4th grade Archives | America's Founding Era Education Forum (AFEEF)

Painting of the Committee of Five presenting the Declaration of Independence to Congress

walt
July 16, 2026

Foundations of America: Upper Elementary Curriculum

A multi-lesson unit for grades 4–5 that shows how the ideas of liberty, self-government and the rule of law became the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, using...

walt
July 16, 2026

Founding Documents Primary Source Set

A classroom set of the key documents of the American founding, from the Declaration of Independence to the Bill of Rights, with student-friendly background for each source.

1768 view of Boston Common in colonial Massachusetts

walt
July 16, 2026

Colonial Life in 13 Colonies

A unit for grades 4–5 on everyday life in the thirteen English colonies, comparing New England, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies and how colonists governed themselves.

Illustration of English settlers landing in Virginia in 1607

walt
July 16, 2026

Jamestown: The First Permanent Colony

A short video introduction to Jamestown, founded in 1607 as the first permanent English settlement in North America, and the people, hardships and ideas that shaped it.

The engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence

walt
July 16, 2026

The Declaration of Independence (Plain Language)

A plain-language version of the Declaration of Independence that helps students understand its famous opening ideas and the complaints colonists listed against King George III.

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution

walt
July 16, 2026

Bill of Rights for Kids

An introduction to the first ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, and the everyday freedoms they protect, such as speech, religion, the press and fair trials.