Middle School Social Studies Curriculum
Disciplinary Literacy Strategies in Action
Social Studies Generation (SoGen)
The original Social Studies Generation materials (SoGen) cover topics commonly included in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade social studies content standards. These curricular materials can be used in place of the standard curriculum materials, or as a supplement. They provide opportunities to read, write, discuss, and build arguments about central concepts in social studies.
19 Middle School Units Available
Each 5-10 day unit is comprised of 40-50 minute social studies lessons each day and highlights 5–10 academic words. There are also supplementary activities for other content areas to continue the cross-disciplinary benefits of Word Generation. Students integrate information from multiple texts, often from differing perspectives. All activities relate to the central question or topic of the week, build relevant knowledge, and provide opportunities to encounter the new academic vocabulary in multiple semantic contexts.
Relating History to Today
By bringing the conflict closer to students' lives, and providing them with tools to identify the claims, reasons, and evidence associated with the perspective, students are equipped with both the background and the tools to engage in argumentation.
New!
ADAPTATIONS FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS
World Generation
Five Ancient Civilizations SoGen units have been adapted by Sharon Vaughn and her colleagues as part of the work of the Center for the Success of English Learners (CSEL).
CSEL's innovations for English Language Learners have also led to new revisions to two more advanced units:
SoGen Unit 8.2: Who Get's to Say What I Need to Know?
SoGen Unit 8.7: Freedom of Speech: Whose Freedom Needs Protection
The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, University of Texas at Austin and Center for the Success of English Learners adapted World Generation (EL Adaptation) from Social Studies Generation, a product of the SERP Institute.
This adaptation was developed with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305C200016 to University of Houston. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
Support for Social Studies Generation was provided by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education through grant number R305F100026.
The information provided does not represent views of the funder.
