What to expect:

 

Students at this age are becoming more independent learners. They are able to come up with questions to guide their learning and can understand different perspectives and how issues are connected. Fifth-graders will study the history of the United States, beginning with the settlement of Virginia at Jamestown in 1607 and concluding with the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

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By the end of the school year, 5th-grade students will:

 

• Examine the reasons and motivations for English exploration and settlement in Jamestown, Va., and Plymouth, Mass., and later in other colonies.

• Compare the three colonial regions and how members of different social classes experienced daily life.

• Examine the cause and effect of significant events leading to armed conflict between the colonies and Great Britain.

• Explain why the ideals of equality, inalienable rights and consent of the governed were established in the Declaration of Independence.

• Analyze the significant military and diplomatic events of the Revolutionary War and the contributions of key individuals and groups.

• Examine the issues and events the young nation encountered that led to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

• Determine the main purposes of the U.S. government in the Preamble and the Constitution of the United States and summarize the liberties protected in the Bill of Rights.

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Course Objectives:

 

1. In the fifth grade, students will examine the inheritance of the British system of government and the practices of constitutionalism, self-government, individual rights, representative government, and separation of powers established by our Founding Fathers. Studies begin with the British settlement of Virginia at Jamestown and conclude with an in-depth analysis of the principles of the Constitution of the United States. 

2. Students will examine and compare the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements as the foundations of American culture and society. 

3. Students will compare the developments of the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. 

4. Students will examine the foundations of the American nation established during the Revolutionary Era. 

5. Students will examine the formation of the American system of government following the American Revolution.

6. Students will describe the structure and responsibilities of the American system of government and the role of the individual citizen.