4th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 4th grade social studies in the Alabama Course of Study, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- Course: Alabama in American History and Government II: Colonies to 1900
- The colonies and the American Revolution
- Statehood and westward expansion
- The Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama
Easy ways to practice social studies at home
- Look at a map of your community and find places you visit.
- Ask an older relative or neighbor what the area was like when they were young.
- Read stories from many communities, including Indigenous authors, and talk about what is the same and different.
- Talk about how rules and jobs help a community work.
What each unit covers
States & Capitals
The capital cities of the 50 states, and major rivers, mountains and lakes of the United States.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877 as a bridge to high school US history: the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, Black officeholders, the violence that opposed them and how gains were later rolled back.
Colonial Regions & Work
The geography of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies, their founders, and colonial labor (apprenticeship, indentured servitude and slavery), with the triangular trade and the Middle Passage told plainly.
The American Revolution
The French and Indian War and the protests that followed, key battles and people of the Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the Spanish capture of Mobile, and the treaties that set the new nation's borders.
Building a Government
Why the Articles of Confederation were replaced, Shays' Rebellion and the Constitutional Convention's compromises, the three branches of government, the Bill of Rights and how amendments change the Constitution.
The Federal Road & the Creek War
The Louisiana Purchase and the Corps of Discovery, the Federal Road through Creek land, the War of 1812, and the causes, battles, leaders and results of the Creek War of 1813–1814 for the Muscogee (Creek) people and for Alabama.
Alabama Fever & Statehood
'Alabama fever' and statehood in 1819, Alabama's early leaders, why the capital moved from St. Stephens and Huntsville to Cahawba, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, early schools and colleges, and how Alabamians earned a living before 1860.
Cotton, Slavery & Removal
How cotton and slavery grew in Alabama, the lives, work and culture of enslaved people and the harm of the domestic slave trade, Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears, and the trails and technology of westward expansion. Told plainly.
Free States & Slave States
Sorting the states admitted between 1812 and 1860 into free and slave states, and the growing nation's trails and technology.
Alabama & the Civil War
How slavery divided the nation, abolitionists, the Clotilda, Alabama's role in forming the Confederacy and the Unionists of north Alabama, key battles in Alabama and the nation, the home front and the end of the war and slavery.
Reconstruction & the Late 1800s
Reconstruction in Alabama (the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, Black officeholders, new schools and Africatown), the Jim Crow laws, sharecropping and voting restrictions that followed, the rise of Birmingham and new industries, and US expansion after the Civil War.
Colonies to 1900 Timeline
Putting events from the colonies to 1900 in order, from Georgia's founding and the Revolution to Alabama statehood, the Civil War and Reconstruction.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Alabama report card guide.
Common questions
Look at a map of your community and find places you visit. Ask an older relative or neighbor what the area was like when they were young. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Alabama Course of Study 4th grade social studies units include States & Capitals, Reconstruction, Colonial Regions & Work, The American Revolution, Building a Government, The Federal Road & the Creek War.
Free printable 4th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.