Social Studies

The Social Studies curricula in the Middle School gradually moves away from the "here and now" to the "long ago and far away".¬ù Middle School students continue to learn primarily from direct experience but as they get older, become more able to use other, less immediate sources of knowledge such as books, museums, pictures, and documents to learn about what happened long ago and far away. Through this work, children begin to make powerful connections between historical and distant occurrences and situations they experience in their everyday lives. Children continue to express and extend their inquiry and understandings of what they learn in a variety of ways such as blocks, murals, dioramas, models, artifacts, and dramatics. As they rely more on symbol systems, such as written language, and as their understanding of time and space becomes more sophisticated, the questions they pose also become more sophisticated.

Over time, increased emphasis is put on the process of research to answer students' own questions; selecting a topic and then gathering, organizing, and integrating information into some form of presentation.

All of the social studies curricula draw upon and extend a student's ability to develop skills as readers and writers. In each study, children have opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary activities that enrich learning in other areas as well. For example, when younger children design and construct their own buildings, it makes sense to take advantage of the natural possibilities for integrating basic geometry and measurement concepts.

In each age group, teachers select curricula from a list of age-appropriate units of study. The depth of study and its duration will vary according to the objectives set by the teacher in response to her assessment of the needs and interests of the particular group.


Kindergarten

The Kindergarten students begin each year with a study of Trinity. They meet all the different people in the school, learn about their roles, and tour the school to become familiar with their new school environment. They compare the less familiar school environment with their home environment and learn how to view Trinity as extended family life. As they learn about their role as a student, they transition to a study of notable children’s authors. This enhances their own skill set as they begin growing into readers and writers within their classroom community.

First Grade

The First Grade works on building a community through friendship and learning about each other's families and the role they play in the community. These students also study transportation and careers within their community. They take field studies to the airport, Port of Tampa, and the Post Office to learn more about the inner workings of a community and experiencing the various modes of transportation in the Tampa Bay area.

Second Grade

The Second Grade starts the year by focusing on the Hillsborough River and the evolution of the community around the river. They go back in time and learn about the first settlers in our area, the Native Americans, and how their life and experiences compare to ours today. They extend their learning about immigrants and Native Americans to the entire country and learn about important people and places in the United States as a means of understanding our American history.

Third Grade

The Third Grade students study the United States using the five themes of Geography: location, place, human environmental interaction, movement, and region.  Through this study, they gain a greater understanding of the diversity found throughout the United States and learn to understand and appreciate others for their differences.

Fourth Grade

The Fourth Grade team studies Florida, its history and geography. The field studies include historical places close to Tampa, the Everglades where students live like the Seminoles, and an in depth study of Florida's first city, St. Augustine. Technology is an integral part of the fourth grade curriculum. Students are first exposed to the interactive white boards which brings their history lessons to life. It allows the students to interact first hand with the people and places they might otherwise not be able to visit and apply their lessons to the world around them.

Fifth Grade

The oldest group of students in the Middle School focuses on United States history. This focus lays the foundation for the Upper School social studies curriculum. The team travels to Tallahassee where they learn about Florida's government and culminates their investigation of government in Washington D.C.