Twenty Weeks of Elementary History for Grades 3-4

Quick answer: Twenty one-week units, taught in this order: how we know about the past, then daily life across time, then the ancient world, then the medieval world, then North America. One unit a week for a year of weekly history, or two years at a fortnightly pace. Start with timelines and sources; everything after depends on them.

What order should elementary history go in?

Not chronological. Eight and nine year olds do not have a mental timeline to hang 3000 BCE on, so starting with the Stone Age means starting with a number that means nothing. Start instead with time itself, and with the difference between knowing something and guessing it.

Two units do that work. Timelines & Measuring Time gives students decade, century, before and after, and a physical timeline that stays on the wall all year — every later unit gets pinned to it. Traces of the Past: Discovering Historical Sources introduces artifacts, pictures and written records, and the idea that some sources are better than others. After those two weeks, the rest of the year has somewhere to land.

What are the twenty units, term by term?

How long does one unit actually take?

Each unit holds four to five lessons plus a project. At one history period a week, that is four or five weeks, not one — which is why twenty units is a two-year plan for most schools rather than one. If you have a daily social studies slot, a unit is a week and the sequence above fills a year with the ancient block doubled up.

Be honest with yourself about the projects. The Egypt, Rome and Knights units each end in something that takes a full afternoon and produces something a parent will see. Pick three of those across the year and treat the others as reading-and-response weeks, or you will spend every Friday cutting cardboard.

Which units do I drop if I only have ten weeks?

Keep both opening units, one Egypt unit rather than three, Greece or Rome but not both, Knights, Native Americans, Explorers and Pioneers. Drop Ancient China, Vikings and the Medieval Town first — they are strong units, but nothing later in the sequence depends on them, and most state standards for grades 3 and 4 weight the North America block heaviest anyway.

The three Egypt units are deliberately separate because Egypt is the topic children ask to keep doing. If your class is not that class, buy the main Ancient Egypt unit alone and skip hieroglyphs and mummies.

Frequently asked questions

These say grades 1 to 4. Are they too easy for fourth grade?

The reading pages are differentiated at two levels, so the same unit serves both ends. For fourth grade, use the harder text and the extended project and skip the picture-sorting tasks.

Do they align to state social studies standards?

The North America block maps onto most state frameworks for grades 3 and 4 directly. The ancient and medieval blocks are world history and will map more loosely — check your framework before you buy those.

Is there a bundle?

The collection lists all twenty. Buying term by term rather than all at once lets you see whether the format suits your class before committing to the year.

What do I need beyond the download?

A printer, wall space for the timeline, and craft materials for three of the projects. No textbook.

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