Social Studies Teaching Resources
Take your students on a journey through world and US history with thousands of printable cross-curricular social studies worksheets, history teaching slides, anchor charts, Google Slide interactive activities, and thousands more teacher-created resources to turn every child into a tiny historian.
Are you teaching your primary grade students about community helpers and need engaging new materials? Or maybe you're teaching in the upper elementary grades where your students journey through the 13 colonies, the Revolutionary War, Civil War, or other historical events?
No matter the grade, this collection of teaching resources from Teach Starter's teacher team has curriculum-aligned options to help you cut down on the time-consuming task of lesson planning and help your elementary class meet both Common Core and state-level standards.
With editable options for many of the collection's digital and printable teaching resources, save yourself a ton of time with these ready-made social studies lesson plans.
Social Studies Lesson Plan Library
Our library contains thousands of resources designed by teachers for teachers to help you teach your primary level social studies topics, as well as upper elementary and middle school social studies curriculum. Find resources to teach a wide range of social studies topics, including
- Community helper teaching slides, printable community helper worksheets, and community helper crafts that make perfect additions to social studies for 1st grade
- Content-aligned task cards, games, printable maps, and teaching slide decks to teach American history for kids, along with printable Veterans Day Crafts, patriotic coloring sheets, World War II lesson plans PDF resources, and more
- Cross-curricular teaching resources including reading passages on Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ford worksheets, famous historical figure projects, and even anchor charts for social studies
- Printable blank maps of the 13 colonies, United States, continents of the world, and accompanying map skills worksheets
- Sorting activities, Google Interactives, active games, and worksheets covering wants and needs for primary grades
If you're looking for Social Studies games and resources specifically for higher grades, you'll find:
- Materials for teaching an entire Westward Expansion Unit — such as Westward Expansion worksheets, Lewis and Clark slide decks, vocabulary games, and even an Oregon Trail game to help you teach about early America
- Posters, anchor charts, interactive activities, and lesson plans for a unit on women's suffrage — discover female leaders of the time and their contributions to the passing of the 19th Amendment
- Government worksheets, mini books, and activities teaching the Bill of Rights for Kids
- Note taking-templates, worksheets, slide decks, and graphic organizers to uncover the causes of the American Revolution
Our Social Studies worksheet library spans a wide range of topics and social studies curriculum standards that are sure to save you a TON of time and cut back on the research and planning needed for engaging social studies lessons. Make sure you check out our 3rd-grade history, 4th-grade history, 5th-grade history, and 6th-grade history resources as well!
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Good Citizens Charades - Role Play Activity
Teach your social studies class about being a good citizen with a game of Citizenship Charades!
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Move It! Needs and Wants Slides Game
Get up and moving with an active game while identifying and describing examples of needs and wants.
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Long Ago, Now, or In the Future Sort
Help your students develop a sense of history and how life, transportation, and communications have changed over time.
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Dressing for the Physical Environment Sorting Activity
Help children learn about dressing for the environment by sorting clothing items into categories for warm climate and cold climate.
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Teaching Goods and Services Presentation
Teach your students to identify and describe examples of goods and services with an interactive teaching presentation.
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Who Is Ruby Bridges? – Shared Reading and Activity
Read along to learn about Ruby Bridges and her role in desegregation with this 14-slide PowerPoint presentation.
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Read Along Pocket Chart Cards - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Use this set of 12 MLK text and image pocket chart cards for reading and sight word practice.
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Shirley Chisholm and Carol Moseley Braun Cut and Sort Worksheet
Compare and contrast the lives of two influential Black American lawmakers in this cut-and-sort activity.
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Who Is Martin Luther King, Jr? - Shared Reading and Activity
Use this 13-slide PowerPoint as a collaborative reading exercise about Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Inauguration Day Bingo
A bingo game to play around Inauguration Day.
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Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks Cut and Sort Worksheet
Compare and contrast the lives of two influential Black History Month figures in this cut-and-sort activity.
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Map of Japan
A map of Japan featuring the names of the main islands and well-known landmarks.
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Needs vs. Wants Activity
An activity to brainstorm and sort needs and wants.
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Chinese New Year - Rat Puppet Template
A fun template for students to make their own rat puppet.
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Money – Word Wall Template
A set of money-themed word wall cards.
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Color Posters with Images – Bilingual
A set of 9 posters exploring color.
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Conversation Hearts - Template
Turn this set of 18 conversation heart templates into a variety of teaching resources leading up to Valentine's Day.
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Who Is Rosa Parks? – Shared Reading and Activity
Learn about and discuss activist Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott with this 15-slide read-along PowerPoint presentation.
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Field Journal Entry Worksheet
A journal entry worksheet to use during field work.
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Desert Page Border
A page border with a desert theme.
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Secondary Sources Poster (Version 2)
A poster highlighting some examples of secondary sources.
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Independence Day Coloring Sheets
Five coloring sheets to use on Independence Day.
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Respecting Other Cultures - Worksheet
A writing prompt worksheet about respecting other cultures.
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Christopher Columbus Timeline
A banner highlighting the significant events in Christopher Columbus' life.
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Interactive Multiple Choice PowerPoint Template - Generic
Create an interactive warm-up, review, or assessment activity for any subject area with this 11-slide PowerPoint template.
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Symbols and Flags Worksheet
A worksheet for students to design their own family flag.
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Ancient Rome - PowerPoint Template
An Ancient Rome themed PowerPoint Template to add some color and design to your classroom PowerPoint presentations.
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Map of the Regions of Asia
A map showing the layout, regions and major countries of Asia.
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Learning Scale and Self-Assessment Checklists
Have your students reflect on their work and effort using this self-assessment learning scale.
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Independence Day Teaching Resource Pack
An extensive collection of teaching resources to use in your classroom to celebrate Independence Day.
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People Live in Places Unit Plan
This Geography unit covers a range of concepts relating to the places students live in and belong to.
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Assessment - People Live in Places
An assessment task in which students will identify the importance of all to care for our natural environment.