Social Studies

Gantry View Social Studies trains young learners in inquiry skills they can use to make sense of new places, diverse cultures, and world geography. At the same time, our curriculum, and its implementation, is an ideal forum for them to examine their own identities. Students explore regions, religions, conflicts, and migrations, each time challenged to make comparisons and connections and to reflect on their personal experiences. Every year adds another layer to their understanding, with research and presentation through creative projects to which students apply their forming writing and critical thinking skills.

Kindergarten

Through read-alouds, video presentations, and hands-on activities, students discuss family, community, and cultures of the world. They are guided to write about similarities and differences in clothing, shelter, holidays, and other cultural markers, as well as natural vs. human-made resources, and to state the continents and oceans so they can “locate” what they are learning. They begin to think about the past, present, and future in their own lives and in the lives of the Lenape, the original inhabitants of New York City. Students focus on NYC’s boroughs and its landmarks, culminating in a beautiful written and illustrated piece.

1st Grade

In this exciting time of growing knowledge, students work with maps, learn foundational concepts of culture—language, holidays, religion, clothing, food—and apply them to their first fact-finding projects. They learn about the geography of North and South America, with profiles of Mexico and a South American country. Throughout the year, there are increasingly brighter spotlights on reading, comprehending texts and instructions, and expressing knowledge and opinions through writing projects. 

2nd, 3rd Grades

Students spend these years delving into big -picture questions like, What is culture and what are its components? and working to acquire facts and frameworks that help answer them. They study different regions around the world and the United States, with folklore and nonfiction reading comprehensions as portals to their people, language, food, belief systems, and more. While learning about explorers and their voyages of exploration, they investigate why people left their homes to travel to new lands and their impact on the inhabitants they encountered. Throughout these units, students practice early note-taking to support their research projects.

4th, 5th Grades

Cumulative knowledge and skills pave the way for examinations of the history and development of NY state; Colonial America and the development of its laws and governance structures; the reasons for the American Revolution; and our country’s founding documents and their meaning to this day. Regardless of topic, students practice taking notes, making outlines, writing drafts, revising their work, and presenting their findings and ideas in effective ways