Students will be able to:

• Demonstrate responsible citizenship, both on and offline, and: 
  • Construct an understanding of the Student Rights and Responsibilities, including Digital Citizenship.
  • Show respect for rules and laws while collaborating, compromising, and participating in classroom activities.
• Understand the significance of Constitution Day and the establishment of a new American nation through the ideas of George Mason and the Virginia Declaration of Rights by:
  • Identifying and understanding the significance of September 17, 1787 as the date the founding fathers signed the United States Constitution, the document that established the framework of our government and the rights that “We the People” enjoy today.
  • Identifying the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason, as a document that influenced our United States Constitution. It stated that all Virginians have many rights including freedom of religion and freedom of the press.

Students will consider:

• What is the same and different about rules in our homes, our classroom, our school, online, and in our community?
• What makes a rule a “good rule”?
• How do our choices affect others?
• Who are “We the People?”
• How does learning about our past influence how we make decisions in the present and guide our future?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Examine and analyze citizenship and community through the lens of a concept.
• Develop a sense of responsibility for creating community.
• Understand that change in our actions can have positive and/or negative effects on our community and government.

Students will be able to:

• Demonstrate skills for historical thinking, geographical analysis, economic decision making, and responsible citizenship by analyzing and interpreting artifacts and primary and secondary sources to understand events in Virginia history.
  • An artifact is an object or tool that tells us about people from the past.
  • A primary source is an artifact, document, image, or other source of information that was created during the time under study.  
  • A secondary source is a document, image, or other source of information that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere.
  • Analyzing and interpreting includes identifying the important elements of information sources in order to make inferences and generalizations, and draw conclusions. 

Students will consider:

• Why is history important?  
• What questions are important to ask about the past?  
• How do historians use key events, documents, dates, artifacts, and people to interpret the past? 
• How and why do people differ in their judgment about what is important in the past?  
• How do we evaluate the usefulness and degree of reliability of a variety of forms of historical evidence? 

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Use primary and secondary sources to compare and contrast historical events.

Students will be able to:

• Understand where Virginia, its bordering states, and bodies of water are in the context of our world.
• Locate and evaluate Virginia’s water features (Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, James River, York River, Rappahannock River, Potomac River) to explain their impact on early Virginia and beyond.
• Locate, describe, and compare Virginia’s five regions: Coastal Plain, Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, Appalachian Plateau.

Students will consider:

• In what ways did the geographic features of Virginia impact exploration and settlement? 
• How are cities located along rivers different from cities located in mountain regions or other parts of Virginia?
• In what ways does the land in Virginia change from region to region?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Identify and describe how geography influenced the cultures of past and present American Indians in Virginia.
• Use maps, globes, and other geographic tools (e.g. internet/‌GPS/‌etc.) to locate, describe, and compare various sites, land areas, places, and other geographic features.
• Develop an understanding of how physical and human characteristics defined daily life in early Virginia history.

Students will be able to:

• Locate the three American Indian language groups (Algonquian, Siouan, Iroquoian) on a map.
• Construct an understanding of and evaluate how recovered artifacts show evidence of daily life at Werowocomoco and Jamestown.
• Explain and analyze how Virginia’s early Native Peoples adapted to the environment and climate to meet their daily needs: food, clothing, shelter.
• Describe the lives of Native Peoples in Virginia today, making connections between past and present.

Students will consider:

• In what ways can artifacts help us learn about the people of the past?
• How do diverse Native peoples shape their environments and cultures?
• How does climate and environment impact the way people live?
• Why do some cultures change over time?
• How have the cultures and lifestyles of the Native peoples of Virginia changed over time?
• What can Native peoples’ stories teach us about the past and present?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Investigate Native Peoples’ interactions with the environment.
• Use maps, globes, and other geographic tools (e.g. internet/‌GPS/‌etc.) to locate, describe, and compare various sites, land areas, places, and other geographic features.
• Apply abstract concepts such as systems, cause and effect, and how things change over time to understand the impact of the past on the present.

Students will be able to:

• Evaluate the reasons for English colonization by exploring the perspectives and experiences of multiple culture groups.
• Evaluate the reasons the Jamestown site was chosen and the challenges and changes that took place to ensure survival as a result.
• Identify the roles of culture and power in the changing relationship between the Powhatan and English settlers.
• Analyze the importance of the events of 1619: arrival of Africans, arrival of English women (1620), and the first meeting of the General Assembly.

Students will consider:

• How do economic motives shape the choices people make?
• How does culture impact the relationships people have with land?
• How do people depend on other people and their environment for survival?
• How do people’s values shape the design of their governments?
• How can inequality lead to conflict?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Use primary and secondary sources to compare and contrast historical events.
• Develop an understanding of the concept of systems and of structure, function, and pattern as key system elements.
• Recognize and explain that the events of history are not inevitable, but are related to chains of cause and effect relationships. 
• Use primary and secondary sources to interpret historical perspectives.
• Analyze historical issues using elements of reasoning (purpose, point of view, implications/consequences, evidence/data, inferences, concepts/ideas, and/or assumptions).
• Understand and describe contributions to American history by individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Understand and appreciate the influence of individual experiences, societal values and traditions on historical perspective.
• Understand and appreciate the influence of individual experiences, societal values, and traditions on historical perspectives.

Students will be able to:

• Evaluate the role of slavery on the growth of the colonial economy.
• Describe how the daily life and culture of the Native peoples, Europeans, and Africans varied and reflected diversity and resilience.
• Explain the reasons for the relocation of Virginia’s capital from Jamestown to Williamsburg.
• Describe how money, barter, and credit were used in colonial Virginia.

Students will consider:

• How do economic motives shape the choices people make?
• How does culture impact the relationships people have with land?
• What are the characteristics of culture?
• How do the history and cultures of colonial Virginia continue to influence the lives of Virginians today?
• Why do some people leave their homes, and how do they impact their homes?
• How do people’s values shape the design of their economies?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Use primary and secondary sources to interpret historical perspectives. 
• Understand the colonial period in Virginia and Colonial America with emphasis on political, economic and social systems that define the early English settlement.
• Identify key figures in American history and their influence.
• Develop an understanding of the concept of systems and of structure, function, and pattern as key system elements.
• Analyze historical situations for cause and effect relationships.
• Compare and contrast the settlers and Native Americans’ interactions with the environment.
• Evaluate and discuss issues orally and in writing through seminars and debate.

Students will be able to:

• Explore the reasons why the colonies went to war with Great Britain and how their path to revolution connects to our modern world.
• Examine the various roles of Revolutionary War leaders, American Indians, enslaved African Americans, whites, and free African Americans to evaluate various perspectives.
• Evaluate the importance of the American victory at Yorktown.
• Examine the reasons for the relocation of Virginia’s capital from Williamsburg to Richmond.

Students will consider:

• When are ideas worth fighting for? 
• How do people resist injustice?
• How do people create lasting, positive change?
• When conflict erupts, how do people decide what to do?
• Do “independence” and “freedom” mean the same to everyone?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Participate in debates about historical contributions. 
• Apply abstract concepts such as systems, cause and effect, and how things change over time, to understand the impact of the past on the present.
• Use primary and secondary sources to compare and contrast historical events.
• Use primary and secondary sources to interpret historical perspectives.

Students will be able to:

• Explore the connections between liberty and slavery in the ideas and lives of George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and George Mason.
• Explore the influence of geography and technological advances on the migration of Virginians into other states and western territories and how it impacted different cultures.

Students will consider:

• Who are “We the People?”
• How do people’s beliefs and values shape how a government is formed?
• Where does freedom come from? 
• In what ways might people resolve their differences? 
• How do technology and innovation affect the way people live and work?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Identify the implications of the ideas of George Mason and Thomas Jefferson.
• Understand the colonial period in Virginia and Colonial America with emphasis on political, economic, and social systems that define the early English settlements. 
• Describe how survival is influenced by adaptations from the environment.
• Develop an understanding of the concept of systems and of structure, function, and pattern as key system elements.
• Develop an understanding of how physical and human characteristics define migration for Virginians.

Students will be able to:

• Analyze the major events leading to the Civil War and interpret the legacy of it in Virginia today.
• Understand the impact of Virginia's role during the Civil War. 
• Evaluate and interpret the roles of American Indians, whites, enslaved Africans, and free Africans prior to and during the Civil War. 
• Identify acts of resistance and moral courage that resulted in the emancipation of African Americans.

Students will consider:

• How can individuals stop injustice in society?
• How can the President of the United States change the course of history?
• Why might people risk their lives for a cause? 
• What effects did the conflicts between the North and South have on the people in those regions?
• How does the conflict of the Civil War continue to have lasting effects today?
• What motivates people to take advantage of others?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Identify key figures in American history and their influence
• Analyze historical situations for cause and effect relationships
• Recognize and explain that the events of history are not inevitable, but are related to chains of cause and effect relationships
• Understand and describe contributions to American history by individuals from diverse backgrounds
• Apply abstract concepts such as systems, cause and effect and how things change over time to understand the impact of the past on the present
• Use primary and secondary sources to compare and contrast historical events
• Use primary and secondary sources to interpret historical perspectives
• Understand and appreciates the influence of individual experiences, societal values and traditions on historical perspective

Students will be able to:

• Explore the impact of Reconstruction on life in Virginia, focusing on the expanded rights of African Americans and the impact on Virginia's government.
• Construct an understanding of the effects of segregation and "Jim Crow" on life in Virginia for American Indians, whites, and African Americans, analyzing the enduring legacy of racial discrimination on life in Virginia today.
• Examine Virginia's economic development and the importance of railroads, new industries, and the growth of cities.

Students will consider:

• What did freedom mean to Virginians after the Civil War? How did its meaning change over time?
• How can individuals stop injustices in society?
• Will there always be resistance to equality?
• What does it mean to be free? What does it mean to be oppressed? 
• How do people draw on their culture and family to resist oppression?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Analyze historical situations for cause and effect relationships.
• Understand the period in history with an emphasis on political and social systems. 
• Apply abstract concepts such as systems, cause and effect and how things change over time to understand the impact of the past on the present.
• Use primary and secondary sources to compare and contrast historical events.
• Use primary and secondary sources to interpret historical perspectives.
• Analyze historical issues using elements of reasoning (purpose, point of view, implications/consequences, evidence/data, inferences, concepts/ideas, and/or assumptions).
• Understand and describe contributions to American history by individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Understand and appreciate the influence of individual experiences, societal values, and traditions on historical perspective.

Students will be able to:

• Analyze and evaluate how women's suffrage and the Great Depression affected Virginia and its citizens.
• Describe how national events, including women’s suffrage and the Great Depression, affected Virginia and its citizens.
• Analyze the social and political events in Virginia linked to Massive Resistance and desegregation.
• Evaluate the political, social, or economic impact made by Maggie L. Walker, Harry F. Byrd, Sr., Oliver W. Hill, Sr., Arthur R. Ashe, Jr., A. Linwood Holton, and L. Douglas Wilder.
• Construct an understanding of the three branches of Virginia government and the function of each.
• Describe the major products and industries important to Virginia's economy.
• Explain how advances in transportation, communications, and technology have contributed to Virginia’s prosperity and role in the global economy.

Students will consider:

• How can individuals stop injustices in society?
• Will there always be resistance to equality?
• How do the ideas and actions of people shape certain events?
• In what ways can people create change?
• How has Virginia changed over time?
• In what ways does technology and innovation change over time?

Extended Standards: In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning named above, students who receive full-time Advanced Academic (AAP Level IV) Services engage with these extensions.

• Apply abstract concepts such as systems, cause and effect, and how things change over time to understand the impact of the past on the present.
• Use primary and secondary sources to compare and contrast historical events.
• Use primary and secondary sources to interpret historical perspectives.
• Analyze historical issues using elements of reasoning (purpose, point of view, implications/consequences, evidence/data, inferences, concepts/ideas, and/or assumptions).
• Understand and describe contributions to American history by individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Understand and appreciate the influence of individual experiences, societal values, and traditions on historical perspective.
• Understand the period in history with an emphasis on political and social systems. 
• Analyze historical situations for cause and effect relationships. 
• Describe how economic need can lead to advancement in transportation and communication systems.