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New and Getting Better for 2012–2013

We held online sessions in early May to talk with parents just like you about what's new this year and answer their questions.

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American History A

Scope & Sequence : Scope & Sequence documents describe what is covered in a course (the scope) and also the order in which topics are covered (the sequence). These documents list instructional objectives and skills to be mastered. K¹² Scope & Sequence documents for each course include:

Course Overview

The first half of a detailed two-year survey of the history of the United States, this course takes students from the arrival of the first people in North America through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Lessons integrate topics in geography, civics, and economics. Building on the award-winning series A History of US, the course guides students through critical episodes in the story of America. Students investigate Native American civilizations; follow the path of European exploration and colonization; assess the causes and consequences of the American Revolution; examine the Constitution and the growth of the new nation; and analyze what led to the Civil War and its aftermath.

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Course Outline

The Earliest Americans

  • History and A History of US
  • Maps and Directions
  • Grids (optional)
  • North American Beginnings
  • Cliff Dwellers
  • Indians of the Northwest
  • Touring the Continent
  • The Plains Indians
  • The Mound Builders
  • The Eastern Woodland Indians

European Exploration

  • Navigating Uncharted Waters
  • Discovering New Lands
  • Columbus Journeys On
  • The Spanish Conquest
  • Ponce de León and Coronado
  • More Conquistadors
  • The French Explore America
  • From England to America

Thirteen Colonies, Part 1

  • A Beginning in Virginia
  • John Smith and Jamestown
  • Tobacco and Turning Points
  • Conflict
  • Pilgrims and Promises
  • What’s a Puritan?
  • Waterways or Waterwheels
  • Thankful for Feasting (optional)

Thirteen Colonies, Part 2

  • Breaks with Tradition: Roger Williams
  • Breaks with Tradition: Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer
  • Visiting Salem
  • Elsewhere in New England
  • The Middle Colonies
  • Toleration Triumphs
  • Benjamin Franklin: An American Renaissance Man
  • Colonization Heads South
  • A Visit to Williamsburg (optional)
  • Colonial Life in the South
  • Triangles of Trade

Road to Revolution

  • Peter’s Press (optional)
  • The French and Indian War
  • Looking West
  • Boone Went Over the Mountain (optional)
  • The Stamp of English Rights
  • Give Us Liberty!
  • The Boston Massacre
  • The Shot Heard Round the World
  • Map Skills
  • A Continental Congress
  • The Fighting Begins
  • Will You Sign? 
  • Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

The American Revolution

  • John and Abigail Adams
  • Decisions
  • Best Friends
  • Challenges for the Continental Army
  • Turning Points
  • Sweet Surrender
  • What Did It All Mean?

The Constitution

  • Confederation and Constitutions
  • The Northwest Ordinance
  • Thomas Jefferson: A Man for All Time
  • James Madison and a Philadelphia Summer
  • An Important Compromise
  • We the People
  • Ratification!
  • Mason Makes His Mark (optional)
  • The Constitution: Branches and Balances
  • The Constitution: What Does It Say?
  • The Bill of Rights

A New Nation

  • The Father of His Country and Ours
  • The Well Resorted Tavern
  • Parties and Change
  • Capital Ideas
  • Adams Takes the Helm
  • Who Will Decide?
  • The Louisiana Purchase and More
  • An Expedition
  • A Powerful Orator, and the Great Tekamthi (optional)
  • Another War!
  • By the Dawn's Early Light
  • The Monroe Doctrine
  • Andrew Jackson: An Uncommon Man
  • The First Six Presidents (optional)

A New Age and New Industries

  • Revolutionary Inventions
  • Transportation and Travel
  • Steaming
  • Cities Grow All Around
  • Mills and Mines
  • Writing a Document-Based Essay

Americans Take New Land

  • Write On, Sequoyah!
  • Trails of Tears
  • Movement and Migration
  • Westward Ho!
  • Shakers and Movers
  • Don't Forget to Write (optional)
  • Manifest Destinies
  • Remember More Than the Alamo
  • More and More States
  • The Mexican War
  • Rushing for Gold

Reform and Reflection

  • Reforming a Nation
  • Achieving Their Potential
  • Writing in America
  • Write Every Time (optional)
  • Art in America
  • Made in America (optional)

Slavery and Sectionalism

  • Slavery in a Free Country
  • Can a Compromise Work?
  • Frederick Douglass: A Voice Against Slavery
  • Clay, Calhoun, and Webster Speak Out
  • Another Compromise
  • Where is Justice?
  • Not Really a Railroad Underground
  • More on the Underground Railroad (optional)
  • Is It Ever Okay? (optional)
  • Against Slavery: Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Against Slavery: John Brown
  • Abraham Lincoln: Larger Than Life

The Civil War

  • An Uncivil War
  • It Begins
  • North Versus South
  • Generals North and South
  • The War Moves Out to Sea
  • Through the Eyes of Mathew Brady (optional)
  • Proclaiming Emancipation
  • Fighting More Than a War
  • Gettysburg and Vicksburg
  • Important Words
  • Almost Over
  • Hope and Sorrow

Reconstruction

  • Tragedy
  • Now What?
  • High Hopes
  • Guarantees
  • Write About It
  • New Era, New President
  • Executive Efforts
  • Legislative Labors
  • Single-Minded Stevens
  • A President on Trial
  • Turning Back

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Number of Lessons and Scheduling

60 minutes

Total Lessons: 180

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Materials

Standard Curriculum Items

  • US/World map (3–5)
  • Map Skills and Our World (Level 5)
  • A History of US (Concise Edition) by Joy Hakim
    Volume A: Prehistory to 1800
    Volume B: 1790 to 1877
  • American History A Student Guide
  • American History A Learning Coach Guide

NOTE: List subject to change

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