Transform your U.S. History classroom to be inquiry-driven and project-based and start cultivating authentic learning with this growing course, plus bonuses!

This is the course I wish existed in my first year teaching U.S. History. Whether you are brand new and overwhelmed or looking to upgrade your impact from the same-old, same-old, this thematic PBL U.S. History course will fast-track you to cultivating a passion in your students to appreciate those who have come before them and become the history-makers of the future.

The resources in this bundle come in print PDF and digital for Google.

This curriculum contains:

• First-day-of-school thematic activity kit
• Kick-off PBL project
• 4 PBL & inquiry-driven content units
• 2 U.S. geography test kits (cities & states / geographic features)
• Course overview and suggested calendar
• Stand-alone writing projects to easily turn your existing units into PBLs

Download the FREE Course Overview and Suggested Calendar to see how inquiry PBL will increase your impact on empowering students!

And be sure to check out these FREE lesson activities to try before buying:

• Voting & Representation Art Analysis from the Founding Values unit
• "The New Colossus" Poetry Analysis from the Immigration unit

Inquiry and project-based teaching bring focused rigor and current-world dimension to your daily lessons. And the personalized, authentic products students create are so inspiring. It has re-ignited a passion for teaching in me and it will for you too!

Teach a rich and meaningful course with these resources, completely independent of a textbook. Only a few outside resources (books, videos) are needed which can be easily and inexpensively accessible online or from your local library.

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Included in this course bundle

• Course Overview and Suggested Calendar: a FREE at-a-glance explanation of course; just click the link!

Intro Activities

• Thematic Back to School Activity Kit: Ask "What does it mean to be an American citizen?" by introducing a thematic foundation on which to build your course-- perfect for Week 1

U.S. Geography

• 6 Degrees of Separation "Selfie" PBL Project: warm up critical thinking, writing, and geography skills with this real-world sociology experiment to start your school year off right! (1-2 weeks)
• US Geography Test Kits (Political & Physical): continue by ensuring your students know the 50 states, largest cities, and geographic features using minimal class time (1 per semester)

1700s - 1800s Foundations

• America’s Founding Values: explore the founders of America, from 1600s colonists to 1800s activists, and their core values in order to develop one’s own goal and motivational plan of action for the school year (4-6 weeks)

1900s Immigration

• America’s Immigrant Story: explore the American story of diversity and hard work through the words and statistics of immigrants, Ellis Island "new" immigrants" to Vietnamese refugees, to create and preserve an oral history of their own (4-6 weeks)

1900s Protest Movements

• America’s Protest Movements: be inspired by 1900s activists, the Silent Sentinels to Alcatraz Occupiers, to develop one’s own statement of protest or support (4-6 weeks)

1900s Heroic Americans

• America's Heroes: explore what it means to be a hero from Madam CJ Walker to John Glenn in order to nominate one’s own hero for the Presidential Medal of Freedom (4-6 weeks)

In addition, all smaller product and mini unit versions of each full unit are all also included for FREE! Perfect for customizing to your students' needs and time constraints!

BONUS Stand-Alone Projects Kits

• Boycott / Buycott Business Letter
• Interview Narrative Essay
• Letter to an Elected Official
• Op-Ed Essay
• Thank You Note Card Letter

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What Other Teachers are Saying

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students loved the lessons I pulled from this! The American Protest unit was a big-time favorite for us. Thematic studies for history are the way to go and Erin has done a wonderful job creating lessons with nearly endless resources to use with the students. I've begun to use her model for trying to create other lessons to expand on these lessons! - Mike

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I used this resource as I transitioned my history instruction from chronological to thematic. The sources are varied and easy to work with. The material is engaging to my students and easy to prepare."- Blair

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ As an American Literature teacher, I snagged this product for the thematic coverage of historical documents and writing-centric PBLs. I am overjoyed by the detail included in the lesson plans and quality of the student handouts. - Rachel

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This listing is for one license for regular, non-commercial classroom use by a single teacher only. Commercial use like online teaching (ex. Outschool) or sharing with other teachers (ex. shared drive, in a Facebook group, in a professional development training) is strictly prohibited.

By purchasing a license to this resource, you have access to all future updates at no cost, available under “My Purchases." Multiple and transferable licenses are available for purchase. PDF files are uneditable, other files have editing abilities, unless otherwise stated. All files are protected under federal copyright laws.

To request a complete terms of use prior to purchase or if you have any questions about this resource, please leave a question below under Product Q&A.