Social Studies in 5th Grade

History and geography are distinct fields of study in the fifth grade, although they should be linked whenever possible to what is being studied in language arts and in science. By fifth grade children are able to use several different kinds of maps. Further, they are able to use primary sources -- historical records, diaries, newspapers, and the like -- to enlarge their understanding of other people and other time periods; and they have had a fair amount of experience interviewing their parents and grandparents about other times.

These skills are enhanced during the intermediate grades as children continue to work with maps and primary documents, and as they become involved in active inquiry to answer questions they have posed.

At the same time, children are helped to frame historical questions in a more conceptual fashion: Why did that happen? What are the facts? What are the interpretations? What other possibilities were there? What were the effects? How do we know? How have things changed or stayed the same since then? Whose voice is not being heard?

The fifth grade curriculum concentrates on United States history and geography. But in the best classrooms, the social studies curriculum also continues to follow world events. Children in the intermediate and middle school years tend to be attracted to the mythic, and mythic stories can teach much about various peoples and cultures. Furthermore, the teacher uses the children's interests as the springboard for investigations into people's origins in Europe, Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Whenever possible, social studies also highlights legends, those mythical stories that have been handed down across the generations. Tales of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, Brer Rabbit, and Native American folk heroes, among others, are not only fascinating entertainment but offer excellent starting points for discussions of cultural traditions and historical eras.

Regarding American history, children generally study

• the geographic environment
• Native American inhabitants and their ways of life
• the European gentry
• the development of towns, cities, and governmental structures
• colonial life and the struggle for freedom.

Concepts such as freedom of religion and speech, liberty, justice, and democracy are closely examined. Teachers will want students to understand that Europe greatly influenced the development of the United States -- its culture, governmental institutions, educational practices, and values. But they will also want children to be aware that the United States has developed distinctive characteristics from the influence of the Native American peoples, the new and challenging physical environment, and the presence of a large population of Africans brought as slaves as well as of an ongoing flow of immigrants from Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico.

As part of their study of history, children will read biographies of people who influenced American history. They will also make more visits to historical sites and museums, and they will make a variety of personal investigations that might involve interviewing family and community members about past events, visiting a county courthouse to see old records, and the like. Teachers will foster the recognition that history is more than just a collection of facts and dates -- that it is the story of everyday life and ordinary people as well as of blockbuster events and famous individuals. Finally, teachers will encourage the children to read the daily newspaper, watch news on television, and talk regularly with their parents or guardians about local, state, national, and world events.

Reprinted from 101 Educational Conversations with Your 5th Grader by Vito Perrone, published by Chelsea House Publishers.
Copyright 1994 by Chelsea House Publishers, a division of Main Line Book Co. All rights reserved.