Grade 4

Students will evaluate how historians build arguments by:

• distinguishing between the types of historical sources used by historians
• understanding how to source, contextualize, close reading an historical source
• corroborating across multiple historical sources
• developing claims and supporting them with evidence and reasoning

Students will evaluate how geography can help us to explain why past and present events occurred by:

• determining how the five themes of geography (location, place, region, movement, and interaction, with the environment) help us to understand the past and the present
• identifying how to use map elements to read and interpret maps.
• assessing how different types of maps are used to explain the past and the present.

​​​​​​Students will evaluate the status of pre-Columbian and African civilizations by:

• explaining the political, social, and economic characteristics of West African societies prior to 1450.
• exploring the rise and decline of the Cahokia/Mississippian mound-building society.
• assessing the patterns of change in indigenous societies in North America up to the Columbian voyages.
• analyzing the social, economic, and cultural lives of the Piscataway, Piscataway Conoy, and Accohannock people of Maryland.

Students will evaluate the impact of exploration on various groups by:

• identifying the social, political, and economic factors that led to European exploration and colonization.
• assessing the positive and negative impacts of the Columbian Exchange.
• evaluating the impact of economic, political, and social interactions between European and American Indians from multiple perspectives.
• explaining the methods and effectiveness of resistance by American Indians.

Students will compare Maryland’s colonial experience with other colonies by:

• examining motivations for European settlement in North America.
• comparing and contrasting the factors that led to success and failure in Jamestown, Plymouth, St. Augustine, and St. Mary’s City.
• analyzing religious conflict among European settlers in Maryland and the effectiveness of the Toleration Act.

Students will compare how geography influenced culture and economic development by:

• comparing human, capital, geographic, and natural resources of colonial regions.
• analyzing how ports, indentured servitude, slavery, and natural resources created a tobacco-based economy in Maryland.
• examining the impact of the interdependence created by triangle trade in different regions in North America, Europe, and Africa.

Students will analyze the methods and motivations by which freedom was granted or denied for various groups in Colonial North America:

• tracing the evolution of race-based slavery from indigenous people to the forced migration of Africans.
• analyzing the similarities and differences in experiences of free and enslaved people across regions in Maryland and the American colonies.
• identifying ways that enslaved people over time resisted slavery in Maryland and the American colonies.

Students will analyze causes, course, and consequences of the Revolution by:

• examining the causes and effects of the French and Indian War.
• analyzing the variety of colonial responses to British laws imposed after the French and Indian War.
• analyzing how economic class and geographic region influenced the division between Patriots and Loyalists in Maryland.
• contrasting the burning of the Peggy Stewart with other acts of resistance in the colonies.
• evaluating the role of women and African Americans in Maryland in supporting the American Revolution.
• identifying the British injustices outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the principles of government proposed to resolve those injustices.
• assessing the challenges for future generations to expand the freedoms expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
• analyzing the impact of war, diplomacy, and leadership on the outcome of the American Revolution.

Students will evaluate the reasons for and the effect of the development of a new American government by:

• analyzing the powers and responsibilities of government on the federal and state levels under the Articles of Confederation.
• identifying how Shays’ Rebellion illustrated the structural weaknesses of the federal government.

 

• Practice making maps of locations such as your street or neighborhood.
• Practice reading maps when traveling.
• Practice using maps with different scales.
• Discuss the interactions between humans and the environment.
• Discuss why humans settle in certain areas.
• Identify and discuss the impact of natural disasters.

• Encourage your child to support opinions with evidence from multiple sources.
• Practice summarizing conclusions in multiple formats, including writing and speaking.
• Use a timeline to discuss how America has changed over time.
• Discuss the cause and effect of historical events.
• Understand the difference between primary and secondary sources.

• Applying decision-making skills/process when purchasing items.
• Discuss what goods and services you think the government should provide.
• Create a savings plan for something that you would like to purchase.
• Discuss the role economics plays in government decisions.
• Discuss the purpose of taxes and how they are collected.
• Practice analyzing financial data such as the stock market or bank statements

• Determine who represents you at the local, state, and national levels.
• Discuss who is up for re-election in your district and their views.
• Read about and discuss current events.
• Practice critiquing arguments/explanations in a respectful way.
• Encourage your child to take informed action in the community (ex. writing a letter to an elected official).
• Practice critiquing arguments/explanations in a respectful way.
• Encourage your child to take informed action in the community (ex. writing a letter to an elected official).
• Participate in community service together.
• Take your child with you when you vote and explain democratic principles.
• Read about people who are/were good examples of democratic citizens, such as those who peacefully fought for equality.
• Discuss what citizenship means, including the rights and responsibilities of citizens.

Maryland

• National Colonial Farm, The Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park (Accokeek, MD)
• Antietam National Battlefield (Sharpsburg, MD) 
• Hampton National Historic Site (Towson, MD) 
• Rose Hill Manor Park and Children's Museum (Frederick, MD) 
• Calvert Marine Museum (Solomons, MD) 
• St. Clement's Island State Park (Coltons Point, MD)  
• Casselman River State Bridge (Grantsville, MD)  
• Fort Frederick State Park (Big Pool, MD)  
• Frederick Douglas Museum (Highland Beach, MD) 
• Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad Station (Ellicott City, MD) 

Baltimore

• Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore, MD) 
• Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad Museum (Baltimore, MD) 
• Fort McHenry (Baltimore, MD) 
• The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House (Baltimore, MD) 
• The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail (Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.) 
• Baltimore Civil War Museum at President Street Station (Baltimore, MD) 
• Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture (Baltimore, MD)
• U.S.S. Constellation (Baltimore, MD) 

Annapolis and Eastern Shore

• The Maryland State House (Annapolis, MD) 
• Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center (Cambridge, MD) 
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (Cambridge, MD) 

Washington, DC.

• National Archives (Washington, D.C.) 
• National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C.) 
• United States Capital (Washington, D.C.) 
• George Washington's Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, VA) 
• National Museum of African America History and Culture (Washington, D.C) 
• National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, D.C) 
• National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C) 

Pennsylvania

• National Constitution Center (Philadelphia, PA) 
• Independence Hall (Philadelphia, PA) 
• The Liberty Bell (Philadelphia, PA) 
• Gettysburg National Military Park (Gettysburg, PA