grade 5 GSE social studies curriculum
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER: Unit 1 - American Life and Turn of the Century
Role of cattle trails - Black Cowboys of Texas,
Great Western Trail, Chisholm Trail
Reasons people immigrated, where they came
from and where they settled
Impact of Wright Brothers and flight, George
Washington Carver and science, Alexander
Graham Bell and communication, and Thomas Edison and electricity
How William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt expanded America's role in the world
Spanish-American War and the Panama Canal
Opportunity costs and their relationship in decision-making across time (i.e. rationing during WWII)
How price incentives affect people's behavior (i.e. increased beef prices led to participation in cattle trails)
Role of specialization in improved standard of living and productivity (i.e. Ford's assembly line reduced car prices)
Role of trade and voluntary exchange in economic activity (i.e. Panama Canal increases trade)
Locate:
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Chisholm Trail
Pearl Harbor, HI
Montgomery, AL
Chicago, IL
Locate agricultural and industrial locations between the end of the Civil War and 1900
Explain how population, transportation, and resources influenced these areas (i.e. Pittsburgh's rapid growth in late
1800s and Chicago's growth in early 1900s)
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER: Unit 2 - World War I/Great Depression/New Deal/Harlem Renaissance
Explain role of German attacks on US shipping ultimately led to US joining the fight against Germany
Sinking of Lusitania, concerns of safety of us ships
US Contributions to war
Impact of Treaty of Versailles
Describe 1920s cultural developments and individual contributions of
Jazz Age (Louis Armstrong)
Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes)
Baseball (Babe Ruth), Negro Leagues, Women's Leagues
Automobile (Henry Ford)
Role of specialization in improved standard of living and productivity (i.e. Ford's assembly line reduced car
prices)
Transatlantic flight (Charles Lindbergh)
Stock Market Crash and Great Depression
Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Dust Bowl, soup kitchens
New Deal
CCC, WPA, TVA
1930s culture
Duke Ellington, Margaret Mitchell, Jesse Owens
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER: Unit 3 - World War II
Germany's aggression in Europe; rise of Nazi Germany
Japan's aggression in Asia
War in Europe: Holocaust, D-Day (Battle of Normandy), VE Day
War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, VJ Day
Truman and atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, Hirohito, Truman, Mussolini, Hitler
Effects of rationing
Changing role of women - "Rosie the Riveter"
Changing role of blacks - Tuskegee Airmen
Opportunity costs and their relationship in decision-making across time (i.e. rationing during WWII)
Role of Eleanor Roosevelt
Forming of United Nations
DECEMBER/JANUARY: Unit 4 - Cold War
Meaning of "Iron Curtain"
US goal of stopping spread of Communism through Berlin airlift, Korean War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Josephy McCarthy
Nikita Kruschev
Cuban Missile Crisis
Vietnam War
JANUARY/FEBRUARY: Unit 5 - Civil Rights and Citizenship
Analyze effects of Jim Crow laws and practices
Explain responsibilities of a citizen
Explain due process of law
Explain how Constitution protects a citizen's rights by due process
Explain key events and people in:
Brown v. Board of Education
Montgomery Bus Boycott
March on Washington
Civil Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
Explain how voting rights are protected by these amendments: 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, 26th
Explain civil rights activities of:
Thurgood Marshall
Lyndon B. Johnson
Cesar Chavez
Rosa Parks
Describe impact on society of assassinations of:
John F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Significance of television and space exploration
MARCH-APRIL: Unit 6- New Developments
Collapse of Soviet Union
Role of Ronald Reagan
Describe events of September 11, 2001
Analyze impact of September 11 events on American life
Analyze impact of personal computer and Internet on American life
APRIL: Milestones
MAY: Enrichment
grade 4 GSE social studies curriculum
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER: Unit 1 - Revolutionary War
Events leading to Revolutionary War: French and
Indian War, British Imperial Policy that led to the
Stamp Act, slogan "no taxation without
representation," Sons of Liberty, Daughters of Liberty, Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party
Writing of the Declaration of Independence:
who wrote it, how it was written, why it was
necessary, and how it was a response to tyranny
and the abuse of power
How colonies and British attempted to use physical geography of each battle site to its benefit
Major events of the Revolution and factors leading to American victory: Battles of Lexington and Concord, Saratoga and
Yorktown
Key individuals: King George III, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Benedict Arnold, Patrick
Henry, Paul Revere, black regiments, and John Adams
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER: Unit 2 - Government of a New Nation
Weaknesses of government established by Articles of Confederation
Major leaders of Constitutional Convention: James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington
Major issues of debate: weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, rights of states (federal system), Great Compromise, slavery (Three-Fifths Compromise)
3 branches of government, their functions, connections, checks and balances, separation of power, relation to states
Bill of Rights and how it limits power of government, reasons for inclusion in Constitution of 1791
Natural rights in Declaration of Independence (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness)
Freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment
Popular sovereignty and the Preamble
Functions of government: making/enforcing laws, managing conflicts and protecting rights, defending nation, limiting
power of authority figures, fiscal responsibility
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER: Unit 3 - Expansion of a New Nation
Causes of War of 1812 - burning of Capitol and White House, and writing of the Star Spangled Banner
Impact of American expansion on American Indians: Trail of Tears, Little Big Horn, forced relocation to reservations
Territorial expansion: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark expedition, acquisition of Texas (the Alamo and independence), Oregon (Oregon Train), and California (Gold Rush and the development of mining towns)
Impact of steamboat, steamboat locomotive, and telegraph
Locate Atlantic Coastal Plain, Great Plains, Continental Divide, The Great Basin, Death Valley, Gulf of Mexico,
St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes
Locate New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Erie Canal
DECEMBER/JAN: Unit 4 - Civil War
Effects of Uncle Tom's Cabin, John Brown's raid
Slavery and states' rights - increased tensions between North and South
Causes of the Civil War
Effects of war on North and South
Industrial places in the North and the South
Fort Sumter, South Carolina; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - major battles
Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, Appomattox Court House
Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ullyses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, William T, Sherman
Abolitionist movements: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass
Suffrage movements: Elizabeth Cady Staton, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony
Trade, opportunity cost, voluntary exchange
JAN/FEB: Unit 5 - Reconstruction
Purpose of 13th, 14th, 15th amendments
Explain how slavery was replaced by sharecropping, how freed blacks were denied rights as citizens
Due process and civil rights - Jim Crow laws
Civic participation
Effects of war on North and South
Reconstruction and its effect on the Southern economy
Jim Crow customs
Freedmen's Bureau
Sharecropping
Opening mines
Building factories
Replacing devastated fields
Change in economic direction of the South
Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania
Industrial locations
MARCH/APRIL: Unit 6 - Being a Responsible Spender
Elements of personal budget
Importance of saving and spending
MAY: Enrichment
Events leading to Revolutionary War: French and
Indian War, British Imperial Policy that led to the
Stamp Act, slogan "no taxation without
representation," Sons of Liberty, Daughters of Liberty, Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party
Writing of the Declaration of Independence:
who wrote it, how it was written, why it was
necessary, and how it was a response to tyranny
and the abuse of power
How colonies and British attempted to use physical geography of each battle site to its benefit
Major events of the Revolution and factors leading to American victory: Battles of Lexington and Concord, Saratoga and
Yorktown
Key individuals: King George III, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Benedict Arnold, Patrick
Henry, Paul Revere, black regiments, and John Adams
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER: Unit 2 - Government of a New Nation
Weaknesses of government established by Articles of Confederation
Major leaders of Constitutional Convention: James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington
Major issues of debate: weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, rights of states (federal system), Great Compromise, slavery (Three-Fifths Compromise)
3 branches of government, their functions, connections, checks and balances, separation of power, relation to states
Bill of Rights and how it limits power of government, reasons for inclusion in Constitution of 1791
Natural rights in Declaration of Independence (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness)
Freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment
Popular sovereignty and the Preamble
Functions of government: making/enforcing laws, managing conflicts and protecting rights, defending nation, limiting
power of authority figures, fiscal responsibility
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER: Unit 3 - Expansion of a New Nation
Causes of War of 1812 - burning of Capitol and White House, and writing of the Star Spangled Banner
Impact of American expansion on American Indians: Trail of Tears, Little Big Horn, forced relocation to reservations
Territorial expansion: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark expedition, acquisition of Texas (the Alamo and independence), Oregon (Oregon Train), and California (Gold Rush and the development of mining towns)
Impact of steamboat, steamboat locomotive, and telegraph
Locate Atlantic Coastal Plain, Great Plains, Continental Divide, The Great Basin, Death Valley, Gulf of Mexico,
St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes
Locate New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Erie Canal
DECEMBER/JAN: Unit 4 - Civil War
Effects of Uncle Tom's Cabin, John Brown's raid
Slavery and states' rights - increased tensions between North and South
Causes of the Civil War
Effects of war on North and South
Industrial places in the North and the South
Fort Sumter, South Carolina; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - major battles
Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, Appomattox Court House
Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ullyses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, William T, Sherman
Abolitionist movements: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass
Suffrage movements: Elizabeth Cady Staton, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony
Trade, opportunity cost, voluntary exchange
JAN/FEB: Unit 5 - Reconstruction
Purpose of 13th, 14th, 15th amendments
Explain how slavery was replaced by sharecropping, how freed blacks were denied rights as citizens
Due process and civil rights - Jim Crow laws
Civic participation
Effects of war on North and South
Reconstruction and its effect on the Southern economy
Jim Crow customs
Freedmen's Bureau
Sharecropping
Opening mines
Building factories
Replacing devastated fields
Change in economic direction of the South
Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania
Industrial locations
MARCH/APRIL: Unit 6 - Being a Responsible Spender
Elements of personal budget
Importance of saving and spending
MAY: Enrichment