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Lesson Plans: 5th Grade Lessons (revised October, 2009)
Classroom-tested American history lessons
The following multi-day lesson plans were created using primary sources and the following textbook: The United States: Making a New Nation, Reflection Series, Harcourt School Publishers, 2007. Each standards-based lesson includes several guided reading strategies with worksheets for students and a scaffolded writing strategy.
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Grade 5	Grade 8	Grade 11

Grade 5.1: Iroquois League (revised 09/09)

Lesson Working Thesis: The Five Nations chose to come together to form the Iroquois League in order to resolve problems peacefully. [This was made easier by similarities in language and culture.]

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

5.2.2 Conquistadors (new 09/09)

Unit Working Thesis: Although the European voyages of exploration had multiple destructive effects on Native American populations, including disease, warfare, loss of land, there were also benefits, such as the acquisition of new goods and technologies.

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

Grade 5.4: Colonial Participation in Town Meetings
(revised 10/09)

Unit Working Thesis: Participation in voting was important to the British colonists in matters of local issues and the colonial assemblies. This gave many of the British colonists the opportunity to vote in town meetings as well as in the election of representatives to the Colonial Assemblies.

Grade 5 Lesson Plan

5.3 Conflicts with American Indians (new 09/09)

Unit Working Thesis: The economic and political development of the Northern, Middle, and Southern colonies depended on the distinct people who settled in the region, the settlers' different reasons for founding colonies, and the varied resources available in the regions they settled.

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

Grade 5.4: Triangular Trade (revised 10/09)

Lesson Working Thesis: The thirteen colonies exported raw materials to England and the West Indies, and imported manufactured goods from England and slaves from Africa. This trade of goods and people tied the British colonies, England, and Africa together in an interdependent relationship..s

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

5.4. New France (new 09/09)

Unit Working Thesis: The European explorers’ search for a more direct water route to Asia resulted in new lands, trade and resources and had an impact on the natives they encountered.

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

Grade 5.5: American Revolution
(revised 09/09)

Unit Working Thesis: Anger over the British policies led most of the colonists to demand representation in Parliament and protest what they thought of as unfair laws and taxation, which ultimately led them to push for independence.

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

5.4.6 Slavery and Society (new 09/09)

Unit Working Thesis: The different economic and political development of the Northern, Middle, and Southern colonies were dependent upon the different reasons for founding, the distinct people who settled in them, and the varied resources available.

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

5.6.4 Shay's Rebellion (new 09/09)

Lesson Working Thesis: Students will learn about the significance of Shay’s Rebellion in the decision to create a stronger national government.

Grade 5 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 5 Lesson Plan MS Word

4th GRADE - 4.4 Gold Rush (new 09/09)

Unit Working Thesis: Mining had a lasting effect on California by changing the geography, growing towns and cities, increasing population diversity and altering environmental conditions.

Grade 4 Lesson Plan pdf
Grade 4 Lesson Plan MS Word