The United States and Louisiana to 1877
The seventh grade will concentrate on American History and its exciting time of exploring the amazing journey of a Republic. Students will examine the history of the United States and Louisiana from Early Republic to the Reconstruction Era. There is a heavy emphasis on the Constitution with an ample mixture of geography, political schematics, and economics. Hands-on projects and research projects are incorporated
throughout each unit, along with Socratic Seminars that encourage discussion and higher order thinking. We use Document Based Question sets to teach document analysis and essay construction. Students also read novels that break down historical events into interactive stories and personal accounts. The seventh-grade students take a field trip to one of the only preserved Civil War battlefields at Port Hudson. There they participate in re-enactment activities and learn through real-life experiences of the participants of the Civil War.
The United States and Louisiana from 1877 to modern day
The eighth grade social studies course covers the history of the United States and Louisiana from Reconstruction Era to present day. The course examines the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. It also examines the progression of the role of the United States in world events including the World Wars, the Cold War, and the war on terror. The eighth grade participates in the annual field trip to New Orleans to visit the National World War 2 Museum. We use Document Based Question sets to teach civics and government, both state and national. The DBQ’s include primary documents and essay components. Students take part in Socratic Seminars to deepen their knowledge of our everyday lives in America and Louisiana. Socratic Seminar topics include the Electoral College, the Patriot Act, border crisis, and the U.N.’s involvement in international affairs.