4th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 4th grade social studies in the New York State Learning Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- New York State: its land, maps and the Haudenosaunee and Algonquian-speaking peoples
- Colonial and revolutionary New York, and how the state and local governments work
- The fight for freedom and rights, the Erie Canal and New York's industries
- Immigration and migration, from Ellis Island to today
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
New York's Land & Maps
Reading physical, political and climate maps of New York State: the Adirondacks and Catskills, the Hudson, Mohawk and St. Lawrence rivers, the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes, Long Island Sound, Albany and the largest cities, and the states and country that border New York.
Haudenosaunee & Algonquian Peoples
The Haudenosaunee (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora) and Algonquian-speaking peoples such as the Lenape, Mohican, Shinnecock and Unkechaug: how they used the land, longhouses and wigwams, the Three Sisters, clans and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and nations in New York today. Light, in the present tense, and with nothing sacred or ceremonial.
Explorers & New Netherland
Verrazzano, Hudson and Champlain, the Dutch fur trade and New Netherland, the English takeover in 1664, Dutch words and place names that last today, and the many peoples of colonial New York, including free and enslaved Africans.
Wars for New York
The French and Indian War and its battles in New York, why the colonies broke with Britain, Patriots and Loyalists, the Battle of Long Island and the turning point at Saratoga, and the sides Haudenosaunee nations and African Americans took.
Governing New York
The three branches of the federal government, the New York State Constitution, the governor, Senate and Assembly in Albany, how a bill becomes a law, the state seal, counties, cities, towns, villages and boroughs, and citizens' rights and responsibilities.
Freedom & Rights
Slavery in New York and its end in 1827, abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Samuel Cornish, the Underground Railroad, the Seneca Falls Convention and the fight for women's right to vote, and New York's part in the Civil War.
The Erie Canal
Moving west after the Revolution, corduroy roads and turnpikes, the Erie Canal (opened 1825) and the towns that grew along it, its effect on the Haudenosaunee, and steamboats, railroads, the telegraph and later ways to travel and communicate.
Making & Earning in New York
Farming, mining, lumbering and finance in New York, inventors and entrepreneurs such as Lewis Latimer, Thomas Jennings, Willis Carrier and Elisha Otis, the growth of factories from 1865 to 1915, and today's service and high-technology jobs.
Coming to New York
Why people came to New York (push and pull factors), Irish immigration after the potato famine, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, tenements and neighborhoods, the Great Migration and Harlem, and newcomers from around the world today. Factual and neutral.
New York Through Time
Ordering events in New York's history, from Hudson's voyage and New Netherland to the Revolution, the Erie Canal, Seneca Falls, Ellis Island and the 1900s.
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 New York 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 New York State Learning Standards 4th grade social studies units include New York's Land & Maps, Haudenosaunee & Algonquian Peoples, Explorers & New Netherland, Wars for New York, Governing New York, Freedom & Rights.
Free printable 4th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.