Social Studies Resources

 

Welcome to the Social Studies page on Teaching Resources! Here you'll find a collection of printables, games, and activities for upper elementary school. Many of them are especially appropriate for 5th grade because that's the grade that I taught. Those activities include US history resources and the stock market game materials. I also taught North Carolina history in 4th grade for a few years, so you'll find a few NC resources, too. ~ Laura Candler

 

Find the States Showdown Find the States Showdown is a game for reviewing state names and locations, and it can also be used for reviewing state capitals and abbreviations. Includes game directions, maps, playing materials, and an answer key. Click to preview. $3.00

General Social Studies Freebies and Resources

• State or Regions Project Directions
• Google Earth Landforms Project
• People and Places to Know
• People and Places to Know Quiz
• 8 Strands of Social Studies Cards
• 8 Strands of Social Studies Quiz
• North Carolina Connections
• Current Events Report Form
• Directions for Salt Dough Map Project
• Early American History Timeline Activity (see below)
  Be sure to download both pages. Students cut apart the cards and use their textbooks or other research materials to sort them into the correct order. Duplicate 4 copies of the timeline page and have students glue the cards onto the pages in order. Finally, have them write one or two sentences to describe the importance of each event.

Featured Social Studies Freebies

 

Constitution Day Resources (September 17th)

• Classroom Bill of Rights (Blank Printable)
• United States Government Sorting Cards
  Use these cards with the graphic organizer below. Directions are on the graphic organizer.
• United States Government Graphic Organizer
• Lesson Pack from the Center for Civic Education: What Basic Ideas Are in the Preamble to the Consitution?

Featured Constitution Day Freebies

Constitution Day Social Studies and Literacy Connections

If you'd like an explanation of how to use the books and activity pages below, you can read my blog post on Corkboard Connections: Social Studies and Literacy Connections.

 

Stock Market Game Materials

I highly recommend the book The Stock Market Game by Dianne Draze which is designed for grades 5 - 8. I have created a number of handouts and materials that can be used with the activities in this book or with other Stock Market simulations. You can also use the materials when playing the official Stock Market Game. If you don't want to pay to join the "official" game, you can go to an excellent free site called StocksQuest. You can set up teams or individual competitions at this location. One more web site you'll want to check out is SmartMoney.com.

 

Laura Candler's Stock Market Game Resources

• Transaction Worksheet for Stock Market Game
• Stock Market Game Company Research
• Stock Market Showdown
• Stock Market Vocabulary Cards (Concentration Game)
• Stock Talk

 

 

Presidential Election Day Teaching Resources

To help you teach your students about the upcoming election, I collected some ideas from other teachers and added a few of my own. All of these ideas are shared on Corkboard Connections. Click the Presidential Election Teaching Resources link or the image on the right to read that blog post. If you have some of your own ideas, please share them as a comment on the blog post. Here are some resources you'll find there:

• Free BrainPOP Election video
• Analyzing Presidential Character Traits
• Mock Election Resources
• Run a Classroom Campaign