5th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 5th 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 III: Twentieth Century to Present
- The Progressive Era and the world wars
- The Great Depression and the New Deal
- The Civil Rights Movement, Alabama in space, and today
Easy ways to practice social studies at home
- Follow a current event together and ask who is affected and why people see it differently.
- Build a timeline of a family event or a historical topic they are studying.
- Use an atlas or online map to trace a trade or travel route.
- Ask “Whose voice is missing from this story?” when reading about the past.
What each unit covers
Industry & Inventors
How industry and farming grew in the early 1900s: Birmingham's iron and steel, textiles and timber, growing cities, and inventors and entrepreneurs, including Alabamians George Washington Carver and Mary Anderson.
The Progressive Era
Progressive Era reforms in Alabama and the nation: women's suffrage, the 1901 Constitution and the poll taxes and literacy tests it used to take away votes, prison, school and labor reform, Helen Keller, and immigration and the Great Migration.
World War I
Why the United States entered World War I, the Allies and Central Powers, and how Alabamians served, from the 167th Infantry and James Reese Europe to training camps and the Port of Mobile.
Boom, Bust & the New Deal
Alabamians in the arts and sports of the 1920s, the boll weevil and low cotton prices, the 1929 crash and the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and New Deal programs and leaders, including the TVA and the CCC in Alabama.
World War II
Why the United States entered World War II, democracy and totalitarianism, major events from Pearl Harbor to VJ Day (including the Holocaust and the internment of Japanese Americans), the Tuskegee Airmen and other units, and Alabama's bases, factories and workers.
The Civil Rights Movement
Key events, methods, leaders and foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama and the nation, from Brown v. Board and the Montgomery Bus Boycott to Birmingham 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery march, and how opponents tried to stop it. Told plainly.
The Cold War & the Rocket City
Why the United States worked to contain communism, the Korean and Vietnam Wars and Alabamians in them, and the Space Race, with Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
Modern Alabama
Life after World War II and Alabamians who shaped American culture, conflicts since 1990, Alabama's changing economy and world trade, the benefits and drawbacks of new technology, and civil rights milestones since 1970.
Twentieth Century Timeline
Putting events from 1900 to today in order, from the 1901 Constitution and the world wars to the Civil Rights Movement, the Space Race and the twenty-first century.
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
Follow a current event together and ask who is affected and why people see it differently. Build a timeline of a family event or a historical topic they are studying. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Alabama Course of Study 5th grade social studies units include Industry & Inventors, The Progressive Era, World War I, Boom, Bust & the New Deal, World War II, The Civil Rights Movement.
Free printable 5th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.