze and explain global resource maps

Identify natural resources and the countries that export them

Compare political, physical and thematic maps to draw conclusions and ask and answer questions

Identify reasons for trade

Identify factors in increased or decreased global trade

Draw conclusions about impact of trade on local environments, people and culture

Explain why countries trade with one another, providing source-based evidence

State a claim that draws attention to an undesired consequence of global trade and provide evidence to support their claim

Construct an evidence-based claim related to the benefits and/or costs of global trade

Participate in scaffolded critique processes to reflect on their evidence-based explanations and evidence-based claims and those of their classmates

What rights and freedoms are and why we need them.

Different perspectives push individuals to resist or advocate for change

Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society

Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities

Explain why individuals and groups during the historical period differed in their perspectives

Use evidence to develop a claim about the past

Philanthropy is the giving of giving and sharing of time, talent, or treasure intended for the common good.

Economic principles are at work in a marketplace.

Charitable giving can have an economic dimension.

The service learning process of IPARDE (Investigate - Prepare - Act - Reflect - Demonstrate - Evaluate) helps ensure volunteering and philanthropic acts that help others.

Define and give examples of philanthropy at home, school, in the community, and around the world

Compare and contrast the four types of service learning (direct, indirect, advocacy, research)

Determine philanthropic recipients through collaborative investigation

Determine goods and/or services to provide in marketplace activity

Develop business plan and marketing strategy

Consider economic principles such as competition, profit/loss, expenses, etc. when preparing for marketplace activity

Participate in grade-level marketplace activity as a fundraiser

Participate in service learning reflection activities