Elementary History Curriculum for Grades 1–4: Build Your Year
Elementary History Curriculum for Grades 1–4: Build Your Year
If you teach history or social studies in grades 1 to 4 and need enough material for a whole year, this series gives you 20 stand-alone units at $24.99 each, and you pick the ones that fit your class. Every unit has an overview and three ready-to-teach sub-units with lesson plans, worksheets, projects, answer keys and slides. Ancient Egypt is a reliable first choice.
See the Ancient Egypt unit →The Grades 1–4 elementary history units from Teach Lessons are 20 separate topics, from the Stone Age and Ancient Egypt to Pilgrims, Pioneers and inventions. Each unit costs $24.99 and contains an overview plus three sub-units, each with a step-by-step lesson plan, a differentiated worksheet with reading passage and word bank, a project or primary-source activity, an answer key and slides. There is no fixed sequence, so you assemble the year yourself.
The resources
Ancient Egypt: Pyramids, Pharaohs & the Nile Unit, Grades 1–4
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Ancient Egypt: Pyramids, Pharaohs & the Nile Unit – Worksheets, Projects & Slides (Grades 1–4)
The Ancient Greeks: Olympics, Myths & Daily Life Unit – Worksheets, Projects & Slides (Grades 1–4)
The Ancient Romans: Daily Life, Legions & Roads Unit – Worksheets, Projects & Slides (Grades 1–4)
Ancient China: Great Wall, Silk & Inventions Unit – Worksheets, Projects & Slides (Grades 1–4)
The real problem
Why a primary history year is hard to put together
In grades 1 to 4, history usually gets whatever time is left after reading and math. Sometimes that is one afternoon a week, sometimes it shares a slot with science. The materials situation is often worse than the time situation. Many schools hand out a social studies book that is mostly about community helpers and maps, with very little actual history in it. So teachers patch the year together from single worksheets found in different places: different reading levels, different layouts, no answer keys and no thread connecting one topic to the next. Young students also need history to be concrete. A date like 3000 BC means nothing to a seven-year-old, but a pyramid, a Roman road or a Viking ship does. A workable year needs a backbone: first some sense of time and of how we know about the past, then the near past that children can compare with their own lives, then faraway places and long-ago peoples. On top of that you have strong and emerging readers in the same room, and lessons need to be clear enough that a colleague could teach them if you are out.
Why it fits
How the 20 units can form a year
The series has no built-in order, so here is one way to group it. Treat it as a suggestion and reshuffle it to fit your grade and your school.
- Open with Timelines & Measuring Time and Traces of the Past so students learn how we know about the past.
- Near-past block: School Then and Now, Family & Daily Life, Old Trades & Crafts, Inventions That Changed the World.
- Ancient worlds block: Stone Age, Ancient Egypt, Mummies & Tomb Art, Hieroglyphs, Greeks, Romans and Ancient China.
- Middle Ages block: Knights & Castles, Life in a Medieval Town and Vikings sit naturally side by side.
- Early America block: Native Americans, Explorers, Pilgrims and Pioneers, taught factually and in that order.
- Every unit follows the same five-resource pattern, so students learn the routine once and reuse it all year.
Getting started
A sample way to plan the year
Most classes will not teach all 20 units in one year. These steps help you settle on a realistic set.
- Count your real history timeLook at your timetable and count how many history lessons you actually get per term. Each unit has three sub-units, so that number tells you roughly how many units fit before the year runs out.
- Choose one anchor unit per termPick one topic per term that your students will enjoy most, for example Ancient Egypt in the fall. Plan smaller topics around it instead of giving every unit equal weight.
- Open with time and sourcesA unit on timelines or historical sources early in the year gives students words like before, after, long ago and source, which every later unit relies on.
- Check the order against your guideIf your school or district has a social studies scope and sequence, lay the units you picked next to it and move each one to where it matches your required topics.
- Buy in stepsBuy two or three units now, teach them, and choose the next ones once you see how long a sub-unit takes with your class. Each unit downloads right after purchase.
What to buy
Which units to buy first
For most classes, Ancient Egypt: Pyramids, Pharaohs & the Nile is a safe first purchase at $24.99, because young students already arrive curious about pyramids and pharaohs. Add The Ancient Greeks or The Ancient Romans if you want a second ancient-world topic, or Ancient China for a comparison outside the Mediterranean. Six units cost $149.94 and eight cost $199.92. There is no bundle price for these units, and the TEACHMORE15 code does not apply to them. If planning time is your real bottleneck, Teach-Life-Balance ($89.90) is a separate course on saving teacher time.
Honest limits
What the series does not do
The units do not come with a year calendar or a set sequence; you decide the order and the pacing. They are written for Grades 1–4 as one band, so you judge which reading passages suit first graders and which suit fourth graders. Books, art supplies and any craft materials for the projects are yours to provide. Compare the topics with your own required content before you commit to a set. Using the units across a grade team or a whole school is possible after a short message to Teach Lessons. If a unit turns out not to fit, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value; there are no cash refunds.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Are these units aligned to state standards?
No alignment or endorsement is claimed. The units are written for the Grades 1–4 band and cover topics that often appear in primary social studies, such as timelines, then and now, ancient civilizations and early American history. Compare each unit's overview with your state or district requirements before buying, and use the ones that match the content you are expected to teach.
How many units do I need for a full year?
That depends on your history time. A class with one history slot per week will get through fewer units than a class with daily social studies. Each unit has three sub-units, so count your lessons, estimate how long a sub-unit takes, and pick accordingly. Most teachers will land on a handful of units rather than all 20.
Can I teach the units in any order?
Yes. Each unit stands on its own and does not depend on another one. Some topics belong together, like Ancient Egypt, Mummies & Tomb Art and Hieroglyphs, or the four early American units, and it makes sense to keep those close in the year. Beyond that, the order is your decision.
Do first graders and fourth graders use the same materials?
The units are written for the whole Grades 1–4 band. Each worksheet is differentiated and includes a reading passage and a word bank, which helps with mixed reading levels. With first graders you will probably read passages aloud and lean on the slides and projects, while fourth graders can work more on their own.
How do I get the files?
Each unit is a digital download. After checkout you receive a download link by email, and the files also stay in your customer account under Orders. You can print the worksheets and show the slides on your classroom screen as often as you need for your own teaching.
Can my grade-level team share one purchase?
The licence covers your own teaching. If colleagues want to use the same units, send Teach Lessons a short message before buying and ask about team or school use. Posting the files publicly, reselling them or passing them on to others is not allowed. A quick question first saves trouble later.
Start with one unit and grow the year from there
Open the Ancient Egypt unit to see how an overview and three sub-units are laid out, then choose what comes next.
See the Ancient Egypt unit →