By grade · 17 lessons

4th Grade History Lessons on Indiana's Past

This page collects 4th grade history lessons on Indiana, from Mississippian mound builders to twentieth-century steel towns. Each lesson gives a true story sized for 9-year-old readers, along with a notes template and student work.

The lessons move through Indiana statehood, pioneer settlement, the Underground Railroad, immigration, and the rise of Indianapolis industries, then close with the Great Migration and figures like Larry Bird. Many include a primary-source lab or a judgment lab for weighing evidence.

Student files are free with a school email and ready for classroom use.

Library unit · 4th grade
The Mound Builders of Angel Mounds
Mississippian farmers build earthen mounds near Evansville, then leave the town by 1450.
Library unit · 4th grade
The Miami at Kekionga
The Miami build a fur-trading town at Kekionga, then lose it after Fallen Timbers.
primary-source lab
Library unit · 4th grade
Clark's March to Vincennes
George Rogers Clark leads a freezing 1779 march to capture the British fort at Vincennes.
primary-source lab
Library unit · 4th grade
Indiana Becomes the Nineteenth State
Indiana grows from a territory into the 19th state under Jonathan Jennings in 1816.
primary-source lab
Library unit · 4th grade
Pioneer Families Settle the Indiana Frontier
Pioneer families clear Indiana's forests, face malaria, and build farms and towns by the 1850s.
primary-source lab
Library unit · 4th grade
The Coffins and the Underground Railroad in Indiana
Levi and Catharine Coffin help enslaved people escape as Hoosiers slowly turn against slavery.
primary-source labjudgment lab
Library unit · 4th grade
Lincoln's Indiana and the Hoosiers Who Saved the Union
Lincoln's Indiana boyhood and the state's huge soldier contribution under Governor Oliver Morton.
judgment lab
Library unit · 4th grade
Immigrant Workers Build Booming Indiana
Irish and German immigrants dig canals and build railroads, fueling Indiana's growth into industrial cities.
Library unit · 4th grade
Madam C.J. Walker Builds an Empire in Indianapolis
Sarah Breedlove rises from poverty to build a hair-care empire in Indianapolis.
primary-source lab
Library unit · 4th grade
The Automobile Transforms Indiana
Carl Fisher builds the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and pushes highways that make Indiana a crossroads.
primary-source lab
Library unit · 4th grade
Indiana's Home Front and Battlefront in World War II
Indiana builds P-47 planes in Evansville during World War II, then faces postwar job losses.
primary-source labjudgment lab
Library unit · 4th grade
Indiana's 1851 Constitution Shapes Hoosier Government
Indiana's 1851 constitution sets up government but bans Black migration through harsh 'black laws.'
Library unit · 4th grade
How Indiana's State Government Works
Julia Nelson campaigns door to door and becomes the first woman elected to Indiana's legislature.
Library unit · 4th grade
The Great Migration to the Calumet Region
Black families leave the Jim Crow South for Gary's steel mills, building lasting communities.
primary-source lab
Member-made · 4th grade
Larry Bird
Larry Bird grows up poor in French Lick and rises to NBA stardom with the Celtics.
judgment lab
Member-made · 4th grade
Monroe Seiberling and the House the Gas Boom Built
Natural gas discoveries fuel a glass-making boom in Kokomo led by businessman Monroe Seiberling.
judgment lab
Member-made · 4th grade
Richmond Builds the Machines That Move
Richmond grows from a small machine shop into a manufacturing city after railroads arrive.
primary-source labjudgment lab

Every lesson comes with a notes template, student work and labs; student files are free with a school email.All topics