Dream Values

This worksheet helps students in Grades 4 and 5 strengthen reading comprehension, categorization, historical understanding, and written expression by connecting the accomplishments of notable Americans to key values of the American Dream. Students read short descriptions of Ruby Bridges, Thomas Edison, Frederick Douglass, Dolores Huerta, Oprah Winfrey, and Steve Jobs and identify whether each exemplifies freedom, equality, hard work, or innovation. A final reflective response encourages students to consider the diversity of paths to success.

Learning Goals

• Recognizing Contributions of Historical Figures (Grades 4-5) – Students link individual achievements to broader cultural and civic values.
• Identifying Key Details – Learners extract meaningful information from short biographical descriptions.
• Understanding American Cultural Values – The activity highlights freedom, equality, hard work, and innovation as central elements of the American Dream.
• Written Explanation – Students summarize their understanding and reflect on diverse paths to achieving goals.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with elementary social studies and ELA standards.
• Promotes Critical Thinking – Encourages students to analyze accomplishments and make connections to values.
• Supports Comprehension and Categorization – Helps learners organize information and recognize patterns in historical contributions.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Works well for independent practice, discussion, assessment, or enrichment.
• Low-Prep Printable – Ready for classroom or homeschool use.

This Dream Values worksheet helps students connect notable Americans’ achievements to core principles of the American Dream. By identifying values and reflecting on different paths to success, learners strengthen comprehension, categorization, critical thinking, and written expression while gaining insight into the diverse experiences that define opportunity in the United States.

This worksheet is part of our The American Dream Worksheets collection.