The fifth grade social studies curriculum includes a study democracy within the context of United Sates history. The traditional approach to teaching the material focuses on stories of the white, male heroes of American History and calls on students to be passive recipients of information. History is presented as a series of events that "just happened." Since students never see themselves reflected in the curriculum, they are no longer engaged or enthused about social studies. To combat student disinterest, the authors connect the content of the lesson to the students' daily experiences, to make "democracy" become an active force in the daily lives of the students, through the integration of literacy into the social studies curriculum. One aspect of the literacy that seemed to be neglected in the social studies curriculum was critical literacy. The authors discuss the definition of "critical literacy" in four dimensions: (a) disrupts the commonplace; (b) interrogates multiple points of view; (c) focuses on sociopolitical issues; and (d) takes action and promotes social justice. (Contains 9 notes.)