Holidays and Traditions Unit
The Holidays and Traditions unit is used throughout the school year.
Kindergarten Social Studies Curriculum
Family-facing version of the kindergarten social studies curriculum
Quarterly Overview of Kindergarten Social Studies
The objectives and outcomes for each unit are common across FCPS and based on the Virginia Standards of Learning. The pacing by quarter and by week provides an example of how the curriculum can be organized throughout the year. Teacher teams may adjust the pacing or order of units to best meet the needs of students.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Units and Details
Students will be able to practice citizenship skills in the classroom by:
- Taking responsibility for one’s actions.
- Practicing honesty and showing kindness to oneself and others.
- Recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control.
- Caring for one’s personal property and respecting other students’ property.
- Taking turns, sharing, and working well with others for the good of everyone else.
Students will be able to define patriotism and explain how communities express patriotism by:
- Identifying the American and Virginian flags.
- Identifying state symbols, the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.
- Explaining that the president is the leader of the United States and is elected by voters.
Students will be able to practice citizenship skills in the classroom by:
- Taking responsibility for one’s actions.
- Practicing honesty and showing kindness to oneself and others.
- Recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control.
- Caring for one’s personal property and respecting other students’ property.
- Taking turns, sharing, and working well with others for the good of everyone else.
Students will be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of geographic concepts by:
- Describing the relative location of people, places, and things by using positional words.
- Demonstrating an understanding of maps and globes.
- Identifying the similarities and differences between a map and a globe.
- Identifying basic map symbols.
- Identifying land and bodies of water in the local community.
- Identifying the geographic location of the United States and Virginia on a map and globe.
Students will be able to practice citizenship skills in the classroom by:
- Taking responsibility for one’s actions.
- Practicing honesty and showing kindness to oneself and others.
- Recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control.
- Caring for one’s personal property and respecting other students’ property.
- Taking turns, sharing, and working well with others for the good of everyone else.
Students will be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of economic concepts by:
- Describing ways people work to earn and save money to buy things they need and want.
- Recognizing that Americans are free to make choices about what to buy and that they must make choices because they cannot have everything they want.
Students will be able to Practice citizenship skills in the classroom by:
- Taking responsibility for one’s actions.
- Practicing honesty and showing kindness to oneself and others.
- Recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control.
- Caring for one’s personal property and respecting other students’ property.
- Taking turns, sharing, and working well with others for the good of everyone else.
Students will be able to recognize Virgnia’s earliest communities by:
- Identifying examples of historic events, stories, and legends.
- Identifying early communities, changemakers, and contributions of leaders, including, but not limited to Indigenous tribes, farmers, traders, early settlers, minorities, women, and children.
- Recognizing that places change over time.
- Identifying people who helped establish and lead the local community over time.
- Developing a sense of self and family as members of a diverse community.
This unit is used throughout the school year as specific holidays occur within each month.
Students will be able to explain how communities honor local and national traditions and recognize designated Virginia holidays, including but not limited to:
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Yorktown Victory Day
- Election Day
- Veteran’s Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
- New Years Day
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Presidents’ Day
- Memorial Day
- Juneteenth
- Independence Day
- Rosh Hashanah
- Yom Kippur
- Diwali
- Hanukkah
- Kwanzaa
- Lunar New Year
- Ramadan
Assessments
Student assessments are part of the teaching and learning process.
- Teachers give assessments to students on an ongoing basis to
- Check for understanding
- Gather information about students' knowledge or skills.
- Assessments provide information about a child's development of knowledge and skills that can help families and teachers better plan for next steps in instruction.
For testing questions or additional information about how schools and teachers use test results to support student success, families can contact their children's schools.
In Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), kindergarten tests focus on basic literacy and numeracy development. Required tests for kindergarteners are:
- Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS): To measure self-control and the ability to successfully interact with peers and adults.
- Fall
- Spring
- Early Mathematics Assessment System (EMAS): To measure early mathematics abilities and growth.
- Fall
- Spring
- Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS): To identify gaps in foundational literacy skills and measure progress.
- Fall
- Winter
- Spring
