Secondary Social Studies
Secondary Social Studies
Welcome to Social Studies for Secondary Teachers!
This site is for Boise School District Social Studies Secondary teachers. Here you will find performance tasks, unit overviews, learning intentions, success criteria, recommended scope and sequence, and other resources to guide student learning.
Please click on the tabs to the right to access grade-level curriculum and other resources.
Literacy Skills in Social Studies Classrooms
If you need any additional assistance, please reach out to Social Studies Supervisor, Dani Backer – dani.backer@boiseschools.org or 208-854-4100.
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This course is a study of the origins, development, structure, and policies of the United States government and political system. Topics include the following: the constitutional framework, federalism, the three branches of government, including the bureaucracy, civil rights and liberties, political participation and behavior, and policy formation. To increase comprehension, students will read and analyze relevant primary and secondary source documents to incorporate these ideas into the assigned material. Basic concepts of state and local government and their relationships with the federal government are also examined, and contemporary issues, as related to the study of government, will be an integral part of the course. Satisfactory completion of the course will prepare students to take the state-mandated U.S. Civics exam and Boise School District End of Course exams.
American Government Curriculum
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In this semester's course, students will examine impactful decades in United States history. We will delve into the history, art, music, literature, economics, social movements, and philosophy of major time periods and attempt to trace their ramifications on American life today. This course is designed to go into much more detail than is possible in the required history and English classes; it is not meant to repeat information that will be learned elsewhere. Students will be actively engaged with the material, be it debating the themes of a piece of “Lost Generation” literature or singing a protest song from the Civil Rights Movement.
American Humanities Curriculum
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AP Comparative Government and Politics is an introductory college-level course in comparative government and politics. The course uses a comparative approach to examine the political structures, policies, and political, economic, and social challenges of six selected countries: China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Students cultivate their understanding of comparative government and politics through analysis of data and text-based sources as they explore topics like power and authority, legitimacy and stability, democratization, internal and external forces, and methods of political analysis.
Learning Intentions, Success Criteria, and Scales
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AP Human Geography is an introductory college-level human geography course. Students cultivate their understanding of human geography through data and geographic analyses as they explore topics like patterns and spatial organization, human impacts and interactions with their environment, and spatial processes and societal changes.
Learning Intentions, Success Criteria, and Scales
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This course introduces students to the background and methods of psychology as a science. Content themes include learning theories, human growth and development, abnormal psychology, and therapy. Emphasis is on the development and understanding of human behavior, especially as it applies to the student’s life.
AP Psychology Curriculum
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AP U.S. Government and Politics is an introductory college-level course in U.S. government and politics. Students cultivate their understanding of U.S. government and politics through analysis of data and text-based sources as they explore topics like constitutionalism, liberty and order, civic participation in a representative democracy, competing policy-making interests, and methods of political analysis.
Learning Intentions, Success Criteria, and Scales
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This course examines the theories, structures, and operations of economics with a focus on the global economy and building wealth through personal finance.
Economics Curriculum
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This course examines law-related subjects relevant to the student’s life. Topics include criminal law and procedure, the law of torts and civil procedures, and Individual rights and liberties. The course emphasizes individual accountability and the role of law in American society.
Practical Law Curriculum
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Psychology 1
This course examines contemporary psychological issues and topics related to individuals and groups. Emphasis is based on critical thinking and the scientific methods utilized in psychology.
District Standards for Psychology 1
- Understand the historical and methodological components of psychology that allow students to develop skills of critical thinking and problem solving.
- Understand and apply the language of psychology as it pertains to understanding, predicting, describing, and controlling behavior.
- Understand the processes through which individuals develop mental patterns and thought processes leading to an understanding of behavior.
- Understand the different psychological disorders, their treatments, and the long-term ramifications of these disorders on the individual and society
Psychology 1 Curriculum
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This course examines contemporary social issues based on individual and group relationships in society. Emphasis is placed on the cultural conditions under which individuals live and their adjustments to a changing society.
Sociology Curriculum
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This course is the first year of a two-year study of United States (U.S.) history. U.S. History 9 examines the pre-twentieth-century American experience. The first semester is a study of America’s history from European exploration through the Federal Era. Second semester opens with the Jeffersonian Succession, War of 1812, and the National Era, and ends with the closing of the American West. U.S. History 9 also explores the music, art, literature, and values of American society through the nineteenth century.
US History 9 Curriculum
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US History 11 Curriculum
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History of Western Civilization is a two-semester course open to grades 10, 11, and 12. Students will examine the roots of Western civilization, explore the heritage that comprises the Western experience, and trace the development of those basic themes that constitute Western culture. First semester studies focus on the classical and medieval antecedents to modern Europe and culminate with the emergence of a distinctive European civilization. The second semester includes thematic units that examine the core components of modern, Western culture. This course is strongly recommended for all college-bound students and satisfies the world history requirement for entry into California’s and Oregon’s universities.
Western Civilization Curriculum
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This course is the second in the three-course sequence of world studies. World Studies 7 focuses on history, geography, and culture during the time period from Ancient India through the Middle Ages in Europe. First semester includes units on Ancient India, Ancient China and Mongols, and Ancient and Feudal Japan. The second semester includes the study of Ancient Greece, Persia, and Rome, the Byzantines and Islamic World, and the Middle Ages in Europe.
World Studies 7 Curriculum
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This course is the third in a three-course sequence of world studies. World Studies 8 focuses on the geography, culture, and history of Europe, including Russia and Australia. First semester includes a geographic overview of Europe and geographic and cultural surveys of early Europe, and includes an historical survey of Europe from its roots in classical civilizations to the Enlightenment. The second semester includes geographic and cultural surveys of modern Europe, Russia, and Australia (as a model of colonial development). Historical content continues from the Industrial Revolution to contemporary Europe.
World Studies 8 Curriculum
World Studies 8 Resources Folders
Quarterly Performance Task Ideas
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Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, Idaho students will be required to take the United States Citizenship Test as outlined in Idaho Code §33-1602.7. The civics test may be taken at any time after enrolling in grade 7, and it may be repeated as often as necessary for the student to pass the test.
In the Boise School District, we test students as part of the 12th-grade Government course. Please see the button below for study resources.
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- econedlink
- iCivics
- World History Matters
- Teaching American History
- World History Resource Center
- Stanford History Education Group
- Library of Congress
- The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
- Beyond the Bubble
- DOCSTeach
- NHD
- Newsela
- National Council for the Social Studies
- NCHE
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Constitution Day - September 17th, 2025
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are observed each year on September 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and “recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens.”
"In 2004, the United States Congress enacted Public Law 108-447, Section 111(b), requiring that "each educational institution that receives federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution."
Idaho's legislators throughout the years have recognized the importance of understanding the United States Constitution as the foundation of our republic, and for the important role it still plays today by adopting Idaho Code §33-1602 so that instruction about the Constitution be given in all elementary and secondary schools. Additionally, Idaho Code §73-108B states that all local education agencies receiving federal funds must teach about the U.S. Constitution on September 17th of each year."
icivics Constitution Day Lesson
Library of Congress: Constitution Day Lessons
National Archives: Observing Constitution Day
Constitution Day: Scholastic
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This page provides links to useful sites as well as instructional tools that support developing historical thinking skills.
- Library of Congress: Teaching with Primary Sources
- Stanford History Education Group: Reading Like a Historian
- Education Resources from the Library of Congress
- The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
- National Archives
- World History Matters
- DocsTeach: National Archives
- Teaching American History
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AP World History: Modern is an introductory college-level modern world history course. Students cultivate their understanding of world history from c. 1200 CE to the present through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation.
Learning Intentions, Success Criteria, and Scales