5th Grade Social Studies Curriculum – Westward Expansion -TEKS-Aligned

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

Unit 7 of the Smart and Simple Social Studies Guided U.S. History Curriculum is about Westward Expansion. The main topic of this unit is designed to help upper elementary students understand the growth of the United States in the 1800s through the Louisiana Purchase, exploration of the land that was acquired during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, several reasons why Americans moved west, such as through the California Gold Rush, Mormon, Trail, and Oregon Trail, as well as the causes and effects of the War of 1812.

This 2-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 in 2024). It includes EVERYTHING you need to teach Westward Expansion – just print & go!

This unit covers the following topics:

• Lesson 1: The Louisiana Purchase
• Lesson 2: The Lewis and Clark Expedition
• Lesson 3: The War of 1812
• Lesson 4: Americans Move West
• Lesson 5: Westward Expansion Review

What’s included in this resource?

• 2-week pacing guide and overview
• Scope and Sequence
• 5 teacher lesson plan guides
• 4 non-editable slideshows (Google Drive & PPT versions)
• 1 editable slideshow review game
• Guided notes for Lessons 1-4 (2 versions: fill-in-the-blank and highlighted words)
• 4 practice activities
• 5 exit tickets
• Digital and full-color versions 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 is 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)!