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Welcome to Social Studies!

 

Welcome to Social Studies! My name is Mrs. Secketa and I am honored to be the Middle School Social Studies Teacher at St. Joseph. With a passion for history, I am dedicated to engaging students in interactive activities that help them to connect to the past while understanding its relevance to the modern world.
 
I bring to St. Joe's 30 years of experience as a teacher and as an administrator. I received my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Geography from Augustana College. I next completed a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Barat College and then a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University. I am licensed in the states of Illinois and Wisconsin.
 
My husband Scott and I have been married for 29 years and live in Antioch with our two children. Matthew and Katelyn are twins and are currently seniors at the University of Wisconsin Parkside. Matthew is majoring in Computer Science while Katie in majoring in Business. We have two dogs, Finley and Millie, who complete our family.
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My main goal for my classes is to empower students to become informed, responsible citizens.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

 

Our Courses:

6th Grade: Ancient World History

7th Grade: American History 1400s-1860s

8th Grade: American History 1860s-Present

 

 

 

 

Posts

Week of November 17

6th grade - Four Empires of Mesopotamia
  • Identify the location of the Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Neo-Babylonian Empires. 
  • Describe the military, economic, and cultural achievements of early Mesopotamian empires, such as Hammurabi’s Code. 
  • Evaluate the importance of Mesopotamian achievements.
7th grade - The Declaration of Independence
  • Identify the final causes, such as the Battle of Breed’s Hill and Common Sense, that brought about independence. 
  • Analyze the principles of government expressed in the Declaration of Independence. 
  • Recognize how delegates to the Second Continental Congress were able to preserve the slave trade by suppressing Jefferson’s attempt to condemn it in the Declaration of Independence. 
8th grade - The Rise of Industry
  • Explain how industrialists, with government encouragement, created big businesses.
  • Compare the costs and benefits of industrialization and urbanization, and identify the effects of urbanization on the nation.
  • Evaluate the success of the labor movement in improving conditions.
  • Identify inventors and evaluate the impact of their inventions.

Week of November 10

6th Grade - Four Empires of Mesopotamia
  • Ancient Sumer project due Wednesday. Guidelines posted in Google Classroom.
  • Begin our new lesson on the Four Empires of Mesopotamia.
  • Identify the location of the Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Neo-Babylonian Empires. 
  • Describe the military, economic, and cultural achievements of early Mesopotamian empires, such as Hammurabi’s Code. 
  • Evaluate the importance of Mesopotamian achievements.
7th Grade - Toward Independence
  • Study guide will be given on Monday.
  • Test is Thursday, November 13.
  • We will then begin our new lesson on The Declaration of Independence.
8th Grade - Tensions in the West
  • Study guide will be given on Monday.
  • Test is Thursday, November 13.
  • We will then begin our new lesson on The Rise of Industry.
  • Students will need their notebooks in order to take notes.
 

Week of November 3

6th Grade - Ancient Sumer
  • Explain the evolution of Sumerian written language, from pictographs to cuneiform. 
  • Apply the characteristics of civilization to modern-day society.
  • Ancient Sumer end of lesson project.
7th Grade - Toward Independence
  • Assess the impact of such key events as the French and Indian War, the Boston Massacre, and the battles of Lexington and Concord on colonists’ loyalty to the British government. 
  • Analyze several actions of the British government between 1763 and 1775 that built resentment and divided the colonists in their feelings about British rule. 
8th Grade - Tensions in the West
  • Identify the groups that came west following the Civil War, the reasons they came, and their roles in changing the West.
  • Evaluate the effects of western settlement on American Indians.
 

Week of October 27

6th Grade - Ancient Sumer
  • Analyze artifacts from ancient Sumer and explain how they are examples of the characteristics of civilization. 
  • Identify agricultural inventions that allowed Sumerian city-states to create a stable food supply and a complex society. 
  • Explain the relationship between religion and the social and political order in Sumer.
  • Explain the evolution of Sumerian written language, from pictographs to cuneiform. 
7th Grade - Toward Independence
  • Identify the roots of the nation’s blend of civic republicanism, classical liberal principles, and English parliamentary traditions. 
  • Assess the impact of such key events as the French and Indian War, the Boston Massacre, and the battles of Lexington and Concord on colonists’ loyalty to the British government. 
  • Analyze several actions of the British government between 1763 and 1775 that built resentment and divided the colonists in their feelings about British rule. 
8th Grade - Tensions in the West
  • Students are presenting their Reconstruction Projects.
  • Identify the groups that came west following the Civil War, the reasons they came, and their roles in changing the West.
  • Evaluate the effects of western settlement on American Indians.
  • Describe the clash between American Indians and settlers that resulted from settlement of the frontier.

Week of October 13

6th Grade - From Hunters and Gatherers to Farmers
  • Review study guide
  • Test Tuesday, October 14
  • Begin new unit - The Rise of Civilization
7th Grade - Life in the Colonies
  • We will look at what life was like on farms and in the cities, the rights of colonists, how they practiced religion and what school was like back then.
8th Grade - The Reconstruction Era
  • We will take a look at the Reconstruction Era including Presidential Reconstruction, Congressional Reconstruction and Southern Reconstruction.

Week of October 6

6th Grade - From Hunters and Gatherers to Farmers
  • Explain how the domestication of plants and animals created a stable food supply and led to important changes in shelter, communities, jobs, and trade. 
  • Lesson review & Study guide
  • Test on Monday, October 13
7th Grade - Life in the Colonies
  • Test covering Comparing the English Colonies on Tuesday, Oct. 7
  • Analyze primary and secondary sources to learn about various aspects of colonial life, including the rights of colonists, religion, education, and life for enslaved African Americans. 
8th Grade - The Reconstruction Era
  • Test covering the Civil War on Thursday, Oct. 9.
  • To what extent did Reconstruction bring African Americans closer to full citizenship?

Week of September 29

*Please make sure your child is charging their Chromebooks every night!*
 
6th Grade - From Hunters and Gatherers to Farmers
  • Explain how the domestication of plants and animals created a stable food supply and led to important changes in shelter, communities, jobs, and trade. 
7th Grade - Comparing the English Colonies
  • Identify the various reasons for the settlement of the British colonies. 
  • Compare religious practices and the different government systems—including the system set up in the Mayflower Compact—among the colonies. 
  • We will be finishing up this lesson and begin working a study guide. Test will be the week of October 6. Date TBD.
8th Grade - The Civil War
  • Identify the views of leaders on both sides and compare and contrast the experiences of white and black Union soldiers.
  • Examine critical battles and events of the war and connect them to the Union’s Anaconda Plan.
  • Explain how key events of the Civil War, like the Battle of Gettysburg, affected soldiers and civilians.
  • We will be finishing up this lesson and begin working on a study guide. Test will be the week of October 6. Date TBD.

Week of September 22

6th Grade - Early Hominins
  • Review and quiz Wednesday (9/24)
  • How the development of agriculture changed daily life in the Neolithic Age
  • Identify Neolithic settlements and explain the reason for their location.
  • Compare the lives of hunters and gatherers during the Paleolithic Age with the lives of people during the Neolithic Age. 
7th Grade - Comparing the English Colonies
  • What are the similarities and differences among the colonies in North America
  • Compare religious practices and the different government systems—including the system set up in the Mayflower Compact—among the colonies. 
  • Identify the various reasons for the settlement of the British colonies.
8th Grade - The Civil War
  • What factors and events influenced the outcome of the Civil War.
  • Examine critical battles and events of the war and connect them to the Union’s Anaconda Plan.
  • Explain how key events of the Civil War, like the Battle of Gettysburg, affected soldiers and civilians.
 
 

Week of September 15

6th Grade - Early Hominins
  • Identify when and where various hominin groups lived. 
  • Describe the physical and cultural adaptations of each hominin group. 
  • Analyze how the capabilities of each hominin group—development of tools, use of fire, and living in groups—helped them survive. 
7th Grade - Comparing the English Colonies
  • Identify the various reasons for the settlement of the British colonies. 
  • Compare religious practices and the different government systems—including the system set up in the Mayflower Compact—among the colonies. 
8th Grade - The Civil War
  • Identify the views of leaders on both sides and compare and contrast the experiences of white and black Union soldiers.
  • Examine critical battles and events of the war and connect them to the Union’s Anaconda Plan.

Week of September 8

6th Grade - Themes of World History
  • Daily Geography Week 2 - Due Friday
  • Beginnings to 4000 B.C.E.
  • Kingdoms & Innovations: 4000-1000 B.C.E.
  • An Age of Empires & Interactions: 1000 B.C.E. - 30 C.E.
  • A World of Changes
 
7th Grade - European Colonization of America
  • Spain Starts an Empire
  • The Spanish Borderlands
  • New France
  • Jamestown
  • New Netherland
  • Christopher Columbus
 
8th Grade - The Civil War
  • The Election of 1860 & Secession
  • The Civil War - What factors and events influenced the outcome of the Civil War?
  • North vs. South 

Week of September 1

6th Grade - The Ancient World
  • Detectives who study the past.
  • How to study the past.
  • Plan your own inquiry based on artifacts.
  • Themes of World History.
7th Grade - US History
  • Indigenous Peoples of North America
  • Analyzing artifacts from various Indigenous groups.
  • Analyze ways in which Indigenous people in different cultural regions adapted to their environments. 
8th Grade - US History
  • The Compromise of 1850 and how it fails.
  • The Dred Scott Decision.
  • The Election of 1860 - Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • How Did Slavery Create Tension Among
    the States Prior to the Civil War?

Week of August 25

6th Grade - Foundations of History
  • Why Study History? - Share your top reason for why we study history.
  • 5 Themes of Geography - Research a country of your choice.
  • Investigating the past through inquiry - How do social scientists interpret the past?
    • Explain how social scientists such as archaeologists, historians, and geographers investigate the past. 
    • Hypothesize about the lives of prehistoric humans and compare ideas with those of social scientists. 
    • Interpret a cave painting by using the methodology of social scientists. 
7th Grade - America Before and After Colonization
  • 5 Themes of Geography - Research a country of your choice.
  • Indigenous Peoples of North America
    • Trace the migration routes of the first groups to the Americas. 
    • Describe how Indigenous people viewed their environment. 
    • Connect artifacts to hypotheses about the origins of Indigenous artifacts. 
    • Analyze ways in which Indigenous people in different cultural regions adapted to their environments. 
8th Grade - The Union Challenged 
  • 5 Themes of Geography - Research a country of your choice.
  • A Dividing Nation
    • Identify the regulations on slavery in the Northwest Ordinance.
    • Trace the effects of territorial expansion on the debate over slavery.
    • Analyze the impact of key events on the antislavery movement and on the Union.
 

Week of May 12, 2025

6th Grade - Origins of Christianity
  • Learning About World Religions
  • Legacy of Rome
  • Unit Wrap Up
7th Grade - Life in the West
  • Unit Wrap Up
  • Life in the West guided notes
  • Explorers, The Californios, The Missionaries
8th Grade - US Constitution
  • Study!!
  • Test will take place on Thursday, May 15 for EVERYONE!

Week of May 5, 2025

6th Grade - Christianity
  • Origins and spread of Christianity
  • Parables
  • World Religions
7th Grade - America in the 1800s
  • Early American Art
  • Early American Literature
  • Early American Music 
  • Life in the 1800s
8th Grade - US Constitution
  • Study for test scheduled for May 15.

Week of April 28, 2025

6th Grade - Ancient Greece and Rome
  • Daily Life in Rome
  • Roman Gladiators
  • Ancient Roots of U.S.
  • Study guide given on Thursday
  • Open note quiz on Monday, May 5.
 
7th Grade - Launching the New Republic
  • A New Foreign Policy
  • Monroe Doctrine
  • Lessons on Democracy
  • Developing a Nation
  • The Era of Good Feelings
 
8th Grade - U.S. Constitution
  • Judicial Review
  • Checks and Balances
  • Amending the Constitution
  • The American Flag
  • Study guide will be given out on Thursday, May 1.
  • Constitution Test will be given May 15.