Theme Mini Unit:
Standard: The focus of this important first unit is on the concepts and enduring understandings rather than specific standards.
Essential Question: How do concepts of 7th Grade Social Studies relate to the 8 themes?
Know: Content throughout the year can relate to multiple themes
Understand: Conflict and change, Time, Change and continuity, Governance, Movement/Migration, Production, Distribution,
Consumption, Culture, Location, Human environmental interaction, Distribution of Power
Be able to do: Identify and organize key concepts to different themes
Goal: Students will be able to start to identify where different topics will connect to different themes.
Resources:



Power point of the 8 Themes of 7th Grade Social Studies (Print the theme slides from the power point to use with
student tasks to hang in your room)
Graphic organizer (notes), Sample questions to use as summarizers
Connecting Themes/Enduring Understandings used in DOE (this will give you previous years info for students to relate
back to and match 7th grade units to themes)
Time Allocated: 1-2 days
EQ: How do key concepts of 7th Grade Social Studies relate to the 8 themes?
Activator/Connection/Warm UP:
Students will define theme (a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, topic, the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a
person’s thoughts, a topic) and what could be ways we could chunk or connect information? Discuss for a few minutes (may
need to give hints to get student feedback).
Instructional Delivery:
Teaching point: Short power point that defines the themes. With a few themes there are pictures to open discussion to the
class.
Guided Instruction: Students will be given a topic (Differentiate for lower learners by giving easier topics or use partner) on a
post it and will match the term from the 7th grade to what theme it connects to (1 minute). Teacher then goes through and
checks with whole group to see if are they correct (class feedback) and also points out how some topics apply to more than
one theme (Have extra post-it so you can illustrate this understanding) *Serves as assessment- may need to discuss more if
students are not getting them correct.
Independent Practice: Last slide has 4 questions that students will answer. Teacher can assign or let students choose a
question to answer in a couple of sentences. They also need to identify which theme the question would relate to. After 3-4
minutes, have students share with a partner or entire class.
Summarizer/Closure/Evaluation of Lesson: Students are applying terms from 7th grade social studies content to the different
themes and answering a question how theme applies to discussion question. Students can come up with their own topics to
represent each of the 8 enduring themes as well- they do not necessarily have to correlate with 7th grade social studies
content.
Teacher Notes/Discussion Questions:
Enduring Understandings/Essential Questions The student will understand that when there is conflict
between or within societies, change is the result.
When you have conflicts with your friends does it change your friendship? If so, how?
Why do you make changes in your life?
Why does change always follow conflict?
The student will understand that the culture of a society is the product of the religion, beliefs, customs,
traditions, and government of that society.
How do you describe your family’s culture?
How do government actions affect your culture?
Should schools try to influence or reflect the students’ cultures?
What cultural conflicts have you seen in your school or the U.S.?
Why do you choose the friends you choose?
The student will understand that as a society increases in complexity and interacts with other societies,
the complexity of the government also increases.
How have your responsibilities changed as your family as changed or as you have gotten older?
In what ways do the rules in sports get more complicated at different levels? (i.e. Tee ball through Major
Leagues)
How have society and government adapted to each other’s growing complexities?
The student will understand that humans, their society, and the environment affect each other.
How is the landscape changed when neighborhoods are built?
What jobs are available or unavailable because of the physical geography near you?
What are the positive and negative consequences of human environment interaction?
How does the environment affect food choice?
The student will understand that the movement or migration of people and ideas affects all societies
involved.
How have your ideas, opinions, likes and dislikes changed since going from sixth grade to seventh?
What are some of the cultural differences (language/slang, foods, accents, sports, clothes, etc.) within
different regions of the United States?
What are some of the reasons that people move?
How do people change when they move from one place to another?
The student will understand that location affects a society’s economy, culture, and development.
How does your family decide to make and spend money?
What changes have occurred in your life since moving from elementary school to middle school?
What are some examples that demonstrate how location affects your society’s economy, culture, and
development?
How do opportunities change (jobs, food, homes, standard of living, clothes, etc.) depending on where you
live?
Why do people eat different foods in different parts of the world?
The student will understand that the production, distribution, and consumption of goods/services
produced by the society are affected by the location, customs, beliefs, and laws of the society.
What are the elements that make up an economy?
How are the things you want to buy produced?
How do stores get the things you want to buy?
How do you decide what to buy?
What factors determine the price of the things you want to buy?
The student will understand that while change occurs over time, there is continuity to the basic
structure of that society.
How has school changed and stayed the same since kindergarten?
How can a society change but have its basic components remain the same over time?
Why do some things remain the same when society is always changing?
Connecting Themes/Enduring Understandings Used in DOE Samples
Students should be able to demonstrate understanding of selected themes (depending on the course) using knowledge
and skills acquired during the school year. Understanding of these themes is not the end product of a single unit or
lesson, but the product of long term, ongoing instruction. The bold terms represent the connecting themes that
appear in multiple units throughout the courses. Following the term is an enduring understanding that gives focus to
the theme and, in parentheses, the grades or courses where they appear. Enduring understandings transcend specific
units and courses and increase student understanding and retention of knowledge.
Conflict and Change: The student will understand that when there is conflict between or within societies, change is the
result. (6, 7, 8, WH, USH)
Culture: The student will understand that the culture of a society is the product of the religion, beliefs, customs,
traditions, and government of that society. (6,7, WH, USH)
Distribution of Power: The student will understand that distribution of power in government is a product of existing
documents and laws combined with contemporary values and beliefs. (8, USH, AG)
Governance: The student will understand that as a society increases in complexity and interacts with other societies, the
complexity of the government also increases.(6, 7,WH)
Human Environmental Interaction: The student will understand that humans, their society, and the environment affect
each other. (6,7)
Location: The student will understand that location affects a society’s economy, culture, and development. (6, 7, 8, WH,
USH)
Movement/Migration: The student will understand that the movement or migration of people and ideas affects all
societies involved. (6, 7, 8, WH, USH)
Production, Distribution, Consumption: The student will understand that the production, distribution, and consumption
of goods/services produced by the society are affected by the location, customs, beliefs, and laws of the society. (6, 7, 8,
USH)
Time, Change, Continuity: The student will understand that while change occurs over time, there is continuity to the
basic structure of that society. (6,7, WH)