Grade 4

Other Rhode Island Social Studies sets

• Grade K
• Grade 1
• Grade 2
• Grade 3
• Grade 5
• Grade 6
• Grade 7
• Grade 8
• Grades 9, 10, 11, 12

Identify the geographical features of students' cities/towns and explain the significance of eachSS4.1.1.a

Explain the importance of the natural resources available in students' cities/townsSS4.1.1.b

Identify the locations and explain the importance of parks in students' cities/townsSS4.1.1.c

Identify cities and towns that border those of the studentsSS4.1.1.d

Identify the major geographical features and environment of Rhode Island (e.g., climate, bodies of water) and explain their significanceSS4.1.2.a

Identify the natural resources available in Rhode Island (e.g., freshwater and marine fish, lumber, agriculture) and explain their significanceSS4.1.2.b

Identify the states that border Rhode IslandSS4.1.2.c

Identify the locations of the Nahaganset (Narragansett), Nehantick and Eastern Nehantick (Niantic), Nipmuc, Manissean, Massachuset, and Wampanoag (Pokanoket) peoples on a map and analyze the relationship between geography and settlement patternsSS4.2.1.a

Explain cultural aspects of these Indigenous groups (e.g., language, art, clothing, homes, food, kinship system)SS4.2.1.b

Explain ways Indigenous groups used available resources (e.g., fish for food; deer for food, clothing, tools; trees for homes, canoes; stones for tools) and analyze the relationship between geography and resource availabilitySS4.2.1.c

Analyze the relationships among Indigenous groups, including those who lived nearby (e.g., Pequot, Mohegan)SS4.2.1.d

Analyze contemporary tribal governments and organizations of Indigenous people in Rhode Island today and ways the peoples today continue to practice cultural traditionsSS4.2.1.e

Analyze different ways we know and understand the past (e.g., oral traditions from Indigenous descendants, documentation from early explorers and colonists - including Roger Williams' A Key into the Language of America, historical records, archaeology, anthropology), and identify the biases of different types of sourcesSS4.2.1.f

Explain Williams' beliefs about religion and analyze how those beliefs went against what leaders in Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Bay colonies wanted colonists to believe and how they wanted them to worshipSS4.2.2.a

Explain Williams' journey after banishment, who helped him, and analyze why he eventually settled in the location he named "Providence"SS4.2.2.b

Explain what the area of Providence was like and analyze the ways nearby resources supported the new settlementSS4.2.2.c

Identify other people who joined Roger Williams to settle Providence (e.g., Chad Brown, Alice Daniels, Richard Waterman, Thomas Olney) and explain their significanceSS4.2.2.d

Analyze the components and rationale for Williams' "Civil Compact" and his ideas about religious freedomSS4.2.3.a

Analyze the similarities and differences between the town of Providence and other New England towns (e.g., religious beliefs, how home lots were divided) and argue the ways Williams' beliefs influenced the spatial layout of the town of ProvidenceSS4.2.3.b

Identify the founders of other English settlements in the Rhode Island colony (e.g., Anne Hutchinson, William Coddington, Samuel Gorton, Richard Smith, and William Harris) and analyze their reasons for creating other settlements and the conditions of those settlementsSS4.2.3.c

Analyze the rationale for and components of the charter John Clark and Roger Williams obtained from England (e.g., freedom of religion, elected government) and argue who benefitedSS4.2.3.d

Identify the range of other religious groups who settled in the Rhode Island colony (e.g., Quakers, Jews) and explain why they were welcomed to do soSS4.2.3.e

Argue the impacts early European explorers and tradesmen had on Indigenous populations (e.g., trade, diseases)SS4.2.4.a

Analyze major conflicts between the English colonists and the Indigenous people, identify who was involved, and argue who benefited from the outcomes (e.g., Pequot War, King Philip's War, Great Swamp Massacre, the sale of Indigenous people after the wars into slavery)SS4.2.4.b

Argue the impacts of colonial encroachment on Indigenous lands, culture, and activities (e.g., instances of English settlers allowing their pigs to stomp on and eat Indigenous crops, fencing off hunting areas)SS4.2.4.c

Analyze the range of perspectives on land use of the Indigenous peoples and the English colonistsSS4.2.4.d

Explain the system of indenture and "binding out" Indigenous children for indentured service and argue who benefited from that systemSS4.2.4.e

Analyze trade and land use "agreements" between Indigenous and English leaders (especially Roger Williams and the Narragansett) and argue who benefited from those agreementsSS4.2.4.f

Identify examples and analyze the ways the areas' natural resources were used to support settlement and a way of life (e.g., wood for building homes, available resources for food, clothing, and trade)SS4.3.1.a

Explain the uses of resources imported from England into the colony (e.g., livestock, furniture, grains, metal pots, weapons) and analyze the ways resources contributed to their lifewaysSS4.3.1.b

Identify the natural features of the area and argue how those features are related to the growth of the economy (e.g., the ocean for shipping, travel, and fishing; waterways for travel, trade, and fishing; forests for wood; soapstone quarries for bowls)SS4.3.1.c

Explain English-style forestry and agriculture and argue the ways those methods impacted the landSS4.3.1.d

Explain the conditions for expansion of English settlement and the growth and establishment of the Rhode Island colony and argue its impact on colonists and the Indigenous peoplesSS4.3.1.e

Explain the relationship between Rhode Island's geographic position and the development of cities and maritime trade, and identify the location of major port cities on a map (e.g., Providence, Newport, Bristol)SS4.3.2.a

Identify goods imported into Rhode Island through maritime trade (e.g., mahogany, cacao beans, molasses, silk, porcelain, tea) and where they came from (e.g., Europe, Africa, Caribbean, India, China), explain their significance in the development of Rhode island's economy, and argue the impacts of this trade on othersSS4.3.2.b

Identify goods (e.g., chocolate, rum, spermaceti candles, cod, iron) exported to other parts of the world from Rhode Island, explain their significance in the development of Rhode Island's economy, and argue the impacts of this trade on othersSS4.3.2.c

Identify goods (e.g., furniture, rice, cotton, tobacco, spermaceti oil) traded with other American colonies (e.g., Massachusetts, Connecticut, colonies in the American South, English colonies in the Caribbean), explain their significance in the development of Rhode Island's economy, and argue the impacts of this trade on othersSS4.3.2.d

Analyze the conditions of the enslavement and trade of Africans, explain how the triangular trade functioned, and argue who benefitedSS4.3.2.e

Explain Rhode Island's involvement in the trade of enslaved Africans, and argue who was complicit and who benefitedSS4.3.2.f

Analyze ways enslaved Africans resisted enslavement (e.g., insurrection on ships, refusal to work, self-emancipation)SS4.3.3.a

Analyze the work enslaved people in Rhode Island were forced to do and what parts of Rhode Island they supported (e.g., farm labor on South County plantations, domestic labor in city households, labor on merchant shops)SS4.3.3.b

Explain ways some Black Rhode Islanders obtained their freedom (e.g., buy their or family members' freedom, enslavers granting freedom)SS4.3.3.c

Analyze the ways enslaved and free Africans maintained culture and re-created a new culture (e.g., naming traditions, foods, music, religion, forming of social organizations such as the African Free Union Society, Negro elections)SS4.3.3.d

Identify free and enslaved Black Rhode Islanders from this time period and analyze their contributions to society (e.g., Duchess Quamino, Newport Gardner)SS4.3.3.e

Explain the rationale for and conditions of the Sugar and Stamp Acts, and analyze how Rhode Islanders respondedSS4.4.1.a

Analyze the conditions leading to the Gaspee Affair, and argue how it was significant to the lead up to the American RevolutionSS4.4.1.b

Analyze the cause of The Act of Renunciation of May 4, 1776, and argue how it was significant to the lead up to the American RevolutionSS4.4.1.c

Explain why Rhode Islanders joined the American Revolution, and analyze the ideals of the RevolutionSS4.4.1.d

Explain what privateers were, and analyze their role in establishing the NavySS4.4.2.a

Explain the conditions of the occupation of Newport, and analyze how it affected Newport's economySS4.4.2.b

Identify the location and circumstances of the Battle of Rhode Island, and explain what happenedSS4.4.2.c

Explain the roles Rhode Island women fulfilled during the American RevolutionSS4.4.2.d

Explain the elements of the Gradual Emancipation Act, and analyze ways the abolition movement was tied to the ideals of the RevolutionSS4.4.2.e

Explain the formation of and recruitment for the 1st Rhode Island Regiment (e.g., enslaved Black Rhode Islanders, free Black and Indigenous people), and analyze the reasons men decided to join the Regiment (e.g., promise of freedom after the war for enslaved soldiers, belief in the ideals of the Revolution)SS4.4.2.f

Analyze the reasons Rhode Islanders did not go to the Constitutional Convention (rights of a smaller state, fear of a central authority)SS4.4.3.a

Analyze the reasons the addition of the <em>Bill of Rights</em> led Rhode Island to ratify the <em>Constitution of the United States</em> and become a stateSS4.4.3.b

Explain Samuel Slater's role in starting the Industrial Revolution in America and the structure of the "Rhode Island System of Manufacture"SS4.5.1.a

Analyze the ways geography and the environment supported the development of a mill system, how Rhode Island's geography influenced the mill system and argue how this type of industry impacted the environmentSS4.5.1.b

Identify reasons for changes in rural agricultural production to more factories and argue how this impacted families and communitiesSS4.5.1.c

Explain the rationale behind child labor, analyze labor conditions and efforts to end child labor (including Lewis Hine's visits to Rhode Island mills to document child labor), and argue who benefitedSS4.5.1.d

Explain the textile industry's connection to southern slavery despite the end to slavery in the NorthSS4.5.1.e

Identify examples of immigration to Rhode Island during this era (e.g., Irish, French Canadians) and analyze the reasons people came to Rhode IslandSS4.5.1.f

Analyze how major industries contributed to Rhode Island's economy into the late 20th century (e.g., fishing, agriculture, costume jewelry, textiles, banking, tourism)SS4.5.2.a

Analyze the conditions that led immigrant groups to come to Rhode Island to participate in those major industries and their contributions to the culture of Rhode Island (e.g., Cape Verdeans, Chinese, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Hmong, Italians, Irish, Portuguese, Puerto Ricans)SS4.5.2.b

Identify the industries and jobs in Rhode Island today (e.g., tourism, healthcare, education, military) and argue how they impact the stateSS4.5.3.a

Identify the location of Rhode Island's cities and explain the reasons for their locationsSS4.5.3.b

Analyze the population and demographics of Rhode Island (e.g., gender, age, ethnic background, race) and explain why there are areas where there are concentrations of peopleSS4.5.3.c

Explain ways that Rhode Islanders celebrate and continue cultural traditions (e.g., Narragansett August Meeting, Columbus Day Parade on Federal Hill, 4th of July Parade in Bristol)SS4.5.3.d

Explain ways that diverse backgrounds influence the culture of Rhode Island today (e.g., Indigenous Johnny cakes, Italian calamari, Portuguese bread)SS4.5.3.e

Identify landmarks and monuments that honor historical events and people in Rhode Island and explain their importanceSS4.5.3.f

Identify the state-level leaders who represent students' district(s) and explain how they are elected and what issues they addressSS4.6.1.a

Identify the Rhode Island representatives in the United States Senate and House of Representatives and explain what issues they addressSS4.6.1.b

Identify the location of the Rhode Island State House and explain what decisions are made thereSS4.6.1.c

Explain how laws are made at the state level, why we have laws, and ways people can participate in lawmaking (e.g., sign a petition, write a letter to a representative, testify at a hearing, vote)SS4.6.1.d

Identify city/town leaders and explain how they are elected and what issues they addressSS4.6.2.a

Identify the location(s) of students' town/city hall(s) and explain what decisions are made thereSS4.6.2.b

Explain how local laws are made and enforced, and ways people can participate in lawmaking at the local level (e.g., vote, send an email to the mayor, speak at a town/city council meeting)SS4.6.2.c

Analyze the history of voting rights in Rhode Island and how people participated to gain those rights (e.g., woman suffrage, Dorr Rebellion)SS4.6.3.a

Analyze ways different groups of people gained civil rights in Rhode Island and how they gained those rights (e.g., Narragansett peoples regaining tribal land, Gay Pride Parade for LGTBQIA+ recognition and rights, textile union strikes, Black Rhode Islanders working on fair housing laws)SS4.6.3.b

Explain ways children in Rhode Island have participated in some of these movements (e.g., student walkouts at Hope and Central High Schools for Black student rights in the 1960s, young girls participating in woman suffrage demonstrations in the 1910s, Hope High School students forming the Providence Student Union in the 2010s), and analyze the role children can play in government todaySS4.6.3.c

Explain Rhode Island's voting process and who is allowed to voteSS4.6.4.a

Analyze ways that students can participate in their local and state governments despite not being of voting age (e.g., writing letters to state or local leaders, speaking at local council meetings)SS4.6.4.b

Identify issues that Rhode Islanders are debating today at the local and state levels (e.g., affordable housing, funding for education, taxes, access to healthcare), and analyze the reasons why these issues are important to Rhode Island communitiesSS4.6.4.c