5th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 5th grade social studies in the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- Theme: Early American Studies
- The colonies, slavery and resistance
- The American Revolution
- The Constitution and the Bill of Rights
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
The Thirteen Colonies
Why the colonies were founded, how land and climate shaped the three regions, the people who founded them, the religious life of the colonies and the First Great Awakening, and early self-government such as the Mayflower Compact and the House of Burgesses.
Colonial Trade & Work
Resources, specialization and trade in the colonies, mercantilism, and the Atlantic slave trade and its impact on African peoples, told plainly and age-appropriately.
Road to Revolution
British taxes, colonial protests such as boycotts and the Boston Tea Party, the Continental Congresses, and why Loyalists and Patriots saw things differently.
The American Revolution
The Declaration of Independence and its ideals, key battles from Lexington to Yorktown, help from France and others, and the people of many backgrounds who shaped the war.
Building a Government
Why the Articles of Confederation were replaced, the compromises of 1787, the three branches, checks and balances, federalism and the Bill of Rights (1791).
Colonies to Constitution
Ordering events from Columbus to the Bill of Rights, including slavery and resistance, to see causes and effects over time.
Explorers & Encounters
Practices the religious, political and economic reasons Europeans sailed to the Americas, the explorers and the Indigenous nations they met, and what changed for both, read from maps and accounts of the time.
Slavery & Resistance
Practices the difference between indentured servitude and slavery, how enslaved people resisted slavery and kept and built their cultures, and free Black communities in early America.
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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards 5th grade social studies units include The Thirteen Colonies, Colonial Trade & Work, Road to Revolution, The American Revolution, Building a Government, Colonies to Constitution.
Free printable 5th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.