About This Site

In an effort to make this website user friendly, I wanted to share a little about the resources I have created and what the aim of each resource is.

Inquiry Question:  This is the big question that guides the unit.  Each unit is broken into parts and each part has a Focus Question to focus students on a part of the big picture.  

For each unit, there are multiple versions of the textbook: Textbook, Leveled, and Foundational . . .

The Textbook version is written at a reading level of approximately 13 and includes a column to the right for students to take notes, write questions they may have as they read, and make connections to the Inquiry & Focus Questions.  Each part includes Foundational Vocabulary and headings divide the reading into sections.  Primary source excerpts are frequently embedded and accompanied by a question or prompt to frame the reader.  The top of each page has the Inquiry and Focus Question in the heading to remind students of the big picture.

The Leveled version is written at a reading level of approximately 11 and the Foundational version is written at a reading level of approximately 8.  The Leveld and Foundational versions are divided into sections and the sections are similarly divided, have the same headings, and cover the same content.  Each section takes up one page and includes reading comprehension questions at the bottom.

The Resources collection contains all of the accompanying graphic organizers, review assignments, and other activities.

Accompanying Images:  This Google Slides presentation is organized to follow the Textbook.  It should not be viewed as a ready-to-go presentation, but rather a collection of images to go along with the Textbook.  Like the Textbook, each section includes the Unit Inquiry Question, Section Focus Question, key images, and Foundational Vocabulary.  Progressing through the presentation, the headings from the Textbook”appear as headings in the presentation and the images connect to the people, ideas, and events detailed in each section of the Textbook.  All images include the URL (in the Speaker Notes) identifying where the images were found.

Sources: These files contain excerpts from primary sources organized chronologically.

Document Analysis: Document Analysis files include a variety of options to help students evaluate primary source excerpts.  Each Document Analysis file includes sourcing, contextualization, and close reading questions, document specific comprehension questions, and a space for students to identify how the primary source excerpt helps them better understand or respond to the unit Inquiry Question and / or section Focus Question(s).

Graphic Organizer:  In Your Own Words, Who’s Who, and Timeline → These assignments require students to use the Textbook to analyze some content from the Textbook by describing some historical detail or concept in their own words.  For example, in The Great Depression, Part I: Causes of the Great Depression, the prompt reads, “Explain why each of these TEN causes of the Great Depression was a cause of the Great Depression . . .”  Below, the ten causes of the Great Depression as laid out in the headings of the Textbook are listed with space for each student to explain why each of these cases was a cause of the Great Depression.

Review / Assessment: Foundational Vocabulary Matching → This review assignment or assessment includes all of the Foundational Vocabulary for each section and the exact definition from the Foundational Vocabulary section of the Textbook.

Review / Assessment: Three Clues Review → This review assignment requires students to create a guessing review game to play with a peer.  Students will select a person, group, event, place, or other concept and write three clues to guide the peer to identify the person, group, event, place, or other concept.

In Their Own Words: This assignment asks students to examine a primary source excerpt (or excerpts) from the Textbook and answer a series of questions.  For example, in the Great Depression, Part III: A New Deal for America, the directions reference a primary source from the American Liberty League in the Textbook and a Huey Long primary source excerpt from the “textbook.”  There are a series of questions to answer for each primary source.

Deep Dive: This assignment requires students to research a topic more thoroughly than the “textbook” is able to present.  Students investigate some aspect of history and have a variety of product options to choose from in order to demonstrate their learning.  For example, in the Great Depression, Part III: A New Deal for America, students select and research one New Deal Agency with a number of Research Questions to guide students towards answering the main focus, which is essentially the Focus Question for the section.  Students can choose to create an informational brochure, deliver a poster presentation, create an informational video, or deliver a Google Slides class presentation.

Apply Your Learning: Political Cartoon Analysis, Document Analysis, Visual Identification & Analysis, Geographic Change, and A Visual Story require students to take what they have learned from the Textbook and accompanying assignments to apply that knowledge to completing a task.  For example, in the Great Depression, Part II: Impact of the Great Depression, students are required to choose any five images that they feel best represent the impact of the Great Depression.  For each image, students respond to a series of prompts to explain why they believe that image best represents the impact of the Great Depression.

Contemporary Connection: This assignment asks students to make connections between the content in the Textbook and the world today.  For example, in the Great Depression, Part II: Impact of the Great Depression, the directions ask students to examine song lyrics from before the Great Depression and after the onset of the Great Depression.  The connection comes in the second half of the assignment when students are asked to identify a song from the previous five years that they feel best represents America today and explain why they feel that song best represents America today.

Going Further: I have included some web resources that were helpful to me in my research that can be helpful to students in their research.  Some of the Review or Assessments require students to conduct their own research and these sites are a great place to start.

Works Cited:  When I write each section of the Textbook, I cite each source using footnotes.  While it is incredibly important to document where information comes from, students would be distracted reading a section of a Textbook with over 100 notes.  Instead, a complete Works Cited is provided for each topic divided by the resources utilized for each part.