Grade K-3 Social Studies Curriculum

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework (2018) is used to construct the K-3 Belmont Public Schools Social Studies Programming with the goal of preparing our students “to make informed civic choices and assume their responsibility for strengthening equality, justice, and liberty in and beyond the United States” (p. 9).

The Framework also includes ten Guiding Principles (pp. 13-16) to support schools in their design and evaluation of social studies programs. 

Grade Level

Content Overview as Outlined by DESE

Kindergarten

Many Roles in Living, Learning, and Working Together

Students learn about classroom democracy, respect for one another, local geography, roles of people, national, state, and community traditions, and economics in the context of work and money.

First

Leadership, Cooperation, Unity, and Diversity

Students learn about leadership on many levels, the meaning of citizenship, and map types. They explore how the concepts of unity and diversity, respect for differences, and respect of self shape life in the United States, and how people make choices about purchasing goods and services and saving resources.

Second

Global Geography: Places and Peoples, Cultures and Resources

Students learn about global geography, looking at reasons why people settle in particular places, why they migrate, how they bring culture with them, and how they earn a living, exchange goods and services, and save for the future.

Third

Massachusetts, Home to Many Different People

Students study Massachusetts and New England, beginning with their own city or town. They explore interactions among Native Peoples, European settlers and Africans, and learn about the Massachusetts people who led the American Revolution. The standards introduce students to the founding documents of Massachusetts and the United States so that they may begin to discuss and apply ideas about self-government as they help develop codes of classroom rules, rights, and responsibilities.

Click on a Grade Level below to see the specific units that are studied during the school year.

In addition to concepts and skills, the Massachusetts Framework emphasizes seven standards for History and Social Science Practice, which are incorporated throughout our curriculum.

HistorySSpractice