5th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 5th grade social studies in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- United States history: the colonies, the Revolution and the Constitution
- The 19th century: expansion, the Civil War and Reconstruction; and the 20th and 21st centuries
- Geography and economics: regions, landforms, the 50 states, and the free enterprise system
- Government and citizenship: the three branches, the Bill of Rights, symbols and landmarks
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).
States & Capitals
The capital cities of the 50 states, and major rivers, mountains and lakes of the United States.
History Detective
Primary and secondary sources, timelines and centuries, fact and opinion, claims and evidence, and judging a source by its maker, date and purpose, using early American history.
A Growing Nation
The causes and effects of the War of 1812, the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark, Manifest Destiny, the Industrial Revolution and sectional conflict, and the immigrants and settlers who built the railroads and farmed the West. American Indian nations are described as living communities.
Civil War & Reconstruction
How the expansion of slavery caused sectionalism and the Civil War, the war's main events, Juneteenth in Galveston, Reconstruction, and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. Told factually.
America in the 20th & 21st Centuries
Industrialization and urbanization, the world wars, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, September 11 and the 2008 election, and the people and inventors the Texas standards name, from Susan B. Anthony and the Tuskegee Airmen to the Wright brothers and Neil Armstrong.
Symbols, Rights & Citizens
Patriotic and political symbols (Uncle Sam, the donkey and elephant), Labor Day, the history of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the meaning of the Pledge, the White House, the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore, federalism and checks and balances, the Bill of Rights, and how citizens take part.
Free Enterprise & Work
How the free enterprise system works and its benefits, supply and demand, how people in different regions earn a living, immigration and migration, and mass production, specialization and division of labor.
Mapping the United States
Regions of the United States, landforms and waterways such as the Appalachian Mountains, Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, large cities, and why people settle where they do.
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 Texas 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 Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) 5th grade social studies units include The Thirteen Colonies, Colonial Trade & Work, Road to Revolution, The American Revolution, Building a Government, States & Capitals.
Free printable 5th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.