"The Story of California" is a history and geography of the state of California, intended for classroom use by limited-English-proficient, native Spanish-speaking students in California's urban middle schools. The book is designed with the left page in English and the right page in Spanish to facilitate student transition into…

Designed for use with fourth and fifth grade combination classes, this student worktext combines concepts and content from both California and U. S. history courses. Material is arranged into the following seven chapters: Discovery and Exploration; Colonizing a New Land; A New Nation and New Californians; Westward Expansion; Civil War,…

The third volume of a newsletter for integrating folk music appreciation into elementary and secondary social studies, literature, and humanities courses, this publication contains three issues of the newsletter which together provide a compilation of folksongs from various historical periods and cultures. The first issue contains an article on…

This eighth grade lesson plan asks students to work in groups of four. They must: (1) decide whether to join the Union Army or the Confederate Army; (2) decide under which General they will serve and in which battles they will fight; and (3) once this decision has been made, assign the following roles for team or group members: photographer,…

This eighth grade lesson plan asks students to research and analyze primary source documents about early factory labor (mill workers during the period between 1840-1860) showing their hours of labor, ages of laborers, reasons for working, and working conditions. The lesson plan asks students to read a historical novel about the time,…

In this 10th grade social studies and language arts interdisciplinary unit, students research and report on historical figures from the turn of the 20th century. Students are required to work in pairs to learn about famous and common individuals, including Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Gompers, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt, Booker…

A historian, Doane Robinson, and a sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, worked together to build a gigantic monument in South Dakota that honored four of the greatest U.S. presidents: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson. Robinson and Borglum wanted the monument to represent U.S. ideals. To celebrate the anniversary of…

A U.S. frontier theme park is opening in your (the student's) home town. The featured adventure rides will be forms of transportation used in the late 1700s to early 1800s to journey west across the Appalachian mountains. Each ride represents an historically accurate time and place. The students need maps identifying where the mode of…

In this grade 5 social studies and language arts interdisciplinary unit, students are required to investigate key battles in the Revolutionary War for independence. Working in groups, students research eight battles to try to determine which was the most important battle leading up to victory for the U.S. colonists. The battles to be investigated…

Presents a lesson plan on the early settlement of California by Spanish and Mexican colonists. Discusses the physical and cultural changes in the region from Spanish colonial days to modern times. Includes two primary source readings, two maps, and diagrams of a colonial ranch site, now on the National Register of Historic Places. (CFR)

In this social studies and language arts interdisciplinary unit for 8th or 11th grade, students are required to take on the persona of a Populist or a Progressive. The unit is designed to create a dialogue between two similar movements in late 19th and early 20th century U.S. history. Students work in small groups to research and present their…

The history of Filipino immigrants to the United States and the contributions they have made to American society are discussed in this book which is part of a series for children. The Philippines is the only nation in Asia that is predominantly Christian and English-speaking. The country was a colony of the United States from 1896 to 1946, and…