AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
SUBJECT/COURSE: U.S. History
IPG: Fifth Six Weeks
GRADE LEVEL: 11
Major Concept # 1 - Citizenship
Overarching
Idea
One aspect of good citizenship is enacting change through protest against unfair social and political
systems.
Guiding
Questions




What are the responsibilities of citizenship?
How can citizenship be used to promote change in a society?
What is the relationship between citizenship and protest?
How can citizenship be used to enact reform within a political system?
Major Concept # 2 - Conflict
Overarching
Idea
Guiding
Questions
External conflicts can create conflict and division within a society.







What role should a country take in involving itself in foreign conflicts?
How can external conflicts cause division and protest within a society?
How are a government and its leaders held accountable for their actions during conflicts?
How does conflict shape the public views of its leaders?
What impact does the media have in shaping views related to specific conflicts?
How do political traditions contribute to the idea of conflict and revolution?
Why would people resort to conflict in order to protect local liberties and the right to
representative government?
©Austin Independent School District, 2009-2010
1
AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
SUBJECT/COURSE: U. S. History
IPG: Fifth Six Weeks
GRADE LEVEL: 11
MAJOR CONCEPT #3: Identity
Overarching
Idea
Regions develop distinctive economic, social, geographic and political identities.

Guiding
Questions


How does the development of distinctive regional identities set the foundation for the
development of a modern nation?
What impact does the colonial era have on the way Americans identify themselves and
their nation?
How does the development of distinctive regional identities during the colonial era lead to
future sectionalism and division in the United States?
MAJOR CONCEPT #4: Ethics, Values and Beliefs
Overarching
Idea

Traditional ethics, values and beliefs shape a society’s government.

How can a leader integrate his or her personal ethics, values and beliefs into a society’s political
system?
How can a clash between different styles of ethics, values and beliefs define and shape a
country’s political and economic systems?
How do different ethics, values and beliefs determine a government’s foreign and domestic
policy?
How do different ethics, values and beliefs shape political activism?

Guiding
Questions


©Austin Independent School District, 2009-2010
2
AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
SUBJECT/COURSE: United States History
IPG: Fifth Six Weeks
GRADE LEVEL: 11
MAJOR CONCEPT #5: Government
Overarching
Idea
Guiding
Questions
The United States Constitution is a model for a sovereign and representative government.



Where does sovereignty reside within the American political system?
How do the principles in the U.S. Constitution uphold democratic ideals?
How does an understanding of the U.S. Constitution and government promote good
citizenship and a strong sense of national loyalty in American citizens?
MAJOR CONCEPT #6: Change
Overarching
Idea
Guiding
Questions
Economic, political, and social developments lead to change in a society.




How do reform movements promote change?
How can continuity be preserved when change takes place?
How do economic, political, and social changes that took place in the United States during
the first half of the nineteenth century shape our lives today?
How do the founding documents promote new political ideas that result in change?
©Austin Independent School District, 2009-2010
3