In Social Studies, the fourth grade has been spending a lot of time learning about the United States of America.
Throughout the year, we study a total of five regions- Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West. As we study each region in school, we follow along the textbooks which include a CD that has soundtracks to simulate an actual road trip around the country. Along the “road trip,” we stop at various landmarks to experience the unique traits of each region.
Along with reading and following the textbooks, we have learned a song to help us remember all the states and their capitals. Here is the first verse of our song:
Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Indianapolis, Indiana
And Columbus is the capital of Ohio
There’s Montgomery, Alabama, south of Helena, Montana
There’s Denver Colorado under Boise, Idaho
Text has Austin, then we go north
To Massachusetts, Boston and Albany, New York
Tallahassee, Florida, and Washington D.C.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Nashville, Tennessee
Another fun way to connect our learning of the USA with our families is by doing a short family project. The goal of the project is for the students to experience all states unique capitals, names and political shapes. In addition, students interview their families and friends to find personal connections with as many states as they can. Finally, to personalize the projects, students picked a theme of their choice to include on the posters. Here are some examples of the posters.
By the end of the year, we will have traveled to all the states in all the geographic regions. Our students especially enjoyed learning a new song and working with families to share their experiences.