7th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 7th grade social studies in the New York State Learning Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- US and New York history from Native American nations to the Civil War
- New Netherland, the Revolution in New York and the Constitution
- Westward expansion, the Erie Canal and reform movements born in New York
- Sectional conflict, slavery and the Civil War
Easy ways to practice social studies at home
- Follow a current event together and ask who is affected and why people see it differently.
- Build a timeline of a family event or a historical topic they are studying.
- Use an atlas or online map to trace a trade or travel route.
- Ask “Whose voice is missing from this story?” when reading about the past.
What each unit covers
Colonial Trade & Work
Resources, specialization and trade in the colonies, mercantilism, and the Atlantic slave trade and its impact on African peoples, told plainly and age-appropriately.
Road to Revolution
British taxes, colonial protests such as boycotts and the Boston Tea Party, the Continental Congresses, and why Loyalists and Patriots saw things differently.
The American Revolution
The Declaration of Independence and its ideals, key battles from Lexington to Yorktown, help from France and others, and the people of many backgrounds who shaped the war.
Building a Government
Why the Articles of Confederation were replaced, the compromises of 1787, the three branches, checks and balances, federalism and the Bill of Rights (1791).
Founding Ideals
The Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights and Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the debates of 1787, the Federalist Papers, and the principles of the Constitution.
Rights & Amendments
What the first ten amendments protect, the Reconstruction Amendments, and why rights come with limits and responsibilities.
A New Nation
The first presidents and parties, judicial review, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, the War of 1812 and early foreign policy.
Factories & Reformers
The Industrial Revolution in the North, canals, roads and railroads, immigration, public schools, and the abolition and women's rights movements before 1861.
Native Nations of New York
How geography shaped the Native nations of New York, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and its Great Law of Peace, the Lenape, Mohican, Shinnecock and Unkechaug homelands, and the effects of European contact. Light, in the present tense, with nations as living communities today.
New Netherland to New York
The Age of Exploration, Hudson and Champlain, Dutch New Netherland and its lasting contributions, the English takeover in 1664, slavery and resistance in colonial New York, and the Zenger trial.
The Revolution in New York
New York's part in the road to revolution and the war: the Stamp Act Congress, Fort Ticonderoga, the Battle of Long Island and British-held New York City, Saratoga as the turning point, West Point, the Haudenosaunee nations divided by the war, and New York's first state constitution.
New York & the Constitution
The ratification debate in New York and The Federalist Papers, New York City as the first capital, federalism, New York's own government, and how New York's constitution changed over time, including the end of slavery in 1827.
The Erie Canal & Early Industry
The Erie Canal and how it made New York City the nation's leading port, steamboats and early railroads, early factories, and how the North's and South's economies grew apart.
Reformers of New York
The Second Great Awakening and the Burned-over District, abolition and the Underground Railroad, the resistance of enslaved people, Seneca Falls and the women's rights movement, and the Anti-Rent movement of Hudson Valley tenant farmers.
Westward Expansion
Manifest Destiny, Indian removal and the Trail of Tears, Haudenosaunee land loss in New York, Texas and the Mexican-American War, and the people the westward movement helped and harmed.
A Nation Divided
Cotton and slavery in the South, free Black Americans and abolitionists, the compromises from the Missouri Compromise to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott decision, resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act in New York, and the election of 1860.
The Civil War
Leaders, strategy and decisive battles from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, how enslaved people helped win their own freedom, and the war in New York: its soldiers, the draft riots of 1863 and the Elmira prison camp.
Timeline 1609–1865
Putting events from the Dutch colony through the Revolution, the early republic and the Civil War in order, with New York's events along the way.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the New York report card guide.
Common questions
Follow a current event together and ask who is affected and why people see it differently. Build a timeline of a family event or a historical topic they are studying. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The New York State Learning Standards 7th grade social studies units include Colonial Trade & Work, Road to Revolution, The American Revolution, Building a Government, Founding Ideals, Rights & Amendments.
Free printable 7th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.