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FAMILY PORTAL · TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Welcome, ECFS families

Content: Ported from live ecfs.org (updated Oct 2025, last edited by 829)

Department Chair
Keira Lapsley | klapsley@ecfs.org

The Middle School History Department’s primary mission is to instill an understanding that the past has shaped and influenced the present. Through studying a multicultural range of historical content and concepts, students develop effective communication skills as speakers and writers. While developing critical reading, writing, and researching skills, students learn to properly access historical and current event information for further analysis. Students consider ethical dilemmas from the past and present and the ways in which these dilemmas and their outcomes have affected people and societies. Students learn to connect historical themes while identifying and discussing past and present issues of social justice and becoming equipped with tools for community advocacy. 

During their three-year study of American History, World Geography, and Ancient History, students will understand that history is more than facts and dates, but instead the story of who came before and how they have shaped our world. Our students will develop knowledge of historical patterns to better understand the present and prepare for the future. This understanding will help students consider and shape their own ethical beliefs and develop empathy as well as an appreciation for people, ideas, and experiences that are different from themselves.

We are committed to developing students who:

  • Understand the basic tools and language of history
  • Know the importance of using evidence to support historical claims
  • Take organized and useful notes and refer to them for class discussions and assignments
  • Identify and find their own primary and secondary sources for research
  • Navigate the Tate Library and its resources
  • Develop a strong thesis statement based on a question about a historical topic
  • Understand the process of research and research essay writing
  • Demonstrate mastery of the content presented

Because our School is committed to academic excellence, progressive education, and ethical learning, our instructional methods include:

  • Examination of historical documents, including primary and secondary sources
  • Direct instruction
  • Collaborative group work
  • Project-based activities
  • Class discussions

Descriptions by Grade Level

With an emphasis on the use of primary materials and a multi-disciplined approach, 6th Graders use the G.R.A.P.E.S. (Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics and Social Structure) approach to History in order to examine the Ancient World. 

Through learning about Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient China and Ancient Rome, 6th Graders strengthen their reading comprehension skills, begin to develop their formal research writing skills, and start to identify connections between history and the impact it has on their own lives. 

6th Grade students read primary and secondary source texts to identify pertinent information and evidence to support ideas and claims. Students practice crafting an argument (thesis), and providing evidence to support it. Students activate these skills through expository writing, crafting presentations or posters, and preparing speeches.

7th Graders look at geography from a social studies perspective, making close and purposeful connections to history, urbanization, the environment, natural resources, and politics. Students explore the ways that geography impacts human experience and the way that humans affect and interact with one another. 

Students analyze various human dilemmas in different regions of the world and also explore the relationship between geography, human systems, access to limited resources, and social justice. Each geography unit addresses a specific theme, and regional case study, illustrating a particular issue in our world today. 

Students continue to advance their research and writing skills in 7th Grade. With the use of guided sources and guided notes, 7th Graders continue their research-based writing. Instruction includes guided note-taking with the use of “research guides,” where students collect their evidence and also learn to paraphrase information from their sources. 

Students continue to build their skills in the following areas; crafting thesis statements, supporting their arguments, essay writing, presentation development, and debate and speech. Students are taught to cite their sources using in-text citations.

In 8th grade, students deepen their historical thinking through inquiry, exploration, and reflection. The 8th Grade curriculum is both chronological and thematic and invites students to examine the colonization of the Americas, the founding of the United States, the role of citizenship and the rise of civic voice, social issues and advocates for justice. Using multiple lenses—social, political, economic, artistic, religious, and intellectual—students investigate the diverse and multicultural identities that have shaped America’s past and continue to influence its present. Primary source evidence is  analyzed for point of view and particular attention is paid to finding the voices from the past that have been marginalized or overlooked. 

In 8th Grade, the focus of writing continues to be on gleaning information from sources, analyzing the information, and crafting an argument (research-based opinion). Students become more independent in their research and note taking as they learn to develop their own style of organizing information. Most writing is research or text-based and in the form of short or extended essays. Explicit instruction is given on crafting a critical argument and using formal citations (Chicago style bibliography and footnotes). Students are encouraged to draw connections between historical narratives and contemporary issues, fostering a more nuanced understanding of how the past informs the world we live in today.

Frequently Asked Questions: History Department

What is the approach to teaching writing in Middle School History?
  • Middle School History writing instruction is skills based and is tied to critical reading instruction. Writing skills develop alongside research skills as students are taught to develop evidence-based arguments that are supported by text-based supporting examples. The quantity and length of writing assignments increase over time as skills have developed and been practiced.
Ethical Culture Fieldston School offers a world-class progressive education in Pre-K–12th Grade at two historic campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx. The core of our educational program is the study and practice of ethics, which prepares us — and compels us — to take care of our world, ourselves, and each other.
CFS is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to be a welcoming community of professionals that broadly reflects the people of the metropolitan New York City area, our students, and families. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion or religious practices, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, age, ability status, military status, unemployment status or any other category protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. We are committed to hiring practices that ensure all candidates are given fair consideration in alignment with our institutional mission and goals.

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