4th Grade Social Studies Curriculum – Texas in the Late 19th Century – Civil War

Are you an upper elementary teacher looking to find a quality TEKS-aligned resource that covers Texas in the late 19th century? Looking for minimal-prep and engaging lessons and activities to teach social studies concepts to your 4th-grade students? Look no further!

Unit 8 of the Smart and Simple Social Studies Texas History Guided Curriculum is about the Texas in the Late 19th Century. The unit covers the social, economic, and political events and changes that specifically affected Texas during the late 1800s, including the Civil War and Reconstruction period. This unit also covers the rise of the Texas cattle, railroad, and oil industries.

This 3-week unit includes lesson plans, guided notes, practice activities, exit tickets, a project, unit assessment, and more. Each lesson includes slideshows in both PowerPoint and Google Slides, as well as student digital activities of the notes, practice activities, exit tickets, project, and unit assessment.

This unit primarily correlates to the current TEKS 4th Grade Social Studies standards (adopted in 2024). It includes EVERYTHING you need to teach Texas in the late 1800s – just print & go!

This unit covers the following topics:

• Lesson 1: Introduction to Texas in the Late 19th Century
• Lesson 2: Texas Before and During the Civil War
• Lesson 3: Effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction in Texas
• Lesson 4: Political Changes in Texas in the Late 19th Century
• Lesson 5: Economic Changes in Texas in the Late 19th Century
• Lesson 6: The Texas Cattle Industry
• Lesson 7: The Texas Railroad Industry
• Lesson 8: Social Changes in Texas in the Late 19th Century
• Lesson 9: Effects of Indigenous American Life in Texas
• Lesson 10: Texas in the Late 19th Century Review Game

What’s included in this resource?

• 3-week pacing guide and overview
• Scope and Sequence
• 10 teacher lesson plan guides
• 9 non-editable slideshows (Google Drive & PPT versions)
• 1 editable slideshow review game with student recording sheet and QR code
• Guided notes for Lessons 1-9 (2 versions: fill-in-the-blank and highlighted words) – 2 size options – full-page size for binder and smaller size for notebooks
• 9 practice activities
• 10 exit tickets
• Digital and full-color versions of student activities
• Unit Project
• Unit Assessment
• Answer keys for all student activities

RESEARCHED for ACCURACY and CULTURAL RELEVANCE – The Southern Teach creates resources that are thoroughly researched and checked for accuracy. My mission is to show ALL sides of history and believe it’s important to share this in a way that is appropriate for upper elementary students.

What makes this Guided Social Studies Curriculum Smart and Simple?

✅ The social studies daily lessons and activities are bite-sized and can easily be implemented in 30-45 minutes.

✅ The social studies curriculum is TEKS-aligned (for Texas) but is still flexible enough to use in any order.

✅ Each social studies unit has everything you need to simply teach social studies – easy-to-follow lesson plans, guided notes, practice activities, exit tickets, and more!

It’s everything you need to implement engaging social studies lessons that students love and teachers enjoy (because it’s comprehensive and easy to prep)!