NYCDOE: Passport to Social Studies - grade 4, unit 4 - ADA version
This is the WCAG 2.0 accessible version.
This is the fourth unit of the grade four Social Studies Scope & Sequence, titled: Freedom and the New Nation: Federal, State and Local Government. It was developed by a team of NYCDOE staff and teachers, in collaboration with scholars of the humanities and social sciences as well as museum curators. Students will immerse themselves in the topic by discussing focus questions, reading and analyzing a rich collection of diverse primary and secondary sources, examining artifacts, and interpreting images, such as: paintings, photographs, maps, and political cartoons.
This guide offers a multitude of perspectives on federal, state and local government: about ideas and ideals, about inclusion and exclusion, and about individual rights and collective responsibilities from the very birth of the American Republic. Topics of representative lessons in this unit include the context within which the U.S. Constitution was written, the role of compromise in drafting the Constitution, how the U.S. Constitution is flexible, continually challenged and reinterpreted, and how citizens have certain rights and responsibilities that are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution
To evaluate student mastery of content knowledge, cognitive processes, and critical thinking skills, this unit includes formative assessments, and a performance-based assessment activity, which has students creating their own museum exhibit that demonstrates New York’s role and connections to freedom and the new nation. They will choose images and documents that tell the best story connecting New York State and New York City to Freedom and the New Nation.
Please note: the complete set of NYCDOE K-8: Passport to Social Studies Core Curriculum materials include a wide-range of trade books and primary documents, in addition to this unit of study. In order to support rigorous social studies instruction and student inquiry, we recommend that teachers integrate these resources into their daily instruction and assessments plans.