Oh, heavens. This one makes me crazy...
They aren't the same thing and can't be used interchangeably. Think of your grade level content expectations as the grocery list. You need to get all of that stuff, but you won't put it all in the same pot and make one meal. The curriculum is your recipe, the directions for using the ingredients. Some ingredients are used more often, or in greater quantity (some people would call these essential learnings...) others are considered nice to have, but necessary.
The Michigan Social Studies Content Expectations are your ingredients. Do not treat them all the same way, use them all in the same proportion or add them to your class in the order they appear in the list.
The Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum (http://www.micitizenshipcurriculum.org/) is the recipe, placing ingredients together in logical patterns.
All good chefs have their own signature flavor. The same is true for teachers; the content expectations represent the minimum standard we want our children to meet, your years of experience and huge collections of materials are your signature!!
