What each grade learns › Grade 5 › History

What does a 5th grader learn in History and Social Studies?

Your child studies the story of the United States from the first Native American peoples through European exploration, the colonies, the American Revolution, the creation of the Constitution, westward growth, the Civil War, and Reconstructi

MathEnglishScienceHistoryGeographyArtMusicHealthTechnology
K123456789101112

36 weeks, 72 lessons, in 9 units. Every school and state does it a little differently, so think of this as the usual path.

Thinking Like a Historian and First Peoples

Children learn how we know about the past and how the first peoples of North America lived in different regions, which builds the base for all later US history.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.His.1.3-5, D2.His.3.3-5, D2.Geo.2.3-5; NCSS Theme 1: Culture
  1. Week 1: What historians do: primary and secondary sourcesAt home: Find an old photo or letter at home and talk about what it tells you about the past and who made it.
  2. Week 1: Reading timelines and maps of early AmericaAt home: Make a simple timeline of your own life on a strip of paper with 5 big events in order.
  3. Week 2: The first peoples arrive in the AmericasAt home: Look at a world map and trace with your finger how people may have traveled into North America.
  4. Week 2: Native peoples of the Northwest CoastAt home: Talk about how living near an ocean and forests would change what you eat, build, and wear.
  5. Week 3: Native peoples of the Southwest: the PuebloAt home: Discuss why homes made of clay and stone suit a hot, dry place, then compare them to your home's materials.
  6. Week 3: Native peoples of the Great PlainsAt home: Ask your child how people might use one animal for food, clothing, and tools without wasting anything.
  7. Week 4: The Haudenosaunee of the Eastern WoodlandsAt home: Talk about a time your family made a decision together and how a group of nations could do the same.
  8. Week 4: Cahokia: a great city of the Mississippi RiverAt home: Sketch a map of a busy river city and mark where markets, homes, and farms might go.

Exploration and Early Settlement

Children learn why Europeans crossed the ocean, what happened when worlds met, and how the first lasting settlements began.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.His.2.3-5, D2.His.3.3-5, D2.Geo.6.3-5; NCSS Theme 3: People, Places, and Environments
  1. Week 5: Why Europeans wanted new trade routesAt home: Find spices in your kitchen and talk about why people once traveled far to get them.
  2. Week 5: Columbus's voyages and their effects on Native peoplesAt home: Use a map to follow Columbus's route and talk about how the same event looked different to Europeans and to Native peoples.
  3. Week 6: The Columbian Exchange: foods, animals, and diseasesAt home: Check your pantry for foods that came from the Americas, such as potatoes, corn, tomatoes, or chocolate.
  4. Week 6: Spanish explorers and the founding of St. AugustineAt home: Find Florida on a map and point out why a fort on the coast was useful.
  5. Week 7: French explorers, Champlain, and the fur tradeAt home: Talk about what a trade is, then practice trading two household items fairly.
  6. Week 7: Jamestown: the first lasting English settlementAt home: Make a list of 5 things you would need to survive in a new place with no stores.
  7. Week 8: The Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and the Mayflower CompactAt home: Write a short family agreement with 3 rules everyone agrees to, like the Mayflower Compact.
  8. Week 8: The Wampanoag and the PilgrimsAt home: Discuss how the Wampanoag shared farming knowledge and how cooperation can help neighbors.

Life in the Thirteen Colonies

Children compare the three colonial regions, learn about daily life, and see how colonists began governing themselves, while also learning honestly about slavery.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.His.1.3-5, D2.Eco.3.3-5, D2.Civ.1.3-5; NCSS Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
  1. Week 9: New England colonies: Puritans, towns, and fishingAt home: Find New England on a map and talk about why fishing and shipbuilding grew there.
  2. Week 9: Middle colonies: farms, trade, and William PennAt home: Talk about why people of many backgrounds living together can make a place stronger.
  3. Week 10: Southern colonies: farms and plantationsAt home: Look at a map to see where the Southern colonies were and why a warm climate helped crops grow.
  4. Week 10: How slavery began in the English coloniesAt home: Talk calmly about fairness and freedom, and why enslaved people had no say in their own lives.
  5. Week 11: Colonial trades: blacksmith, printer, and farmerAt home: Pick a job from the past and explain what tools and skills it needed.
  6. Week 11: Colonial children: school, chores, and gamesAt home: Try a colonial game like jacks or hoops, or do a chore without any electronics.
  7. Week 12: Women's work and roles in the coloniesAt home: Ask an older relative how household work has changed, then compare it to colonial times.
  8. Week 12: Colonial self-government: town meetings and assembliesAt home: Hold a short family meeting where everyone gets one vote on a simple choice, like dinner.

The Road to Revolution

Children learn how disagreements about taxes and power between Britain and the colonies grew into a push for independence.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.His.3.3-5, D2.His.14.3-5, D2.Civ.14.3-5; NCSS Theme 6: Power, Authority, and Governance
  1. Week 13: The French and Indian War and its costsAt home: Talk about how a big expense, like a family trip, can lead to new rules about money.
  2. Week 13: The Proclamation of 1763At home: Trace the Appalachian Mountains on a map and discuss why settlers wanted to move west.
  3. Week 14: The Stamp Act and "no taxation without representation"At home: Explain in your own words what it means to have a voice in decisions that affect you.
  4. Week 14: The Boston Massacre and how people told the storyAt home: Have two family members describe the same event differently, then talk about why accounts can differ.
  5. Week 15: The Boston Tea PartyAt home: Discuss whether protest is a good way to be heard and what other ways people can speak up.
  6. Week 15: The Intolerable Acts and the First Continental CongressAt home: Talk about why leaders from different places might meet to solve a shared problem.
  7. Week 16: Patriots, Loyalists, and neutral colonistsAt home: Make a pros and cons list for staying loyal to Britain versus seeking independence.
  8. Week 16: Lexington and Concord: the first shotsAt home: Read the first lines of "Concord Hymn" aloud and talk about the phrase "shot heard round the world."

The American Revolution

Children explore the ideas, people, and key events of the fight for independence and who was or was not included in its promises.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.His.1.3-5, D2.His.4.3-5, D2.His.6.3-5; NCSS Theme 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
  1. Week 17: The Second Continental Congress and George WashingtonAt home: Talk about what qualities make a good leader and which ones Washington showed.
  2. Week 17: Thomas Paine's Common SenseAt home: Write a short, clear paragraph to persuade a family member of something you believe.
  3. Week 18: The Declaration of Independence: its big ideasAt home: Read the line "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" aloud and explain each part in your own words.
  4. Week 18: "All men are created equal": who was left out?At home: Discuss why the words did not match reality for enslaved people, women, and Native peoples at the time.
  5. Week 19: Winter at Valley ForgeAt home: Talk about a hard time you got through by sticking with a team.
  6. Week 19: The Battle of Saratoga and the French allianceAt home: Discuss why having allies can help a smaller group, and how friends help in your own life.
  7. Week 20: Women, African Americans, and Native peoples in the warAt home: Learn one person like Deborah Sampson or James Armistead Lafayette and tell a family member their story.
  8. Week 20: Yorktown and the Treaty of ParisAt home: Find Yorktown on a map and talk about how the war finally ended.

Creating a New Government

Children see how the young nation tried a weak government, wrote the Constitution, and added protections for people's rights.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.Civ.1.3-5, D2.Civ.3.3-5, D2.Civ.6.3-5; NCSS Theme 6: Power, Authority, and Governance
  1. Week 21: The Articles of Confederation: a weak first planAt home: Imagine a family with no one in charge of rules and talk about what problems could come up.
  2. Week 21: The Constitutional Convention of 1787At home: Discuss why leaders met in secret, and how a group can solve disagreements by talking.
  3. Week 22: The Great CompromiseAt home: Practice a compromise by splitting a snack or choosing a game that gives each person something.
  4. Week 22: The three branches of governmentAt home: Draw a simple chart of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches and what each does.
  5. Week 23: Checks and balancesAt home: Make a family example where one person proposes, another approves, and another checks the rule is fair.
  6. Week 23: Federalists, Anti-Federalists, and the call for a Bill of RightsAt home: Talk about why people want promises written down to protect them.
  7. Week 24: The First Amendment: five freedomsAt home: Name the five freedoms (religion, speech, press, assembly, petition) and give a daily-life example of each.
  8. Week 24: George Washington as the first presidentAt home: Talk about why Washington's choice to leave office after two terms set a good example.

A Growing Nation

Children follow the country's expansion westward, new inventions, and how growth affected Native peoples and others.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.His.2.3-5, D2.Geo.2.3-5, D2.Eco.1.3-5; NCSS Theme 3: People, Places, and Environments
  1. Week 25: The Louisiana PurchaseAt home: Compare a map of the US before and after 1803 and notice how much the country grew.
  2. Week 25: Lewis and Clark and SacagaweaAt home: Pack an imaginary expedition bag with 5 items and explain why each is needed.
  3. Week 26: The War of 1812 and the Star-Spangled BannerAt home: Listen to or read the first verse of the national anthem and talk about the story behind it.
  4. Week 26: The Erie Canal and new ways to travelAt home: Discuss how rivers, canals, and roads make moving goods easier, and look for products near you that traveled far.
  5. Week 27: Factories, mills, and the cotton ginAt home: Check clothing tags to see where items were made and how that compares to homemade clothing in the past.
  6. Week 27: The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of TearsAt home: Talk about fairness and what it means when people are forced to leave their homes.
  7. Week 28: Pioneers on the Oregon TrailAt home: Plan a small wagon load of supplies and decide what you must leave behind.
  8. Week 28: The California Gold RushAt home: Look at a map to find California and talk about why people rushed there for a chance at wealth.

A Divided Nation and the Civil War

Children learn how slavery divided the country, how people worked for freedom, and the major turning points of the Civil War.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.His.1.3-5, D2.His.5.3-5, D2.His.14.3-5; NCSS Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
  1. Week 29: Life under slaveryAt home: Read an age-appropriate firsthand account together and talk about the courage and strength of enslaved families.
  2. Week 29: Abolitionists: Frederick Douglass and Harriet TubmanAt home: Choose one abolitionist and tell a family member why their work mattered.
  3. Week 30: The Underground RailroadAt home: Discuss how secret codes and helpers made escape possible, and why it took bravery.
  4. Week 30: How North and South grew apartAt home: Make a two-column chart comparing farming in the South with factories in the North.
  5. Week 31: Lincoln's election, secession, and Fort SumterAt home: Find the Union and Confederate states on a map and color them two different colors.
  6. Week 31: Union and Confederate soldiers: daily life in campAt home: Talk about how soldiers wrote letters home and write a short letter to a faraway friend.
  7. Week 32: The Emancipation ProclamationAt home: Read a few lines aloud and discuss what freedom would mean to people who had been enslaved.
  8. Week 32: Gettysburg and the Gettysburg AddressAt home: Read the first sentence of the Gettysburg Address and explain "four score and seven years ago" (87 years).

Reconstruction and Active Citizenship

Children learn how the nation worked to rebuild and expand rights, then study how government works today and how they can take part as citizens.

Standards: C3 Framework D2.Civ.2.3-5, D2.Civ.4.3-5, D2.Civ.10.3-5, D2.Civ.14.3-5; NCSS Theme 10: Civic Ideals and Practices
  1. Week 33: The war ends and the 13th Amendment abolishes slaveryAt home: Talk about what an amendment is and why the Constitution can be changed.
  2. Week 33: Reconstruction and the 14th and 15th AmendmentsAt home: Discuss what "equal protection" means and give a simple example of treating everyone fairly.
  3. Week 34: The women's rights movement: Seneca Falls to the voteAt home: Ask family members who they voted for or how they learned about voting, and why every vote counts.
  4. Week 34: Who can vote and why voting mattersAt home: Hold a family vote on a weekend activity and talk about how every voice is counted.
  5. Week 35: Rights and responsibilities of citizensAt home: List 3 rights and 3 responsibilities your family has at home or in your neighborhood.
  6. Week 35: Local, state, and federal governmentAt home: Find the names of your mayor, governor, and president and what each is in charge of.
  7. Week 36: How a bill becomes a lawAt home: Write a short "bill" for a family rule, then debate and vote on it.
  8. Week 36: Serving your community as a good citizenAt home: Pick one small act of service, like cleaning up a park or helping a neighbor, and do it this week.

Written with AI from what schools usually teach (like the Common Core for math and NGSS for science). Check your state's standards if you need to match them.