5th Grade Social Studies Curriculum – Regions of the U.S. Unit – TEKS-Aligned

Are you an upper elementary teacher looking to find a quality TEKS-aligned resource that targets the regions of the United States? Looking for minimal-prep and engaging lessons and activities to teach social studies concepts to your 5th grade students? Look no further!

Unit 1 of the Smart and Simple Social Studies Guided U.S. History Curriculum is about the Regions of the United States. The main topic of this unit is designed to help upper elementary students understand the characteristics of the five major regions of the United States – the Southwest, West, Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast.

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 5th grade Social Studies standards (adopted 2024). It includes EVERYTHING you need to teach the regions of the U.S. – just print & go!

This unit covers the following topics:

• Lesson 1: Introduction to the U.S. Regions
• Lesson 2: The Southwest
• Lesson 3: The West
• Lesson 4: The Midwest
• Lesson 5: The Northeast
• Lesson 6: The Southeast
• Lesson 7: Physical Features of the U.S.
• Lesson 8: Economic Industries of the U.S.
• Lesson 9: Population in the U.S.
• Lesson 10: Regions of the U.S. Review

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
• Guided notes for Lessons 1-9 (2 versions: fill-in-the-blank and highlighted words)
• 8 practice activities
• 10 exit tickets
• Digital and full-color version of student activities
• Unit Project
• Unit Assessment
• Answer keys for all student activities

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 are still flexible enough to use in any order or with any state curriculum.

✅ 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)!