Grade 4 Spring — US National Geography and Westward Expansion (1803–1890): Whose Land, Whose Story, Whose Future?
History · GEO
G4 (D2.Geo.1-4.3-5; CA HSS 4.1 extended; TEKS 5.6; NYS 5.2)
hist.g4.s.geo.us_political_geography
Identify the 50 states and their capital cities; locate the US in North America; apply basic US map literacy
Name and locate all 50 states; identify state capitals (focus on 12 anchor capitals: Washington DC, Albany NY, Boston MA, Tallahassee FL, Atlanta GA, Springfield IL, Austin TX, Santa Fe NM, Phoenix AZ, Denver CO, Sacramento CA, Olympia WA; plus child's own state capital); locate the US within North America; apply basic map literacy (compass rose, scale, legend, latitude/longitude). Vocabulary: state, capital, federal district, latitude, longitude, scale, compass rose, legend.
Mastery threshold
80%
Min instances
12
Typical minutes
45
Spaced intervals (days)
1, 3, 7, 14, 30, 60
Prereqs
Successors
- Identify the federal government's three branches (continuing from G4-Fall state branches); explain Treaty Clause and the federal-treaty role
- Apply distance, scale, and route-mapping skills to overland trails — Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, Pony Express, Lewis and Clark route
Common misconceptions
- Treating Washington DC as a state (it is a federal district)
- Forgetting Alaska and Hawaii in 50-state count
- Conflating capital city with largest city (e.g., Albany not NYC; Sacramento not LA; Springfield not Chicago)