S.S.

1 st Trimester:
-Items with * are on the CECA, ** items are on the ISATs/Standards & + means its on both
Introduction (folder in S.S. file cabinet)
o Explain +Daily Geography (Jackie Mitchell)
Pick up Atlas if needed
Do two each day (you wont always know the answers, well discuss them
togetherDO YOUR BEST, AT LEAST TRY!!)
Many items on this Daily Geography overlap with the CECA questions (cardinal
directions, compass rose, scale to measure distance, etc.)
o Pass out S.S. graphic organizers. Discuss/give examples of the 3 aspects of S.S.
Civics
History
Geography
o Do a S.S. pretest (an option from Jackie)
o Begin time capsules (make sure to explain that this fits into the history aspect of
S.S.its their personal history!
When completed, put into a gold manila folder (they can decorate them)
Put any pre-tests for other subjects in there as desired (L.A., math, S.S., etc,),
goal sheets (goals set as one of the first-day activities, then again after the new
year), and/or special projects (Experiences papers from L.A. unit 4),
Overview/Introduction (folder in S.S. file cabinet)
o Geography Introduction (p. H6-13)
**Continents, Oceans, Poles, Equator, Prime Meridian, & Tropic of
Cancer/Capricorn
Body Song to the tune of Are You Sleeping, Brother John? in this
order:
o North America (stick right arm out)
o Europe (pat chest)
o Asia (stick left arm out)
o Africa, Africa (say twice while patting stomach)
o South America (pat raised right thigh)
o Australia (pat raised left thigh)
Antarctica, Antarctica (say twice while stamping)
Identify S/N poles, Equator, Prime Meridian, & Tropics according to body
partsthen they can always have it with themits a cheat sheet J
o North pole (top of head)
o South pole (bottom of feet)
o Equator (waist)
o Prime Meridian (down the nose, splitting the body in two)
o Tropic of Cancer (above Equator, right at the chest where the lungs
are because you get lung cancer
o Tropic of Capricorn (below Equator, at kneecaps because its the
Tropic of Cap-ricorn
Worksheet to cover both oceans & continents as quiz or practice
+ Latitude/Longitude, Equator (0 degrees latitude) & Prime Meridian (0 degrees
longitude)
North & South (arms horizontally, latitude lines split the earth into northern
& southern pieces so-to-speakit has to do with the position of the
equator)

East & West (arms vertically, longitude lines split the earth into eastern &
southern pieces so-to-speakit has to do with the position of the prime
meridian)
Worksheetdo explanation with overhead & do several if not the entire
first side together. Do the back (the riddles) individually
This is a tough concept for them & should be revisited!!
+Regions of the United States (can be done out of order right after Lat/Long. or
can be done a bit later in order with how the book goes p.24-30)
Intro: Fit to be Tied activity (in file cabinet folder)
Regions PowerPoint to lead into Regions project
o Follow directions on Regions of the United States wksht.
o Map to be Region-colored & stickers (printed off on 4x6 labels)
put in corresponding regions according to discussion & book info.
(Wkshts In file cabinet folder & also in S.S. computer files)
-Ryan Durfee developed the idea & I did the PowerPoint in case
of questions
DVD Scrambled States of America before or after as an option
**Resources & Environment (can be done out of order or a bit later along with
how the book goes p. 34-38)
o History Introduction (p.6-11)
+ American Symbols
Benjamin Franklin makes a visit to discuss +E Pluribus Unum &
introduce the symbols of America
Can watch purple US Symbols DVD before or after as an option to
reinforce the concepts
Symbols booklet
o Using books from the library & the internet, research those symbols
in the booklet, put two facts about each of them on the back, color
the front & staple it together
o Civics Introduction (p.14-22)
+ Direct Democracy vs. Democratic Republic
**Free Enterprise
Definition worksheet (p.7)
**Supply/Demand Auction activity
o AWESOME! Talk to Ryan Durfee or Jenna for explanation
o Overview Review & Test

Unit 1: Early Life, East & West

o Chapter 1: Life in the Western Hemisphere
Lesson 1: Migration to the Americas
Bering Strait (wooly mammoths & hunters reenactment crossing The
Bering Strait w/ a few props/costumesdone as an anticipatory set)
Lesson 2: Early American Culture & Lesson 3: The Rise of Empires
Had groups of students each research a group of people (books from
library, & the wksht has the pp. #s in book that correlate) & fill out the
preview worksheet on their group. Then each presented their information
on their specific group as the class filled in that info. on their wksht. Study
Guide For Early Americans (in S.S., Unit 1 computer file)
o Mound Builders p.60-61, Anasazi p. 62-63, Maya p. -67, 70-71,
Aztecs & Inca p.68-71, Iroquois p.76-80, Cheyenne p. 82-85 & Hopi
p. 88-91 & Inuit p.64 (usually I do this one to model how it should
be done)
o Chapter 2 (cont. of Early American study guide): Native Americans of N. America

Lesson 1: The Eastern Woodlands, Lesson 2: The Great Plains, Lesson 3: The
Southwest Desert, Lesson 4: The Northwest Coast
+Discussion on Tribes, The Iroquois League, & reservations
Culmination/Assessment project: Groups paint clay pots according to
characteristics of their group, & then break them, put them in a bag & trade bags
to let each group be archeologists & put together the artifacts with Elmers glue
& then be able to guess which groups pot they have based on the study guide
they filled out & the clues that are on the pot
o Chapter 3: Life in the Eastern Hemispheres
Lesson 1: Traveling Asias Silk Road
Marco Polo visits & takes students on a field trip down the Silk Road to
show them what he found (I dressed up & brought lots of stuff & had it set
up on a table down the hall)
Lesson 2: Africas Trading Empire
Brought in salt & a bit of gold to talk about the value of both in those time
periods
Wksht to finish up with Marco Polo & Africas trading empire Marco &
Africa-explorersin S.S. Unit 1 computer file folder
Lesson 3: European Explorers
3 students to dress up as explorers & read the poems other 5th graders
have written about themdone as an anticipatory set, Explorers
Columbus in S.S. Unit 1 computer file folder
Explorer Cube as an option Checklist for Cubein S.S. Unit 1 computer
file folder (Julie Lauritsen)
Did Columbus from Unit 2 here under Explorers
o Columbian Exchange in action at home wkshtin S.S. file folder
(got it from Mrs. Mitchell)
o Mrs. Mitchell & Lewis do a play on Columbus that reinforces
several things about him
o Unit 1 study guide & test

Unit 2: Connections Across Continents Note that from here on out I dont have all of the
symbols perfectly correct as to what is on the CECA vs. the ISATs and/or both.
o Chapter 4: Spain Builds an Empire
Lesson 1: The Voyages of Christopher Columbus
Did Columbus w/ Unit 1, Chapter 3, Lesson 3 w/ all the other explorers
Lesson 2: Different Worlds Collide & 3: Life in New Spain
Did an anticipatory set where Cortes met up with the Aztecs
Briefly go over this material just enough to get us to the events in
Jamestown
o Chapter 5: The Struggle to Found Colonies
Lesson 1: Hard Times in Virginia
+Did 3 lessons on Roanoke, The Spanish Armada & Jamestownin S.S.
file folder complete with a carved log, a battle, & an interactive
experience/packet w/ becoming a colonist & sailing to the new world
(Raquel Rowland did these lessons too).
+House of Burgesses
Did a test here on Explorers & Jamestown (in S.S. file folder)
Lesson 2: New European Colonies
+Northwest Passage
Go over all the colonies that were comingnot just from England!
Lesson 3: The First Colonies

Did a Pilgrim Preview wksht that covered many items that are on
CECAs/ISATs/Standards (in S.S. file folder)
Comic wkshtin S.S. file folder
Watched Charlie Brown Mayflower/Thanksgiving movie
+Mayflower Compact
Lesson 4: The 13 English Colonies
13 Colonies S.S. file folder for activities
o Purple DVD in library good option for colonial review before quiz
OR as an intro. to Box T.V. project
o Box T.V. Put students into 3 groups to research the 3 colonial
regions, New England, Middle, & Southern. They must answer the
questions on the wksht (in the folder), then create 2 slides on the
11x17 white paper provided. Then the teacher tapes all the groups
slides together, attaches it to 2 large dowels, rolls it all up & puts it
into the box at the top & bottom to create a rolling slide show of all
the students work. They then come present when their group is up.
The other students color the 13 colonies map & draw at least 2
resources from each region as they listen. Use resources map on
p. 205
o 13 colonies location quiz (optional, I do one later when I do the
entire U.S. states & capitals)

2 nd Trimester:

Unit 3: Colonial Life in America

Chapter 6: Life in the English Colonies
Lesson 1: Working & Trading Lesson 2: Cities, Towns & Farms & Lesson 3:
Everyday Life in the Colonies
Went over briefly the Colonial jobs, +apprentices/artisans, etc. brought in
info. from Lesson 3
+Great Awakening/Religious reform
*Showed Ben Franklin cartoon (movie in library)
Compare/Contrast (you can use hula hoops taped to the board to use as a
3D Venn diagram & there is a wksht to do the compare/contrast in S.S. file
folder & on the computer) Colonial Towns vs. Southern Plantations
Talked about colonial trade, the trade routes
COLONIAL DAY! (got in some of the colonial life details from Lessons 1
& 3 during this day)
o See S.S. file folder for all the details
Lesson 4: Slavery in the Colonies
+Slavery from Lesson 1 p. 206 & Lesson 4 p. 224-227S.S. file folder
o Talk to Ryan Durfee if you want the awesome slavery lesson that I
did (students come in & pretend theyre on a slave ship, can take a
bite of raw yamsthe only food givenand see the transparency
of the trade route, what the ship looked like with slaves on it, & hear
me read real accounts of slaves). I closed with a few clips from the
DVD Amazing Grace. This is a very sobering lesson & hits the kids
pretty hard.
Group test on slavery/regions of the coloniesin S.S. file folder
Chapter 7: The Fight for a Continent
Lesson 1: The Spanish Move North
Anticipatory set: students act out the scenario on p. 232 (play typed up in
S.S. computer folder, copy in file folder)
Spanish vs. Pueblo people

Lesson 2: French Explore the Mississippi

The Mississippi River, trading posts & transportation
*Founding Louisiana (Robert La Salle, claiming it for King Louis, & all the
Mississippi River/its tributaries, but not enough people to defend that
much area, later one of the problems that led to French/Indian War)
Lesson 3: The French & Indian War
The French & Indian War (the start of the portfolio project explained
belowthe first domino in that project!)
Intro. to George Washington
o I took info from George Washington: Spymaster & other books in
the library to give them a good glimpse into what he was like, what
he was known for, & how he was revered. I also show them
pictures from my D.C. trip (his actual suit of clothes, Mt. Vernon,
etc.)
British Victory: the map on p. 250 how much land changed ownership over
13 years
Pontiacs Rebellion (bring up that this is where we get the name of the
Pontiac car)
Unit 4: The American Revolution
Chapter 8: The Road to War

Lesson 1: Trouble over Taxes

Revolution Begins

Lesson 2: The Colonists Rebel, Lesson 3: The

Chapter 9: Winning the Revolution

Lesson 1: Declaring Independence, Lesson 2: Patriots at War, Lesson 3: The
World Turned Upside Down
Did the Scholastic portfolio project for The American Revolution & it is awesome! It
covers SO much & I just added things here & there while going through the info as it
delineatesalmost all the same info is in our S.S. books (Julie does this, you can ask
her if you have any questions)
Explained the event one day, did the project for the event the next (takes about 2
months). I had them do each project on a specifically assigned color of
construction paper so it was easier for them & me to refer to them.
Analyze & discuss Boston Massacre engraving (posters in groups)=1st major
propaganda in America (Jackie Mitchell does a great job with this too, you can
talk to her if youre curious)
Boston Tea Party mini-play (in the back of the American Revolution book)
Its a good idea to have students hand in their projects as they go (you keep
them in a box in the classroom) & for you to keep a running list of just hand-in
points. Either you or a well-trained couple of students can hole-punch them as
you go or in one big session. They also do a front page. Then at the end we take
a whole day to hand all the projects out, put them in order, & thread yarn through
them.

3 rd Trimester:

Unit 5: Life in a New Nation

o Chapter 10: Forming a New Government
Lesson 1: A Weak Government
+Intro. to the 3 branches of Government
+The Articles of Confederation: the first laws, after awhile they didnt work
well enough to run a growing country so

o Do a student mock welcome to the making of the Articles of

Confederation
Students have to come up with rules/laws (& how theyll be
enforced) they think they will need to make their new country
thrive
Problems:
o Inflation
o Shays Rebellion
+The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Lesson 2: Debate in Philadelphia
The Constitutional Convention
o Showed clips from Video/DVD We The People as an intro to The
Virginia Plan vs. The New Jersey Plan
o +The Great Compromise (wksht: Proposed Plans for Our New
Government in S.S. file/computer folders to go along with this)
o Mr. Durfee does an awesome mock Constitutional Convention
called Eefrud if you want to talk w/ him about it (in S.S. file folder)
o +The Preamble
Song: School House Rock or Album: Take Your Hat Off by
Janeen Brady Song: The Preamble to help the students
memorize it a little each day
Hand actions/sign language (in S.S. file folder)
o +The Three Branches of Government
Album: Take Your Hat Off by Janeen Brady Song: Checks
& Balances
Packets of info/transparencies on the 3 branches of govt. in
S.S. File Folder
Printed off a list of actual representatives for all the states
when we talked about the House of Representatives & they
wondered how many each state had (in S.S. file folder)
3 branches of govt mobile (option)
3 branches of govt house (optionget from Jackie Mitchell)
Lesson 3: Ratifying the Constitution
+Federalists vs. Antifederalists & how political parties started (more about
that later)
o Wksht p. 82 & 84 from text (did on an overhead as a class)
+The Bill of Rights
o Talk about how the Constitution wasnt perfect, the founding fathers
soon saw they needed more laws, or amendments, which we still
add to today as needed
o Rap:
Put students into partners & they each took one to do as a
rap in front of the class to introduce them to what each
amendment was about
o Have them memorize the first 3, I did mini-actions to help them
remember:
First: Hold up 1st finger for first amendment & make
a cross for freedom of religion, then 1st finger to lips
for freedom of speech, & then 1st finger pressed on
other 1st finger on other hand for freedom of the
press

Second: Hold up first 2 fingers for 2nd amendment

like a gun & sling them over your shoulder for the right
to bear arms
Third: Hold up first 3 fingers for 3rd amendment & do
the stop sign by pushing hand away from your body
for limits quartering of soldiers
o Give scenarios to have students guess which amendment which
protect that person (wkshts in S.S. file folder)
One year I also did Mock Court Cases & we performed them in full
costumes to the parents at the Courthouse in Rexburg (scripts in S.S. file
folder)
o Did The Unit 5 Review/Test here before going into Westward Expansion
o Chapter 11: The Young United States (I put this with Unit 6 info)
Chapter 11 & 12 (wksht in S.S. computer file folder)
Lesson 1: Washington as President
President Washington
+Electoral Colleges
Further discussion on the evolution of political parties
How Washington D.C. came to be & got its name
Lesson 2: Jefferson Looks West
Brief discussion about Jefferson, moving west, Lewis & Clark, Sacagawea
etc.
Louisiana Purchase (have a video in Media Computer file of the actual
document of the Louisiana Purchase)
Lesson 3: Another War with Britain (wksht. In S.S. file folder)
Anticipatory Set of students acting out the scenario on p. 380
o +What was the war really about? Control over sea ports
War of 1812: 10 min. video on Youtube from the History Channel &
students had to write a summary sentence every 2 minutes of the video
+Francis Scott Key: How the Star Spangled Banner came to be
This is where I started my states & capitals. I did an intro/filled out maps one day, then
just took a quiz every Friday for the next four Fridays. We played Around the World
once or twice a week & I gave them a website, blank maps, & access to wipe off maps to
study from, but didnt spend any other in-class time on it. I also made sure to send
notes home to parents informing them how important it was for their students to study
& then sent home S.S. progress reports (w/ their grade highlighted if it was a C or
below) after the 2nd quiz to show them how it really can affect their grades (some
students really struggle with studying & after FOUR quizzes it can really plummet their
grades to the depths of no return!)

Unit 6: A Growing Nation

(Option Play: California Here We Come started it at the first of this unit, doing a song a day in
S.S., practices in the morning & then 2 weeks before basically devoting to the play during S.S.
time)
o Chapter 12: Times of Change
Lesson 1: The United States Turns Fifty
Made a big construction paper puzzle to review the info. after teaching this
lesson
o James Monroe: nationalism
o General Andrew Jackson: hero from War of 1812, attacked FL in
1817
o Sold FL for $5 million
o +The Monroe Doctrine: no European nations interfering with us!

o Andrew Jackson president

o Suffrage for white males
o Indian Removal Act
o Trail of Tears & Martin Van Buren, 1838
+Lesson 2: A New Kind of Revolution
Anticipatory set of bringing in a bunch of objects that have to do with
technology, assembly line-type goods & ask students what they all have in
common (theyre inventions to make our lives easierlater bring in the
fact that it was during this time that the assembly line was discovered by
Ford & that really sped up the process of producing goods)
Timeline of Modern Inventions (document in S.S. computer file folder)
+Slideshow of inventions & quiz (in S.S. computer file folder)
o +Railroad increased transportation time across land
Showed real pictures from my trip to D.C. of objects in a Smithsonian
museum of some of the first inventions made during the Industrial
Revolution
Activity: Assembly-line, inline skates (activity in S.S. file folder), or you do
a simplified version of this with making paper airplanes. Have one or two
students make the entire plane, & then have a small group of students
make the planes, but they each do only one step of the process & pass it
on. Time them to see who is faster.
Lesson 3: The Struggle for Reforms
Posed 3 questions on the board to get a good discussion going & it was
awesome! I played both sides, just asking questions (
o What does reform mean? Awakening?
o Do you think people should be allowed to drink alcohol?
o Why do you think people have religion? Whats it for?
+Talked about the 4 big reforms that came from The Great Awakening:
o Religion
o Temperance
o +Slavery
Had books about Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman &
Sojourner Truth & briefly talked about some of their
contributions
o Womens Rights
o Chapter 13: People Moving West
Lesson 1: The Story of Texas
Explain/discuss The Alamo
o Youtube video: Remember the Alamo! Davy Crockett series
Explain/discuss The Mexican War Annexation & Manifest Destiny
o Youtube video: Westward Expansion: The Mexican-American War
Lesson 2: Trails to the West & Lesson 3:The Golden StateBrief Intro before
I had students do a project to get through these 3 lessons in a hurry
o In teacher-assigned groups students had to create a poster
convincing settlers that they should come to either Texas (p.430436), Oregon (p.438-441), or California (p.442-445) based on what
they read about in the book
o The criteria included:
1. A catchy slogan in big letters with lots of colorsomething to
catch the eye of the passer-by and also to give them an
idea of how great it would be if they chose their destination
(i.e. Californiathe Golden State of Opportunity!)
2. 3 listed reasons of why people would want to go there

3. A fabulous picture depicting the landscape/views of things

they could expect to see there.
They were on yellow/brown 11x17 paper to make them look older & then
they were mounted on black construction paper
Unit 7: A Growing Nation (did Civil War packet, pulling info. from the book & videos from
online. Also read a chapter from Choose Your Own Adventure Bunker Hill book from library
as we went & let them vote on which path we would follow each time)
o Chapter 14: A Divided Nation
Lesson 1: North & South Grow Apart Lesson 2: Resisting Slavery & Lesson 3:
The Struggle Over Slavery
North vs. South: On the Eve of War wksht or book Lesson 1 worksheet
A bit more about slavery from the book
The Missouri Compromise w/ map on p.477 & then on p. 479
Bleeding Kansas
Lincoln getting elected president
o He did NOT enter the war with the intent to abolish slaveryit was
solely to keep the United States together. Abolishment came later.
Lesson 4: The First Shots Are Fired & Lesson 1: The Early Stages of the War
First shots
Border states
Advantages vs. Disadvantages (wksht: The North vs. South Strategies)
Read from our Bunker Hill book while they filled out A Civil War Map
wksht
o Chapter 15: War & Reconstruction
Lesson 1: The Early Stages of the War (partially combined with Lesson 4
above) Lesson 2: Life During the War
Read Bunker Hill while they did Life During War & The War is Fought
wkshts in their packets
Previewed battles by small intro & Youtube video: Civil War Media Map
Filled in boxes of battles as a class while also labeling them on their map
in their packets
Lesson 3: How the North Won Lesson 4: The End of Slavery
Reviewed Picketts Charge in the book
Finished up by watching part of selections of Gettysburg (the last major
battle) on Youtube from Selections: 1,3,4&5
Had a discussion on war, purposes ofIs it glorious, or just gory? Is it
worth it? What makes it worth it? What causes are worth dying for? When
is enough enough? When do we surrender? Or should we?
Also, great little Youtube video about reconstruction: Civil War
Reconstruction
Could certainly do more to get to the rest of the end of the war, but
Ive just been so in a rush just to get that far every year, so thats
where Ive ended it thus far.
Unit 8: Expansion & Change & 9: The United States & the World No one has ever gotten to
them