Social Studies

In order that men [and women] may be prepared for self-government, their apprenticeship must commence in childhood. The great moral attribute of self-government cannot be born and matured in a day; and if school children are not trained to it, we only prepare ourselves for disappointment.
--Horace Mann

Welcome to the Social Studies page of the Curriculum and Instruction Department of the Denver Public Schools. Use the navigation bar on the left or the buttons at the top to navigate through the site. To see additional resources for your content area, please use the buttons above to see links and information on upcoming opportunities.

New Pacing Guides
Click here to view the Pacing Guides and "Year-at-a-Glance" documents for all the newly designed SS courses.

Upcoming Opportunities and Events

Summer Social Studies Institutes
Teachers can register for the institutes online at https://secure2.dpsk12.org/PLD/ and then follow the steps to register. You will be prompted for your password - use your Outlook login to access the site.

We will provide breakfast and lunch. Participants will be compensated at the district in-service rate. If you have any questions feel free to contact Carla Frenzel at carla_frenzel@dpsk12.org

All institutes will be held at Augustana Lutheran Church at 5000 East Alameda Ave.
Denver, CO 80246. The times for all institutes are 8am-4pm at

6th Grade Geography - August 4th - 5th
7th Grade World History - July 29th - 30th
8th Grade US History - August 7th - 8th
9th Grade Geography - August 4th - 5th
10th Grade US History - August 7th - 8th
11th Grade Civics - July 29th - 30th

Democratic National Convention Opportunities

Dialog:City - A creative and interactive arts festival that will feature ten artists, including Luke Dubois. For his piece titled "Hindsight is Always 20/20" Dubois developed a process to visually re-tell US History through each individual State of the Union speech ever delivered by a President of the United States. Teachers and students are welcome to attend the exhibit, which premieres August 24-30 at the Denver Center for the performing Arts. For more information on this piece, you can visit the artist website at http://www.lukedubois.com/. For more information about Dialog:City you can visit the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs at http://dialog:city.org

Social Studies Institutes

Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9:
- Saturday March 8, 8am-4pm
  Readings:
  - 6th Grade Reading: Political Temperature Rising: Media Literacy, Public Opinion, and Global Warming and chapters 4-6 in Understandng by Design
  - 7th Grade Reading: Age of the Renaissance and chapters 4-6 in Understandng by Design
  - 8th Grade Reading: Chapter 11, "Reconstruction: Change or Stasis?", from Interpretations of American History
  - 9th Grade Readings: 1) Realms & Regions; 2) Relocating resource peripheries... and 3) chapters 1-3 in Understandng by Design
  Agendas:
- Tuesday May 6, 4-7pm

Location: Colorado History Museum at 1300 Broadway
Denver, CO 80203

HS Civics
- New Date! Saturday, January 26th, 2008, 8a-4p, Location: TBD
  Download flier for more details!

DPS has rolled-out the new Social Studies curriculum district-wide in grades 6 - 9 for 2007-2008!
We are implementing the new social studies curriculum and materials that were field-tested in grades 6th-9th during the 2006-2007 school year (see below for links to the pacing guides).

Access the Redesigned US History Curriculum here
You will have to login using the same username and password that you use to access your district email account (Outlook) at school. Keep in mind that the US History Refinement workgroup (10 teachers from across the district) has been working on making refinements over the summer and will continue through the 05-06 school year. You can download the framework that has been developed (look under "What's New?"). In the mean time, teachers will continue using the curriculum as is posted here.

For more events and resources, click on a specific content area in the navigation bar above.

News

New Denver Plan Emphasizes Social Studies
Superintendent Michael Bennet and new Chief Academic Officer Jaime Aquino have emphasized the importance of social studies as part of the k-12 curriculum and have devoted more resources to our content area. Please read/download the Denver Strategic Plan at: http://thedenverplan.dpsk12.org/ and refer to pages 14-15 for the social studies timeline. For more details about how the Denver Plan impacts Social Studies, please visit our T&L page.
NCLB Highly Qualified Teachers The requirements for being considered as "highly qualified" to teach social studies have changed! Now, in order to be highly qualified in social studies in Colorado, all you need is a social studies license (i.e. the requirements to be a qualified social studies teacher are the same as before). Human Resources has updated their web site to reflect that information. See the faq’s on the HR web site for more details and information on other alternatives.

Stay Tuned for More...