Social Studies Courses

Social Studies

Middle School requirement: Louisiana Studies, Cultural Geography, and United States History

Department Philosophy: The History Department at ESA wishes to prepare its students to become adults with a profound understanding of their society and their own place in it, while also providing as broad a historical perspective as possible. This is best achieved by teaching students to view society as a whole by understanding how human beliefs and activities are interrelated. Students will focus on the relationships between events, causes, and field of activity, rather than seeing them as independent of each other. These relationships are taught by specific examples, cases, and situations from the past. The goal in teaching history is not for students to merely learn events from the past, but to also develop the critical and analytical thinking skills that will allow them to succeed at the next level of their education.

Louisiana Studies

The theme of Louisiana Studies in sixth grade is “Who we are, Where we are, A whole from many parts.” The main focus of this class is to help students develop an understanding of who they are in the light of the cultures and cultural elements that have built Louisiana throughout its history to what it is today. With this understanding they can choose to be vital citizens of their communities, their state, their country and the world. Students will develop skills in comprehension, analysis, research and verbal, written and visual communication.

Cultural Geography

Cultural Geography is a multidisciplinary course in that it relates world geography to the history, current events, government and political systems, economic systems, cultural characteristics’ and traditions of people throughout the world. This is accomplished through the use of maps, graphs and charts, reference materials, electronic media, class discussion and debate, and student research. Students also compose multiple works of reflective and expository writing throughout the course. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is part of a cross-curricular project-based assignment as part of the study of Africa and in conjunction with Science 7. The autobiography Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang is part of the study of East Asia.

United States History and Government

The eighth grade history course covers the United States from Columbus’ arrival to Hurricane Katrina, with significant civics and economics components. The students complete two research papers and multiple other essays, with the goal of developing writing and research skills necessary for upper school courses. The course also introduces students to primary documents and fosters analytical skills through close reading of these documents. The chief goal of the course is to introduce and develop the skills that students will need in upper school history courses.