Investigating History for Grades 3 and 4

Investigating History is coming to third and fourth grades! Our upcoming courses align fully to the Grades 3 and 4 content standards and are being developed in collaboration with Massachusetts educators and experts. They engage students with the history of Massachusetts, the United States, and North America through a variety of lenses and a diversity of perspectives.

Throughout the pilot of the Grades 3 and 4 materials this year, DESE has been getting valuable feedback from teachers, administrators, and students about how to make the Investigating History curriculum for these grade levels as strong as possible. In order to provide time to incorporate this feedback, the formal release of the Grades 3 and 4 Investigating History curriculum is scheduled for Summer 2026, in time for the 2026-27 school year.

In advance of this date, there are a variety of opportunities to begin exploring these new resources. To that end:

• This winter, on this page, DESE will be releasing the Grades 3 and 4 scope and sequence as well as sample lessons from each grade level.

• This summer:
  • DESE will make the full pilot version of the curriculum openly available as-is* on our website. While this version of the curriculum will not yet reflect some important changes that will be in place before the formal release, this will allow educators to start familiarizing themselves with the instructional approach, try out lessons or clusters in their classroom, and begin planning for 2026-27 implementation.
  • DESE will release teacher-facing Background Briefs for each third and fourth grade unit. These asynchronous, online modules are intended to help deepen teachers' content knowledge and prepare them to more skillfully implement the curriculum with their students.
  
  
• In the 2025-26 school year:
  • Certified professional development providers will be available to work with educators, schools, and districts and begin orienting them to the Grade 3 and 4 materials' content, instructional design, and pedagogy through a variety of professional development offerings.
  • In partnership with the One8 Foundation, there will be an opportunity for representatives from third and fourth grade schools to enroll in a series of professional development days focused on building content and pedagogical knowledge that is critical for effective implementation of Investigating History.
  
  

• In the 2026-27 school year, we are working to secure grant funding to support full implementation of Grades 3 and 4 through professional development and school-based support. More information about this grant opportunity will be shared towards the end of calendar year 2025.

*Please note that the pilot materials released for the 2025-26 school year will not yet have undergone important revisions. These revisions include:

• Building in robust supports for multilingual learners
• Updating materials, maps, and sources to maximize grade-level appropriateness and usability
• Strengthening the consistency of routines and instructional strategies across all units and grade levels
• Ensuring that skills and content flow coherently into the Grades 5, 6, and 7 materials

Given the importance of these revisions, DESE strongly recommends that schools who are not part of the 2024-25 pilot do not try to implement the full curriculum for the first time in the 2025-26 school year.

We are excited about the level of interest in Grades 3 and 4 Investigating History and look forward to sharing these materials with educators across Massachusetts. If you have questions, please reach out to InvestigatingHistory@mass.gov .