Secondary Social Studies

​Beliefs

Social Studies curriculum and instruction provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become life-long learners, informed and responsible citizens of the United States and the World.  This is accomplished through the teaching of broad concepts, social studies skills, and learning strategies.

Guiding Principles

• Social Studies content instruction focuses on broad concepts, connections, changes over time, and cause and effect.
• Skills instruction focuses on writing; development of note-making skills; analysis of visual documents, primary sources, maps, and graphics; and reading in the content area.
• Social Studies instruction actively engages students in the learning process.
• Inquiry-based learning, using primary and secondary sources, enriches student understanding of the present and the past.
• Social Studies curriculum, skills and vocabulary are most effective when vertically aligned K-12.

 ​Parent Resources

Inquiry-based learning information:    

• Think Historically
• Why Historical Thinking Matters
• Library of Congress Using Primary Resources

​Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies

Get Aboard the KAP/AP Train is a handbook for parents of students interested in taking KAP and AP social studies courses.

KAP and KAP/GT in Social Studies

The purpose of KAP and KAP/GT Social Studies in grades 6-10 is to prepare students for the rigors of college level instruction in AP Social Studies courses. Skill development is accelerated in KAP and KAP/GT courses in a variety of ways, such as:

• Expectation of formal thesis writing
• Use of more sophisticated resources
• Increased number of primary and secondary documents analyzed by the students