FOURTH GRADE
Alabama
Studies
Fourth-grade students proceed from the study of geography in Grade 3 where they explored geographic regions, landforms, and resources to an in-depth study of Alabama. In Grade 4, students apply these geographic concepts to their own state and relate geography to history, economics, and politics in Alabama. They examine the ways economic and political institutions respond to the needs of Alabamians. Students build a base of knowledge about economic principles and technological developments as well as knowledge of past events and present-day practices in the state. They learn specific characteristics of the land and its people, analyzing the diverse groups that have contributed to the development of Alabama, beginning with the early Native Americans in Alabama and continuing to the present. Additionally, students have the opportunity to look at similarities between contemporary issues and their historical origins and to draw parallels between events in Alabama history and events in other states and in the world.
Fourth graders’ interest in facts and figures and their enthusiasm for classifying and organizing may be used as a catalyst for obtaining knowledge about geographic regions in Alabama, Alabama’s role in the Civil War and later in civil rights efforts, and the structure of state and local governments. These students are able to write multiple paragraph compositions, and they benefit by applying this skill to assist in clarifying their ideas and understandings about chronology and the numerous kinds of relationships included in this study. Teachers of fourth graders recognize this thirst for knowledge and find ways to channel student enthusiasm. The wide range of physical, social, and intellectual maturity challenges the ability of teachers to meet the varying needs of students through a variety of instructional strategies. Likewise, teachers must ensure that numerous means and types of assessment adequately measure student achievement and understanding. Realizing the natural tendency of many students in Grade 4 to seek independence, the effective teacher best meets the needs of these students by providing for a balance of structure, guidance, and independence.
Cherokee County Schools: The content standards, bullets and examples contained within this local version of the Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies are minimum content and are required for instruction. The activities and resources listed in this document are not all-inclusive, but are a representation from which one can pick, choose and blend with activities and resources already employed within the fourth grade setting. Resources are from state/county adopted textbooks and relevant websites. Content standards are listed; bullet information from the state course of study is labeled A, B, C, etc.
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Text Location
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Alabama Course of Study |
E
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G
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H
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PS
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SAT10
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Alabama High School Graduation Exam
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NCLB
Reading/Writing |
Resources
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Ch. 1 p. 3-31 Land Regions & Prehistoric Indians
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(COS 1 a; 2 a, b, c; 4 a, b, c) 1. Identify historical and current economic, political, and geographic information about Alabama on thematic maps. Examples: weather/climate maps, physical relief maps, waterway maps, transportation maps, political boundary maps, economic development maps, land-use maps, population maps a.) Discussing patterns and types of migrations as they affect the environment, agriculture, economic development, and population changes in Alabama 2. Describe cultures, governments, and economies of prehistoric and historic Native Americans in Alabama. Examples: prehistoric Native Americans -
Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian; historic Native Americans -
Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek a.) Identifying locations of prehistoric and historic Native Americans in Alabama b.) Describing types of prehistoric life in Alabama Examples: plants, animals, people c.) Identifying roles of archaeologists and paleontologists 4. Describe the relationship of the five geographic regions of Alabama to the movement of Alabama settlers during the early nineteenth century. a.) Describing natural resources of Alabama Examples: water, trees, coal, iron, limestone, petroleum, natural gas, soil b.) Describing the natural environment of Alabama Examples: wildlife, vegetation, climate, bodies of water c.) Describing human environments created by settlement Examples:
housing, roads, place names |
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Drawing Conclusions page 32 |
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Ch. 2 The Indians p. 57-65 Discovering AL p. 37-56 |
(COS 3 a) 3. List reasons for European exploration and settlement in Alabama and the impact of Europeans on trade, health, land expansion, and tribal reorganization of Native American populations in Alabama. a.) Locating European settlements in early Alabama |
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See language p. 67 |
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Ch. 3 Al. Territory & State |
(COS 3 b, c, d, e; 5 a, b) 3. b.) Explaining reasons for conflicts between Europeans and Native Americans in Alabama from 1519 to 1840 Examples: differing beliefs regarding land ownership, religious differences, cultural differences, broken treaties c.) Identifying main causes, key people, and historical documents of the American Revolution and the new nation Examples:
main
causes - taxation, lack of representation, distrust of centralized power; key
people - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin; historical documents - Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States d.) Naming social, political, and economic outcomes of the Creek Civil War and the Creek War in Alabama Examples:
Social
- adoption of European culture by Native Americans, opening of Alabama land
for settlement; e.) Identifying the impact of the Trail of Tears on Alabama’s Native Americans 5. Describe Alabama’s entry into statehood, including Alabama’s constitutions and the three branches of government. a.) Explaining political and geographic reasons for changes in location of Alabama’s state capital b.) Identifying prominent political leaders during early statehood in Alabama Examples:
William Wyatt Bibb, Thomas Bibb, Israel Pickens, William Rufus King |
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Ch. 4 p. 107-136 Cotton Kingdom |
(COS 5 a, b; 6 a, b) 5. Describe Alabama’s entry into statehood, including Alabama’s constitutions and the three branches of government. a.) Explaining political and geographic reasons for changes in location of Alabama’s state capital b.) Identifying prominent political leaders during early statehood in Alabama Examples:
William Wyatt Bibb, Thomas Bibb, Israel Pickens, William Rufus King 6. Identify cultural, economic, and political aspects of the lifestyles of early nineteenth-century farmers, plantation owners, slaves, and townspeople. Examples: Cultural - housing, education, religion,
recreation; a.) Recognizing the impact of slavery on Alabama during the early nineteenth century b.) Identifying major areas of agricultural production using an Alabama map Examples: cotton raised in the Black Belt
and fertile river valleys |
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P. 117 Use for Choral Reading |
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Ch. 5 p. 141-163 Alabama at War |
(COS 7 a; 8 a) 7. Identify reasons for Alabama’s secession from the Union, including sectionalism, slavery, state rights, and economic disagreements. a.) Identifying Alabama’s role in the organization of the Confederacy Examples: secession convention, Montgomery
as first state capital, inauguration ceremony for leaders 8. Explain Alabama’s role in and economic support of the Civil War. Examples: provision of supplies through the
Port of Mobile; armament center at Selma; production of iron products,
munitions, textiles, and ships a.) Explaining resulting economic conditions of the Civil War, including the collapse of economic structure, destruction of the transportation infrastructure, and high casualty rates |
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IV-1 Identify and evaluate events, causes, and effects of the Civil War Era |
Letter writing |
Alabama Civil War Map of Battles |
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Ch. 6 p. 169-190 195-197 Rebuilding Alabama |
(COS 8 a; 9 a, b, c; 10 a) 8. Explain Alabama’s role in and economic support of the Civil War. Examples: provision of supplies through the
Port of Mobile; armament center at Selma; production of iron products,
munitions, textiles, and ships a.) Explaining resulting economic conditions of the Civil War, including the collapse of economic structure, destruction of the transportation infrastructure, and high casualty rates 9. Describe political, social, and economic conditions in Alabama during Reconstruction. Examples: political—military rule, presence of
Freedmen’s Bureau, Alabama’s readmittance to the Union, sharecropping; economic—sharecropping, scarcity of goods and money a.) Describing the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States b.) Identifying the role of African Americans in politics during Reconstruction in Alabama Examples: Benjamin Sterling Turner, United States
House of Representatives (1871-1873); Jeremiah Haralson, Alabama State
Legislature (1870-1874) and United States House of Representatives
(1875-1877); James Rapier, United States House of Representatives (1873-1875) c.) Describing policies of major political parties in Alabama 10. Describe significant social and educational changes in Alabama during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. a.) Explaining the development and changing role of industry, trade, and agriculture in Alabama during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the rise of populism |
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IV-1 Identify and evaluate events, causes, and effects of the Civil War Era |
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Ch. 7 p. 203-229 Charting a New Course |
(COS 10 b, c, d; 11 a, b; 12 a) 10. b.) Explaining the impact of the voting rights revision in the Alabama Constitution of 1901, including Jim Crow Laws Examples:
restriction of eligible voters c.) Identifying Alabamians who made contributions in the fields of science, education, the arts, the military, politics, and business during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Examples: Science - George Washington Carver, William
Gorgas, Robert Van de Graff; d.) Discussing cultural contributions from various regions of Alabama that contributed to the formation of a state heritage Examples: folklore, folk art, vernacular
architecture 11. Describe the impact of World War I on Alabamians. Examples: migration of African Americans to
the North and West, utilization of Alabama’s military installations and
training facilities, increased production of goods for war effort a.) Recognizing Alabama participants in World War I Examples:
Alabama Rainbow Division b.) Identifying the use of new technology in World War I Examples: airplanes, machine guns, chemical
warfare 12. Explain effects of the events of the 1920s and the Great Depression on different socioeconomic groups. Examples: effects of 1920s—increase in availability of electricity and employment opportunities, increase in wages and product consumption, overproduction of goods, stock market crash; effects of Great Depression -overcropping of land, unemployment, poverty, establishment of new federal programs a.) Describing effects of supply and demand on the economy |
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VI-1 Evaluate the causes of World War I VI-2 Analyze the effects of World War I |
Making Comparisons page 229 # 1 |
Singing at the Front during WWI |
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Ch. 8 p. 233-258 Great Depression, The New Deal, WW II |
(COS 13 a, b) 13. Describe the economic and social impact of World War II on Alabamians. Examples: entry of women into workforce,
increase in job opportunities, rationing, utilization of Alabama’s military
installations a.) Recognizing Alabama participants in World War II Example: Tuskegee Airmen, women in the military b.)
Locating military bases in Alabama |
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VI-1 Evaluate the causes of World War I VI-2 Analyze the effects of World War I |
Make comic strips about the events in the chapter and read them to the class |
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Ch. 9 p. 273-289 Changes Come to Alabama |
(COS 10 ; 14 a, b; 15) 10. Describe significant social and educational changes in Alabama during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Examples: Social
- implementation of “separate but equal” court decision (Plessy versus
Ferguson), birth of National Association for Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) through Niagara Movement; 14. Describe the social, political, and economic impact of the modern Civil Rights Movement on Alabama. a.) Identifying important people and events of the modern Civil Rights Movement Examples:
People
- Martin Luther King, Jr., George C. Wallace, Rosa Parks; |