Social Studies
Miller students will participate in a social studies curriculum that is aligned to the DESE Framework; over the course of their elementary experience, students will be introduced to the fundamental principles of liberty, justice, and equality. Included in our units of study, especially in grades 4 and 5, will be a more robust foundation in history and government, with standards that address the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the 20th century Civil Rights movement, in addition to standards that travel further back in history to the American Revolution and the early Republic.
Grade 3: Massachusetts, Home to Many Different People
Students study Massachusetts and New England: the culture of Native Peoples and their interactions with European explorers and settlers; ideas about self government in the colony of Massachusetts that led to rebellion against Great Britain, the causes and consequences of the American Revolution for Massachusetts, and the development of students’ own cities and towns.
Grade 4: North American Geography, History, and Peoples
Students learn about North America (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) and its peoples from a geographic perspective, expanding map reading, mapmaking, and geographic reasoning skills.
Grade 5: United States History to the Civil War and the Modern Civil Rights Movement
Building on their knowledge of North American geography and peoples, students learn about the history of the colonies, the early Republic, the expansion of the United States, the growing sectional conflicts of the 19th century, and the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century.
Guiding Principles
In Holliston, the Social Studies curriculum enables students to develop an informed worldview, expand their ability to think from multiple perspectives and acquire the skills necessary for active citizenship in the 21st century that will empower them to interact effectively in an increasingly interdependent world.
Students from the earliest ages will read and think critically, speak and write effectively and participate in purposeful decision making and problem solving within the context of social sciences.