Education Gate International School 2

Social Studies Curriculum

Our social studies curriculum is aimed at helping our students make sense of the world we live in – it allows them to make connections between global ideas and their own lives.

The curriculum encourages our students to think critically, raise questions, and cite evidence in support of their interpretations.

Students will learn how to draw upon chronological thinking, comprehension, analysis and interpretation, research, and decision-making.

These skills provide the conceptual framework that allows them to make informed decisions about local, national, and international issues and challenges.

The course of study for each grade is organized around a suggested time frame for core content (units of study) guided by essential questions.

In grades 1 to 6, students use the Social Studies book that has been specially designed to help students understand their environment and their role in society.

In grades 7 through 9, we use the History Book - the sheer volume of social studies content included in each year’s course of study presents some challenges, so our teachers strive to provide students with opportunities for in-depth inquiry and exposure by using this book throughout these grade levels.

The school year is divided into 2 semesters of 2 quarters each – that is, there are 4 quarters in all. We have pop quizzes and scheduled ones to assess our students’ progress as well as end-of-quarter exams.

For English, there are two quizzes in reading/literature and one each in grammar, writing, spelling/vocabulary, and social studies per quarter.

Apart from these, grades 1 to 3 also have dictation in English, science, Arabic and French; students visit the Phonics Lab regularly – this helps improve their pronunciation and enables them to decode new words by sounding them out, or in phonics terms, blending the sound-spelling patterns.