The Wisconsin Social Studies/Civics 6-8 Suggested Scope & Sequence is divided by grade. The writing team decided this because they wanted to be able to build upon previous learning, and if the three courses were listed at any grade, educators would not be able to count on what was happening the year before. Therefore, we offer the
following order of courses:
• 6th Grade: Geography & Cultures of the World: Yesterday and Today
• 7th Grade: Civics & Our Contemporary World
• 8th Grade: Wisconsin & U.S. Studies (Thematic, 1924 – Present Day)

Civics and Social Studies are integrative by nature. Focusing on themes over dates, names, and battles can help students visualize the connections between strands of social studies better and learn to see the bigger picture while still meeting our state standards and expectations. Instead of viewing events in isolation, a thematic approach allows
students to better see connections and patterns across time. In addition, it assists teachers in helping students make connections to their own lives, identities, and current issues.

Each course is thematic, based in inquiry, has a civics lens, and is aligned to the Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies Themes of Social Studies. The courses all have the same units, focused on the strands of social studies (Inquiry, Behavioral Sciences, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science) in a thematic manner through the subject area. Every year starts with an inquiry unit to build inquiry skills and dispositions.

Each unit is further divided into planning ideas tied to middle school indicators from the Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies (2018). These planning ideas include:
• Potential Essential Questions, aligned to the standards
• NCSS theme of this unit
6-8 Social Studies/Civics: Suggested Scope and Sequence 8
• Focusing Questions for the Topic
• Recommended Inquiry Topics
• Specific Social Studies Indicators met with this unit
• Important Terms and Points to Consider
• Supporting Resource Providers to Consider

The essential and focusing questions are meant to help guide instruction and determine quality resources and lessons for use in the classroom. The recommended inquiry topics are provided to assist specific content choices for the unit.

We recognize this work is not as complete as the K-5 recommended scope & sequence. Where the K-5 team started with a framework similar to this document, the 6-8 started from scratch. We anticipate a more robust 6-8 document similar to the current released K-5 to be released by summer 2024.

The following lesson is designed to help students explore the emergence of the American Indian Movement (c.1968 and beyond) in the context of the push for self-determination by native people, and within the broader movement for Civil Rights in American Society.

This resource would be appropriate for high school students, during a study of the Civil Rights Movement. It provides primary source materials for students to analyze using the APPARTS process.

This aligns to WI AIS Enduring Understanding #9 "American Indians and U.S. Citizenship".

This resource guide, funded by an IMLS grant, shares information, curriculum and booklists for elementary and secondary age youth on both WI tribes and those outside of WI. There are acquisition sources for materials listed in the 66 page manual as well as a wide array of information of use to libraries of all types throughout WI. This resource is a treasure trove for collection development for all ages in libraries! - Reviewed by Marge Loch-Wouters
This publication is available through the
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa College
Community Library
13466 W Trepania Road
Hayward, Wisconsin 54843
715/634-4790 108/122
library@lco.edu

This text set focuses on the Anishinaabe names for the Wenabozho Ominisan. Wenabozho is an important Anishinaabe figure, a trickster. Ominisan is the Anishinaabe word for islands. Wenabozho Ominisan (the islands of Wenabozho) is the Anishinaabe way to refer to what is also known as the Apostle Islands archipelago.

A five day unit for use after student have learned area and volume formulas for 2D and 3D shapes.  This series of lessons connects geomery with history as students explore the size of traditional Native American homes and the space each person would have had within the home. 

The beaded bandolier bag is a distinctive form created by American Indians in the Great Lakes and Plains regions beginning in the mid-19th century. These large, vividly colored and intricately beaded bags were a central element of men’s formal dress for dances and ceremonies.

(From the Stanford History Education Website)
In the decades following the Civil War, the US military clashed with Native Americans in the West.  The Battle of Little Bighorn was one of the Native Americans most famous victories. In this lesson, students explore causes of the battle by comparing two primary documents with a textbook account.

When the United States Government’s land grabs put his people in harm’s way, this Menominee leader pushed back and proposed a new plan to protect their homeland and way of life.

Resources available for exploring this story include:
- A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English and Spanish
- A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story
- Questions that can be used for conversation, reflection, and connection with the story
- A historical image gallery full of primary and secondary sources to explore
- A guide for activating the media with learners that includes story stats, extension activity ideas, and standards supported

This story is part of Wisconsin Biographies, a collection of educational media resources for grades 3-6. Explore the full collection at pbswisconsineducation.org/biographies.

After tragically losing her son, Molly Miller rose up to become an influential elder in her community, the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. Molly now works to revitalize the Mohican language, culture, and community. Learn how she teaches younger community members about the good things in life and helps them make healthy and wise choices.

This resource is part of The Ways, a collection of educational media resources for middle and high school classrooms from PBS Wisconsin Education.

Explore the full collection: https://pbswisconsineducation.org/theways/about/

Designed with inclusivity, cultural relevance, social justice and regional curriculum in mind, these coding & robotics programs are offered free to K-12 classrooms across subject areas.

The American Indian Studies Program exists primarily to assist with the implementation of the curricular requirements in the areas of American Indian history, culture, and tribal sovereignty. The program is also responsible for American Indian Language and Culture Education.

The engineering question would be how to create a tool to throw (or roll) the ball farther. Students would test initial throws (or rolls) Then they would be tasked with planning an investigation - creating criteria and constraints (if in grade 5). Students would then be introduced to the news article about the birdstone found in Door County. They would read the wikipedia article about the theories of birdstones, look at a map of where birdstones were said to be found and the tribes that were present. Then students would design an investigation to test how the atlatl worked (the science of energy quantities and transference of energy - depending on the grade) using pictures and art from history and the present. They create an atlatl-type tool and test it against their original throws or rolls. They look at two extensions of the atlatl, one a game that the cherokee played using the atlatl as a symbol and another from modern times, the chuckit. They then discuss whether attributions of the chuckit should be given to the first nations who actually invented the idea. (Criticality)

A list of video resources that bring visibility to First Nations and Indigenous populations in Wisconsin and across the globe, and the historical debts owed to original occupants of these lands. Native American, First Nations and American Indian are terms used interchangeably throughout the resource.

The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission is commonly known by its acronym, GLIFWC. Formed in 1984, GLIFWC represents eleven Ojibwe tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan who reserved hunting, fishing and gathering rights in the 1836, 1837, 1842, and 1854 Treaties with the United States government.GLIFWC provides natural resource management expertise, conservation enforcement, legal and policy analysis, and public information services in support of the exercise of treaty rights during well-regulated, off-reservation seasons throughout the treaty ceded territories.

In this lesson, students will learn about some elements of Native sovereignty. They will learn what a Native nation is and why sovereignty is so important to a nation. The lesson focuses on why nations need land, why history is important, and how shared culture is also part of sovereignty. The lesson focuses on Native nations today because it is important to talk about Native nations today to break stereotypes that Native people only existed in the past.
This lesson is part of a Unit that includes the following lessons:
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 1: WHAT IS NATIVE SOVEREIGNTY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 2: WHAT CAN DIFFERENT MAPS TELL US ABOUT NATIVE SOVEREIGNTY AND NATIVE LAND?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 3: WHAT STRATEGIES TO NATIVE NATIONS USE TO PROTECT THEIR SOVEREIGNTY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1)?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 4: WHAT STRATEGIES TO NATIVE NATIONS USE TO PROTECT THEIR SOVEREIGNTY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (2)?

In this lesson, students will look at 3 maps to learn about where the ancestral tribal lands of four Native nations are located. The four nations are the Iroquois Confederacy (made of 5 nations), the Cherokee Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, and the Western Abenaki nation. Students will label all four groups on three different maps and as they look at each map they will consider how the land is represented on the map and how that might impact how people understand Native land and Native sovereignty.
This lesson is part of a Unit that includes the following lessons:
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 1: WHAT IS NATIVE SOVEREIGNTY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 2: WHAT CAN DIFFERENT MAPS TELL US ABOUT NATIVE SOVEREIGNTY AND NATIVE LAND?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 3: WHAT STRATEGIES TO NATIVE NATIONS USE TO PROTECT THEIR SOVEREIGNTY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1)?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 4: WHAT STRATEGIES TO NATIVE NATIONS USE TO PROTECT THEIR SOVEREIGNTY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (2)?

In this mystery, students will look at primary and secondary sources from the four Native nations we have been studying: Haudenosaunee/Iroquois, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Western Abenaki. They will match their five different strategy cards with the primary and secondary sources. After reading each source, students will determine which strategy that nation used to protect their land and sovereignty during the American Revolution. After each source, students will read a brief summary that will give more information about the strategies used. Student handouts will allow students to mark up the primary and secondary sources, pick a strategy and then explain their reasoning.
This lesson is part of a Unit that includes the following lessons:
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 1: WHAT IS NATIVE SOVEREIGNTY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 2: WHAT CAN DIFFERENT MAPS TELL US ABOUT NATIVE SOVEREIGNTY AND NATIVE LAND?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 3: WHAT STRATEGIES TO NATIVE NATIONS USE TO PROTECT THEIR SOVEREIGNTY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1)?
Grade 3 Unit 2 History Mystery 4: WHAT STRATEGIES TO NATIVE NATIONS USE TO PROTECT THEIR SOVEREIGNTY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (2)?

The outline includes recommendations for both a one semester (18 week) course and a full-year (36 week) course. The full-year course suggests analyzing topics in greater depth and engaging in additional projects and simulations. Selection of appropriate textbooks is the responsibility of individual districts and schools. It is recommended that teachers begin with Unit 1, but after that, the units can be done in any order.

Each of the five units are organized around “driving questions.” These questions relate to the key concepts and core materials (largely primary sources) that help students engage with relevant material to answer the driving questions. Further, each unit contains connections to modern topics so that students can relate their historical understandings
to the world in which they live, and there are recommended assessment activities that utilize higher order thinking and inquiry skills. A significant number of recommended resources can be found on WISELearn, the DPI Open-Educational Resources (OER) platform, with materials specifically aligned to this scope and sequence. Each unit is also supported by associated standards building out detailed content recommendations related to the theme.

Finally, teachers should utilize the Wisconsin Recommended Civics Education Pedagogy and Practices in designing their course, to ensure that the course utilizes these research-based and standards-aligned approaches for teaching civics in an engaging and culturally responsive way.

This unit will use a variety of resources to give students a guide to understanding Treaty Rights and the importance of Treaty Rights to Indigenous peoples. It is important for all people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to understand Treaty Rights, how they were established, and how they apply today.