The Social Studies department at Franklin Middle School is working to maintain excellence in achieving the high standards of New York State. We aligned the curriculum to the Standards, and we continue to explore additional ways to foster academic growth.  The social studies program is a skills based approach to learning about and understanding the world in which our students live. The teachers work together to coordinate the development of skills through grades six, seven and eight. "Hands on" experiential learning materials, learning groups, and a variety of projects are an integral part of the department's highly successful approach.  

     In sixth grade the teachers begin the year by developing map skills and introducing the constructed response mode of questioning. The content areas covered in sixth grade are ancient cultures, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance,  and the European Scientific, Religious, and Industrial Revolutions.

     American history is the focus in seventh and eighth grade. In seventh grade the curriculum begins with the "peopling" of North America and concludes with the Civil War.  The eighth grade curriculum reviews the Constitution and moves from Reconstruction to current events.