Social Studies in the Fifth Grade

United States History and world events

The fifth grade curriculum concentrates on United States history and geography. But in the best classrooms, the social studies curriculum also continues to follow world events. Children in the intermediate and middle school years tend to be attracted to the mythic, and mythic stories can teach much about various peoples and cultures. Furthermore, the teacher uses the children's interests as the springboard for investigations into people's origins in Europe, Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Whenever possible, social studies also highlights legends, those mythical stories that have been handed down across the generations. Tales of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, Brer Rabbit, and Native American folk heroes, among others, are not only fascinating entertainment but offer excellent starting points for discussions of cultural traditions and historical eras.

Regarding American history, children generally study

• the geographic environment
• Native American inhabitants and their ways of life
• the European gentry
• the development of towns, cities, and governmental structures
• colonial life and the struggle for freedom.

Concepts such as freedom of religion and speech, liberty, justice, and democracy are closely examined. Teachers will want students to understand that Europe greatly influenced the development of the United States -- its culture, governmental institutions, educational practices, and values. But they will also want children to be aware that the United States has developed distinctive characteristics from the influence of the Native American peoples, the new and challenging physical environment, and the presence of a large population of Africans brought as slaves as well as of an ongoing flow of immigrants from Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico.

As part of their study of history, children will read biographies of people who influenced American history. They will also make more visits to historical sites and museums, and they will make a variety of personal investigations that might involve interviewing family and community members about past events, visiting a county courthouse to see old records, and the like. Teachers will foster the recognition that history is more than just a collection of facts and dates -- that it is the story of everyday life and ordinary people as well as of blockbuster events and famous individuals. Finally, teachers will encourage the children to read the daily newspaper, watch news on television, and talk regularly with their parents or guardians about local, state, national, and world events.

Reprinted from 101 Educational Conversations with Your 5th Grader by Vito Perrone, published by Chelsea House Publishers.
Copyright 1994 by Chelsea House Publishers, a division of Main Line Book Co. All rights reserved.