Rockingham County Public Schools Seventh Grade Civics and Economics Benchmarks A Guide for Parent Involvement
1st Six Weeks Foundations of Government; CE.2, CE.3a,b American constitutional government · Fundamental principles Roots of democracy and its documents · Charters of Virginia Company of London · Virginia Declaration of Rights · Declaration of Independence · Articles of Confederation · Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom · Constitution of the United States · Preamble · Bill of Rights · Amendment Process Levels/Branches of Government CE.6, CE.7, CE.8 American constitutional government · Federal system of government · Separation of powers and checks and balances · Structure and powers of federal, state, and local Continued	2nd Six Weeks Levels/Branches of Government CE.6, CE.7, CE.8 Continued American Constitutional government (see 1st six weeks) Public policy at federal, state, and local levels · Lawmaking process (legislative branch) · Roles and powers of executive branch · Media and public policy · Influence of individuals and interest groups on public policy Continued ***Material for CE.6, CE.7, CE.8 may be arranged into several units · from the standpoint of levels of government · or from the standpoint of branches of government	3rdSix Weeks Levels/Branches of Government CE.6, CE.7, CE.8 Continued American Constitutional government (see 1st six weeks) Public policy at federal, state, and local levels (see 2nd six weeks) Judicial system of Virginia and the United States · Organization and jurisdiction of federal and state courts · Exercise of judicial review · Court proceedings in Civil and criminal cases ( including juvenile cases) · Due process protections ***Material for CE.6, CE.7, CE.8 may be arranged into several units · from the standpoint of levels of government · or from the standpoint of branches of government Citizenship; CE.3a-e, CE.4, CE.5 Citizens’ rights, duties, and responsibilities · Process of becoming a citizen · Duties · Responsibilities · Community Service · Traits of a good citizen Continued
4th Six Weeks Citizenship; CE.3a-e, CE.4, CE.5 Continued Citizens’ rights, duties, and responsibilities (see 3rd six weeks) Political process · Functions of political parties · Similarities & differences of political parties · Role of media · Campaign finances · Voter registration and participation · Electoral college process *During major election years, the material on the political process may be moved to the 2nd six weeks to correspond with current events if teachers deem necessary. Economics; CE. 9, CE.10, CE.11, CE.12 Economic decisions in the marketplace · Basic economic terms and concepts (see CE.9a) · Characteristics of major economic systems with focus on the United States Continued	5thSix Weeks Economics; CE. 9, CE.10, CE.11, CE.12 Continued Economic decisions in the marketplace (see 4th six weeks) Structure and operation of the U. S. economy · Basic types of business ownership · Role of entrepreneur · Economic flow of consumers, businesses, and markets · Characteristics of private financial institutions · Relationship of Virginia and U.S. to global economy · Impact of technological innovations Role of government in the U.S. economy · Competition including government agencies · Public goods and services · Taxation, spending, & borrowing · Federal Reserve system · Consumer and property rights Career opportunities	6th Six Weeks Review for Civics/Economics Standards of Learning Test Grade 7 CE, SOL Test Application of previous topics and/or pre-teaching of content in SOL Benchmarks contained in subsequent curricula On-going Study Skills; CE.1 will be incorporated into each of the above 6 weeks units

** The numbers throughout the Benchmarks refer to the Virginia Social Studies Standards of Learning objectives. For example, “CE.4b” refers to the second bullet (b) under Civics and Economics SOL objective number “4”.