Sometimes it’s difficult to find that perfect American Revolution primary source activity. Let me help! While teaching the American Revolution, we can bring history to life by using primary sources. Primary sources, including portraits, bring depth to historical people and events. You should include a quick primary source portrait study as a highly engaging addition to your American Revolution Unit. The free primary source activity that you can grab below is one great way to promote primary sources while making one American Revolution soldier more relatable. Reverend Zachariah Greene was a 17 ..read more

If you’ve been looking for guidance on how to teach about Jamestown, I’ve got a free teacher’s guide for you! In this guide, you’ll find background information for teachers, a pacing guide, and my best tips/resources for teaching Jamestown, the Virginia Company, the Powhatan People, Susan Constant, Starving Time, John Smith, John Rolfe, and more! Enjoy! If you’d like to keep this post for later, simply save this image to your teacher Pinterest board! The post How to Teach About Jamestown – Free Guide for Teachers appeared first on Thrive in Grade Five ..read more

If you’ve been looking for guidance on how to teach the Plimoth (Plymouth) Settlement, I’ve got a free teacher’s guide for you! In this guide, you’ll find background information for teachers, a pacing guide, and my best tips/resources for teaching Plimoth (Plymouth), the Wampanoag People, the Mayflower, Mayflower Compact, Pilgrims, and the First Thanksgiving. Enjoy! If you’d like to keep this post for later, simply save this image to your teacher Pinterest board! The post How to Teach About Plymouth (Plimoth) – A Guide for Teachers appeared first on Thrive in Grade Five ..read more

If you are looking for Constitution Day activities for your 5th graders, you’ve come to the right place! As you probably know, Constitution Day must be recognized in mid-September in public schools. Of course, it’s great to hear that schools are talking with students about the Constitution… BUT I prefer to teach the Constitution when it comes up chronologically in my social studies curriculum. So, what can a teacher do? I find that it’s best to celebrate Constitution Day with a quick overview of the Constitution, Preamble, Branches of Government, and Bill of Rights. The time I have available e ..read more

Having a little time at the end of class is something my students look forward to because they have an opportunity to do fun five minute social studies activities. If you find yourself with a few extra minutes of class, you definitely don’t want students to have a free-for-all! That’s a classroom management nightmare. ? Use those precious extra minutes for purposeful, engaging review! Idea #1: Mix ‘n Match Vocabulary No copies needed… Just use the whiteboard! Write three vocabulary words or words important to the lesson on the whiteboard. Then, write three words/short phrases that relate to th ..read more

You’re teaching social studies, yay! If you need ideas on how to start the year in 5th grade social studies, you’ve come to the right place! The first week of social studies class sets the tone for the entire year. Upper elementary students are perceptive and they’ll quickly decide whether or not your social studies class will be a place they’ll love to visit everyday. Let’s dive in and talk about how to make the first week of social studies class a smashing success! Talk about the importance of history! I want my students to love coming to social studies class. When they look forward to my cl ..read more

If you’ve been looking for guidance on how to teach the Lost Colony of Roanoke, I’ve got a helpful teacher’s guide for you! In this guide, you’ll find background information for teachers, a pacing guide, and my best tips/resources for teaching the Lost Colony. You may save this guide in your Google Drive or you may download a PDF version to keep on your desktop. If you’d like to keep this blog post for later, simply save this image to your teacher Pinterest board! The post How to Teach the Lost Colony of Roanoke – A Guide for Teachers appeared first on Thrive in Grade Five ..read more

Welcome your students to social studies class with a freebie – Social Studies in Color! Helping your students feel engaged, welcome, and excited to attend social studies class sets the tone for the entire year. I have plenty of Welcome to 5th Grade activities but I wanted something “zoomed in” on social studies. It is my favorite subject, after all! Social Studies in Color is a no-prep, quick activity that will have your students thinking, tasting, and writing in no time. For this activity, you’ll need one printable per student AND one fun size bag of M&Ms per student. That’s it ..read more

If you’d like to learn how to make an American Revolution Code Letter, this post is for you! In a few easy steps, students will have a project that they’ll be thrilled to share with their classmates and parents. When teaching the American Revolution, hands-on activities are always the things that students remember! So, instead of just telling my students about American Revolution Code Letters, I show at least one primary source example and help my students to make their own code letters. Code letters are one EASY way to bring the American Revolution to life in your classroom. Before we dive in ..read more

If you are a struggling social studies teacher OR you just want to make your social studies lessons amazing, you’ve come to the right place! I’m a social studies/history nerd and I’m here to help! When I first started teaching social studies, I struggled somewhat BIG TIME… but over the years, I got it together and now I LOVE helping other teachers who want to make their social studies lessons sparkle! I can’t wait to give you my best tips while sharing some amazing tidbits of advice from teachers around the country!  Before we dive in, I’d love for you to join my VIP email club just for u ..read more