5Th grade history topics: Teaching fifth-grade social studies and U.S. history
Teaching fifth-grade social studies and U.S. history
Who recalls the dates of the Byzantine Empire? Or that the Ohlone Indians spoke one of the Utian languages? Details from social studies are easy to forget once we graduate to the real world. Still, such primers in history, geography, politics, and anthropology are crucial to our children’s education, even as early as the fifth grade.
How do you know if your child’s social studies curriculum stacks up? Check out our grade-by-grade milestones to understand your state and national standards.
Fifth-graders focus on the United States. Students begin with Native Americans, then study the 13 colonies, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the building of a new nation. Because social studies includes the study of history, geography, economics, and civics, it is often integrated with other areas of the curriculum. For example, students might be expected to recreate a colonial-era newspaper for a language arts assignment, while a science lesson might focus on how Native Americans grew corn.
Students learn to explore cause-and-effect relationships; compare past and present events; and make and use timelines, graphs, charts, and maps to interpret historical data. Technology is often integrated, as students use the Internet to facilitate their learning.
Personal connections
Tonya Breland, a teacher who received the Milken Foundation National Educator Award, stresses the need to integrate social studies with children’s own experiences. “Children enjoy learning social studies most when it relates to their personal lives,” she says. “As they learn about the history of their state and the early history of our country, it is important that they see the connection to their own life and culture. Social studies is inclusive of culture, customs, traditions, and history.”
History of Native Americans
Children should learn about the Native Americans who lived throughout North America, studying their crops, hunting traditions, homes and structures, trading practices, and rituals and ceremonies.
Fifth-graders should understand how the geography of regions influenced the way tribes lived. Your child may read tales and creation myths and visit museums and art galleries to see Native American artifacts and paintings.
Early explorers
Fifth-graders learn about our country’s earliest explorers — their backgrounds, hardships, and motivations. Students should plan on comparing Native Americans to the explorers and understanding the impact the explorers had on Native cultures. They may chart the arrival of the explorers with a timeline and draw their routes on a map. Your child’s class may also study the westward movement.
Colonial connection
Students learn about the 13 colonies, including the story of how they were settled, the challenges colonists faced, and the routines of everyday life. Children learn about early settlers including John Smith and William Penn. Many teachers compare the individual colonies as well as colonial and modern-day life. Kids learn about the origins and development of slavery and the colonists’ relationship with Native Americans.
Classes might perform plays depicting early colonial life or organize a trade fair.
The American Revolution
The American Revolution plays a central role in a fifth-grader’s education. Children should learn to explore the causes of the revolution, looking at the events and individuals involved, maybe looking at political cartoons from the time period or researching revolutionary leaders. Students will learn how the revolution was fought and won by studying its most important battles. Your child should be able to understand the difference between Loyalists (those who remained loyal to England) and Patriots (those who wanted independence). By reading historical novels and biographies from the time period, students can better understand the context surrounding the Declaration of Independence. Children might also participate in a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party or the ride of Paul Revere, and explore their effects on American history.
Establishing the new nation
Students should learn how a new nation grapples with the task of establishing itself by exploring the way the founders resolved problems.
Your child might research the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Students will learn about the three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial) and study the inauguration of the first president, the development of the first political parties, and the way the nation’s standing in the world was affected by diplomacy and war. Children should be able to cite the contributions of major political leaders including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They should map the expansion of the country and learn about the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and pioneer life. Students might participate in a town meeting by discussing real problems and trying to solve them.
Civil War and Reconstruction
When it comes to the Civil War, students in fifth grade should be able to explain the causes, major events, and consequences. They’ll learn about key people, like Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant, and important documents, such as the Emancipation Proclamation and Constitutional Amendments 13, 14, and 15.
Teachers should include a lesson on Reconstruction plans and the social and economic impact of slavery. Students may take part in a debate of the war and read letters and biographies from the time.
Current events
Current events are front and center in many classrooms — children examine the news using TV programs, newspapers, or the Internet. Classrooms might discuss how events affect life, now and in the future, and may compare them to past events. Discussing current events raises students’ awareness of the world around them and helps them connect the present with history and with information learned in other subjects. Being conversant with current events improves students’ ability to think critically and analytically. Their comprehension of nonfiction topics will also be enhanced, not to mention their motivation to be a lifelong reader.
LEARNING FROM U.S. HISTORY – A fifth grade social studies curriculum
From the editors: As we approach the beginning of a new academic year, Not Even Past is delighted to introduce an important new resource for the teaching of History.
Learning from US History: A Fifth Grade Social Studies Curriculum was designed and developed by two UT Professors, Dr. Daina Ramey Berry and Dr. Jennifer Keys Adair, and a doctoral student: Erin Green, MA.
This fifth grade U.S. history curriculum is built upon primary sources and is an alternative to textbooks that are often one-sided or politicized. This curriculum is one example of how historians and educators can work together to de-center a singular perspective and to offer elementary social studies with greater historical accuracy. This is a work-in-progress curriculum that will change as new primary sources emerge and historical interpretations shift.
The full curriculum can be accessed here.
Unit One: Native American and Indigenous Conceptions and Care for the Land now known as the United States of America (4 Weeks)
Unit Two: Native American Nation/Community Research Project (2 Weeks)
Unit Three: Freedom in Central and West Africa and the entrance of White Supremacy (2 Weeks)
Unit Four: American Colonies Past and Present (2 weeks)
Unit Five: The Transatlantic Slave Trade (3 weeks)
Unit Six: The American Revolution (3 weeks)
Unit Seven: The Constitution (3 weeks)
Unit Eight: Resistance to Enslavement (3 weeks)
Unit Nine: The Civil War (3 weeks)
Unit Ten: Moving People and Shifting Boundaries (5 weeks)
Unit Eleven: Im/migration (4 Weeks)
Special Unit: Elections (1 week)
Special Unit: Thanksgiving
Screenshot from Learning from US History
Authors/Curators
Daina Ramey Berry, PhD • Oliver H.
Radkey Regents Professor • Chair, Department of History (UT Austin). Professor Berry is one of the most sought-after speakers and consultants for public-facing projects offered by museums, historical sites, K-12 educational initiatives, news media, and television including NBC, PBS News Hour, NPR, New York Times and The Atlantic. She has authored many award-winning books including, The Price for Their Pound of Flesh (Beacon, 2017) and A Black Women’s History of the United States co-authored with Kali Nicole Gross (Beacon, 2020).
Jennifer Keys Adair, PhD • Assoc. Prof. of Curriculum and Instruction • Director, AYCRC (UT Austin). Dr. Adair’s teaching and research is focused on improving children’s learning experiences at school. Her work has been published and cited in a wide range of journals including Harvard Educational Review and Teachers College Record as well as 40+ media outlets including NPR, Washington Post and CNN. She is the co-author with Kiyomi Sánchez-Suzuki Colegrove of Segregation by Experience: Agency, Racism and Early Learning (University of Chicago Press, 2021).
Erin Green, M.A. • Erin Green is a doctoral researcher in Curriculum and Instruction, focusing on Social Studies Education. Her growing research interests include critical elementary social studies, critical literacy, and civic education. She is a former fifth grade teacher and is passionate about critical, anti-racist social studies education for young learners.
The views and opinions expressed in this article or video are those of the individual author(s) or presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect the policy or views of the editors at Not Even Past, the UT Department of History, the University of Texas at Austin, or the UT System Board of Regents. Not Even Past is an online public history magazine rather than a peer-reviewed academic journal. While we make efforts to ensure that factual information in articles was obtained from reliable sources, Not Even Past is not responsible for any errors or omissions.
History Grade 5 – topics and lesson plans for the school textbook
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173 lessons 204 tests
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Primitive life
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Mesolithic NEW
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Neolit NEW
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Paleolithic NEW
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Ancient Orient
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God Thoth NEW
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Goddess Nut NEW
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Ancient Greece
God Hermes NEW
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God Hephaestus NEW
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God Zeus NEW
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Hephaestus NEW
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Judaism NEW
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Meteki NEW
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Minos NEW
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Perieki NEW
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King Midas NEW
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Ancient Rome
God Jupiter NEW
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Dominat NEW
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Plebeians NEW
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Principate NEW
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Sumerians NEW
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The fate of medieval civilizations
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History project topics for grade 5
This section presents interesting history project topics for grade 5 , which are designed to consolidate students’ already acquired knowledge of history and apply them in independent research and project activities.
In this section, students are offered topical topics of research projects on history in the 5th grade in the GEF, which encourage analytical work, the search for information, and confirmation of their own conclusions with historical facts. The author of the project is obliged to strive for objectivity of statements and not to rewrite history in a new way.
Presented topics of research papers on history for the 5th grade in the Federal State Educational Standards interest students in additional independent study of the subject, provide an opportunity to conduct an exciting study, a more in-depth study of the chosen topic.
The following topics of research project work on history in the 5th grade of the school provide an opportunity to choose a topic for studying about ancient civilizations, great wars, the administrative and political structure of Ancient Greece, Assyria, Egypt, China, analyze the life path and activities of great commanders, rulers and other important historical figures.
Topics of projects on history Grade 5
Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece in the Art of Different Ages
Buddhism is the earliest world religion.
Great Wall of China.
Great inventions of the Ancient East
Great personalities of the Ancient world (at the student’s choice)
The influence of discoveries and inventions on the life of primitive people.
Military and sports training in Ancient Greece
Warriors of Ancient Assyria
Wars of Ancient history: causes, purpose, result, significance for the course of world history, or participating countries (Select specific wars: Greco-Persian; Punic, etc.)
Heroes of the Greco-Persian Wars
A city on seven hills: the mysteries of archaeological excavations
A city forgotten by history. Tragedy of Troy.
Greek colonies
The oldest types of writing and their deciphering.
The most ancient types of writing.
Ancient India is the birthplace of many fairy tales and fables about animals.
Ancient culture of China.
Mysteries of Mohenjo-Daro
The laws of the jungle in Rudyard Kipling’s fairy tale “Mowgli” and the laws of Sparta (comparative analysis).
Famous Greeks (Pericles, Demosthenes).
Famous women of the ancient world
Famous buildings and structures of antiquity.
Spectacles in Ancient Rome.
Topics for research papers on history in grade 5 (continued)
Inventions and discoveries of the ancient Phoenicians
Inventions of ancient states and civilizations, their significance.
Art of Ancient Egypt.
Study of “living fossils” (about the tribe of Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert).
Historical portraits of prominent historical figures of the Ancient World (Gaius Julius Caesar, Augustus, Solon, Solomon, etc.
History in faces. Alexander the Great.
The history of Ancient Rome in popular expressions
The history of Ancient Greece in popular expressions
The history of the costume of different peoples of the Ancient World.
History of popular expressions.
The history of our names goes back to the ancient world.
History of the Olympic Games.
The story of the discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen.
China is the birthplace of silk and paper.
Ships of the Ancient World
Who are the Etruscans?
Medicine in the Ancient World.
The place of the history of the Ancient World in historical science. The formation of democracy in Ancient Greece, its role in modern life.
Fashion of the Ancient World: the history of the costume and clothing of the countries of antiquity.
Wise Men of Ancient Greece (Solon, Pythagoras, Thales).
Sages of antiquity about the rules of conduct.
Features of Sparta in matters of education, lifestyle, the formation of patriotism of the inhabitants of the policy.
Patriotism of the Greeks in the wars with the Persians.
Primitive Zoo.
Writing of the states of the Ancient World
Punic Wars. Battle of Cannae
Religions of the world.
Religious beliefs, their influence on the formation of the spiritual and moral values of the people (comparative characteristics of religions of different states, or a particular state in comparison with another temporal level)
Roman army as an exemplary army of antiquity.
Roman army.
Roman calendar.
Seven wonders of the world (distance trip)
A fairy tale becomes a reality (opening of trails).
Treasures of Tutankhamen
Sports and physical culture in the ancient world.
Theater in Ancient Greece – “school for adults”
Terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang
Amazing Greek temples
Structure of ancient states.
Philosophers of Ancient Greece (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)
Temples of the first Christians
Flowers in Greek myths.
Wonders of Ancient Babylon
Wonders of Ancient Greece
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Ready-made works on history
Topics of research papers on the history of Ancient Rus’
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