Resources to Meet the New Fourth Grade Social Studies Standards

Fourth Grade Curriculum 

We are close to finishing our fourth grade curriculum. Drafts of the curriculum, including chapters from the student textbook, have been published online and are available for download. While these are still subject to revision, they are all ready to teach and (mostly) classroom tested.

The student textbook, Montana: A History of Our Home, will go to print soon and should be available for purchase by January 2022.   

The curriculum is learner-centered, rather than textbook-centered, and focused on actively engaging students. Activities include games, analyzing primary sources, exploring points of view, graphing, and mapping. The lessons tap into multiple disciplines--art, ELA, and math--to engage students in analyzing history and constructing knowledge. 

Looking for Folks to Test a Few Final Lessons 

Before I print the teacher's guide, I need to test a few lessons. If you have an hour or two between now and October 15 to test a lesson on the 1972 Constitution, on What Governments Do, and on Tribal Sovereignty, please email me.   

We added these new lessons to help teachers to meet the new fourth-grade social studies civics standards: 

• SS.CG.4.3. Describe how rules, laws, and policies are implemented by local, state, national, and tribal governments;
• SS.CG.4.4. Define sovereignty for tribes in Montana; and
• SS.CG.4.5. Identify key foundational documents in Montana's government.

More on the Fourth Grade Standards 

The rest of the curriculum aligns extremely well with the geography and history standards, and, of course, with the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians. 

I'm really excited about the new history standards, and with this curriculum, fourth grade students should be be able to meet every one: 

• SS.H.4.1. Understand tribes in Montana have their own unique histories (Units 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)
• SS.H.4.2. Identify events and policies that have impacted and been influenced by tribes in Montana (Units 2, 3, 4, 5)
• SS.H.4.3. Explain how Montana has changed over time given its cultural diversity and how this history impacts the present (Units 2-6); and 
• SS.H.4.4. Describe how historical accounts are impacted by individual perspectives (Units 3, 4, and 5)

The curriculum also aligns well with all of the new geography standards:

• SS.G.4.1. Examine maps and other representations to explain the movement of people (Unit 1, 2, 3, 4, 6)
• SS.G.4.2. Identify and label the tribes in Montana and their indigenous territories, and current locations (Units 1, 2, and 5)
• SS.G.4.3. Investigate the physical, political, and cultural characteristics of places, regions, and people in Montana (Units 1, 3, 4, and 5)
• SS.G.4.4. Analyze environmental and technological events and conditions and how humans and the environment impact each other with relation to settlements and migration in Montana (Units 1, 3 and 4)

And the new fourth-grade economics standards:  

• SS.E.4.2 identify basic elements of Montana's state economic system; including agriculture, business, natural resources, and labor; and
• SS.E.4.3 identify various resources and labor that are used to provide goods and services in Montana.  

Since we're nothing if not interdisciplinary, most lessons also align with many of the ELA standards AND some even align with art and math lessons as well.  

I hope you find these resources useful, and of course, I'm always happy to talk with teachers about these or any other resources, the new standards, and anything else that's on your mind.