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Social Studies
Our World Neighborhood Charter School is located in the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in the United States. We celebrate this diversity by integrating it into our standards-based program. Children learn about social studies in daily classes that include themed discussion, reading and writing, media explorations, cooperative interaction, and assessment.
- Teachers guide students through an increasingly complex series of explorations of their communities, from family, school and neighborhood to city, state, country, and around the world, all units specifically designed to address the NYS Social Studies Standards. OWN Social Studies gives students a strong foundation in history, geography, citizenship, and economics.
- OWN uses Teachers' Curriculum Institute (TCi) resources Social Studies Alive! and Geography Alive! and NY Geography Alliance materials. Each unit of study has a text, as well as social studies trade and reference books with a range of reading levels. Students are instructed in specific nonfiction reading strategies.
- Students at all levels are introduced to primary sources: images, maps, artifacts, and texts. Students consider multiple perspectives, reconcile different positions, and evaluate the strength of competing arguments. They learn to interpret, make inferences and articulate connections. Students are instructed in specific writing skills. Preparation for document based questions (DBQs) is a major focus.
- OWN Geography is rooted in the specific diversity of our school and neighborhood. Students explore how location, climate, landforms, resources and population influence cultural development.
- Teachers guide student dialogue, prompting the children to practice the listening and speaking skills.
- Visiting experts offer opportunities for posing questions and developing interviewing strategies and skills.
- Assessment is an ongoing process, using a variety of strategies that range from the very informal formative assessments to formal summative assessments.
