Category Archives: Social Sciences

You’ll find domain-specific material designed to meet Common Core Standards in social studies, along with adapted and differentiated materials that deal with a broad array of conceptual knowledge in the social sciences. See the Taxonomies page for more about this category.

Cultural Literacy: Ellis Island

Posted on January 3, 2025 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Ellis Island. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences–and beware that two of them are long compounds separated by commas that might be best separated into independent clauses for emergent and struggling readers–and three comprehension question. A relatively short, but cogent, introduction to this important place in United States history.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, New York City, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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The Weekly Text, 3 January 2025: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Robert Moses

Posted on January 3, 2025 | Leave a comment

Happy New Year! This week’s Text, after two weeks off for this blog for the holidays, is a reading on Robert Moses along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Moses, you may know, was the so-called “Master Builder” of New York City.

If you’re interested in a critical, nuanced and not to mention thorough account if Moses’ impact on the Five Boroughs, I recommend–highly–Robert Caro’s magisterial biography of Moses, The Power Broker. Should you happen to be in New York City for the next month, The New York Historical has an exhibition on “Robert Caro’s The Power Broker at 50” at its museum at 170 Central Park West (at 77th Street).

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, New York City, Social Sciences, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Atahualpa

Posted on November 29, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Atahualpa: (1502?-1533) Last free-reigning emperor of the Incas. He became ruler after defeating his half-brother in what may have been the greatest military engagement in Inca history. The conquistador Francisco Pizarro met Atahualpa just before the emperor’s triumphal entry into Cuzco and invited him to a feast in his honor. When Atahualpa and his unarmed retainers arrived, Pizarro ambushed them on horseback with cannons and guns, slaughtered thousands, and took Atahualpa prisoner. Pizarro accepted Atahualpa’s offer of a ransom of a roomful of gold, then, having received 24 tons of gold and silver, ordered Atahualpa burned at the stake, The sentence was changed to death by garrote when Atahualpa agreed to convert to Christianity.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Posted in Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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Cultural Literacy: Sitting Bull

Posted on November 29, 2024 | Leave a comment

Last but not least for National Native American Heritage Month 2024, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Sitting Bull. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences, all of them relatively long, and three comprehension questions. For its brevity, it is nonetheless a surprisingly thorough introduction to this Sioux leader.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Posted in Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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Shawnee

Posted on November 29, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Shawnee: Algonquian-speaking people from the central Ohio River Valley. Closely related in language and culture to the Fox, Kickapoo, and Sauk, the Shawnee were also influenced by the Seneca and Delaware. In the summer the Shawnee lived in bark-covered houses grouped into large villages near fields in which women cultivated corn. The primary male occupation was hunting. In winter the village broke into small patrilineal family groups, which moved to hunting camps. In the 17th century the Shawnee were driven from their home by the Iroquois, scattering into widely separated areas. After 1725 the tribe reunited in Ohio. Following their defeat by General Anthony Wayne (1794), they broke into three independent branches that eventually settled in Oklahoma. Today they number about 4,000.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Sioux

Posted on November 29, 2024 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Sioux people. This is half-page worksheet with a reading of five sentences, one of which is a short imperative, a see-this, thing, enclosed in parentheses, with three comprehension questions. This worksheet, like a few I’ve posted here recently, seems a bit crammed to me. You might want to adjust it to a full-page document.

The reading, even in five sentences, manages to note that the Sioux, who call themselves the Dakota or Lakota, administered a beatdown to Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army at the Battle of Little Bighorn, and names three significant Sioux leaders, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Big Foot, who is also known as Spotted Elk, whom  U.S. forces murdered at the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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The Weekly Text, 29 November 2024, National Native American Heritage Month Week V: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Geronimo

Posted on November 29, 2024 | Leave a comment

For the fifth and final Friday of National Native American Heritage Day 2024, here is a reading on Geronimo with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Penutian Languages

Posted on November 21, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Penutian languages: Hypothetical superfamily of North American Indian languages that unites a number of languages and language families mainly of the far western United States and Canada. The Penutian hypothesis was proposed by Roland B. Dixon and Alfred B. Kroeber in 1913 and refined by Edward Sapir in 1921. Like the Hokan hypothesis (see Hokan Languages), it attempted to reduce the number of unrelated language families in one of the world’s most linguistically diverse areas. At its core was a group of languages spoken along California’s central coast and in the Central Valley, including Ohlone (Costanoan), Miwok, Wintuan, Maidu, and Yokuts. Sapir added Oregon Penutian (spoken along the lower Columbia River), Plateau Penutian (languages of Plateau Indian peoples), Tsimshian (spoken in western British Columbia), and Mexican Penutian (spoken in southern Mexico). Aside from the Mexican group, all the languages today are either extinct or spoken exclusively by older adults. Though the hypothesis remains unproven, at least some languages of the group are probably related to each other.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Posted in Independent Practice, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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Cultural Literacy: Pueblos

Posted on November 21, 2024 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on pueblos, the outstanding example of which is at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. This is a half-page worksheet with a three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. It’s a good general introduction to the concept of the pueblo, including the origin of the use of this Spanish word to describe these indigenous dwellings.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

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Salishan Languages

Posted on November 21, 2024 | Leave a comment

“Salishan languages: Family of about 23 North American Indian languages, spoken or formerly spoken in the Pacific Northwest and adjoining areas of Idaho, Montana, and southern British Columbia. Today, Salishan languages are spoken almost exclusively by older adults. They are remarkable for their elaborate consonant inventories and small number of vowels. Grammatically, all words except for particles tend to assume predicative function, so there is no clear demarcation between nouns and verbs.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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