Synopses & Reviews
The Alexandria PlanThe Alexandria Plan is Common Core’s curriculum for the teaching of United States and world history. This strategic framework identifies high-quality informational texts and narrative nonfiction that teach students history and promote mastery of the Common Core State Standards for ELA. The history studied complements the best state social studies standards. This four-volume series encompasses Grades K-2 and 3-5 for both United States and world history.
Features of each book include
- Concise Era Summaries that orient both teachers and students to the historical background of an era
- A list of suggested anchor texts that teach an essential aspect of an era
- One text study per era that draws students through a close read of an anchor text with text-dependent questions and writing-based performance assessments
- Learning Expectations that articulate the key ideas, events, facts, and figures to study in a particular grade span
This volume introduces lower elementary students to eighteen key eras in our country’s history, from the original Native American people to modern times, through stories that will captivate readers and inspire curiosity to learn more.
On the Cover : The Statue of Liberty, dedicated 1886. Photo: Diogo Salles | Getty
Why are symbols important?
Common Core takes advantage of every opportunity to build students’ cultural literacy. That is why the cover of each book we publish is illustrated with an important work of painting, sculpture, or architecture. We select images that we know students will love to look at again and again. These works relate to ideas taken up in the book. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a gift from the people of France, in celebration of America’s independence. The statue is among the best known symbols of freedom, viewable from the boats that brought more than 12 million new Americans to our shores over the course of more than 60 years. The goal of freedom, and the sacrifices people have made to obtain it in America, is an essential theme of the books that comprise the basis for this volume.
Common Core, Inc. (commoncore.org) is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to advocate for a content-rich liberal arts education in America’s K-12 schools. To improve education in America, Common Core creates curriculum materials, conducts professional development, and also promotes programs, policies, and initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels that provide students with challenging, rigorous instruction in the full range of liberal arts and sciences. Common Core, Inc. is not affiliated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Synopsis
Common Core guidance for social studies and reading teachers From the organization that prepared the bestselling Common Core Curriculum Maps in English Language Arts, this book provides everything K-2 teachers need to help students learn history while following key literacy and social studies standards. Although there are no comprehensive national standards for social studies, the CCSS for English language arts address social studies content in two ways: through specific standards for teaching reading and writing about social studies, as well as indirectly through teaching how to read informational texts, including many exemplars related to United States and world history.
Created by teachers, for teachers, the curriculum maps in this book present a comprehensive, coherent sequence of thematic units for teaching the social studies skills outlined in the CCSS for English language arts.
- The curriculum maps are the perfect guides for history teachers who can plan their year around the standards and craft their own more detailed lesson plans
- The maps are flexible and adaptable to accommodate diverse teaching styles
- Incorporates the best of local state social studies standards
Synopsis
Comprehensive Common Core curriculum for United States History, Grades K-2The Alexandria Plan is Common Core's curriculum tool for the teaching of United States and World History. It is a strategic framework for identifying and using high quality informational texts and narrative nonfiction to meet the expectations of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA) while also sharing essential historical knowledge drawn from the very best state history and civics standards from around the country. The curriculum is presented in this four volume series: Common Core Curriculum: United States History, Grades K-2; Common Core Curriculum: World History, Grades K-2; Common Core Curriculum: United States History, Grades 3-5; and Common Core Curriculum: World History, Grades 3-5.
Features of each book include:
- Learning Expectations, which articulate the key ideas, events, facts, and figures to be understood by students in a particular grade span.
- Suggested anchor texts for each topic.
- In depth text studies, comprised of text-dependent questions, student responses, and assessments based on a featured anchor text.
- Select additional resources.
- Concise Era Summaries that orient both teachers and students to the historical background.
The curriculum helps teachers pose questions about texts covering a wide range of topics. This volume, Common Core Curriculum: United States History, Grades K-2, introduces lower elementary students to 18 key eras in our country's history, from the original Native American people to modern times, through stories that they will treasure forever.
About the Author
Common Core, Inc. (commoncore.org) is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to advocate for a content-rich liberal arts education in America’s K-12 schools. To improve education in America, Common Core creates curriculum materials, conducts professional development, and also promotes programs, policies, and initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels that provide students with challenging, rigorous instruction in the full range of liberal arts and sciences. Common Core, Inc. is not affiliated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Table of Contents
Introduction: How to Use the Alexandria Plan viiText Studies
Era 1 Across Beringia: Original People of North America (ca. 20,000 bce to ca. 1600 ce) 1
Text Study: Native Homes by Bobbie Kalman
Era 2 Driven to Discover: Europeans Establish the New World (Late 1400s to Late 1600s) 7
Text Study: Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus by Peter Sis
Era 3 Uniquely American: The Beginnings of a New Nationality (1607 to Late 1600s) 15
Text Study: The First Thanksgiving by Linda Hayward
Era 4 Taxation without Representation: Tension Mounts (ca. 1660 to 1763) 21
Text Study: If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern
Era 5 Independence: America Gains Its Freedom (1763 to 1783) 27
Text Study: A Picture Book of Paul Revere by David A. Adler
Era 6 We the People: Building an American Republic (1776 to 1789) 33
Text Study: D Is for Democracy: A Citizen’s Alphabet by Elissa Grodin
Era 7 Democracy Made Real: America Passes the Torch (1789 to 1800) 39
Text Study: George Washington: Soldier, Hero, President by Justine and Ron Fontes
Era 8 Going West: Opportunity and Peril on America’s Frontier (1800 to 1830s) 47
Text Study: How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark by Rosalyn Schanzer
Era 9 Freedom for All: American Democracy Begins to Transform (1820s to 1840s) 57
Text Study: The Listeners by Gloria Whelan
Text Study: The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully
Era 10 A House Divided: North versus South (1820 to 1859) 67
Text Study: “When I Reach the Promised Land . . .” by Susan Buckley, pages 11–13, Appleseeds, March 2004
Text Study: Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
Era 11 Blue versus Gray: Civil War and Reconstruction (1860 to 1877) 75
Text Study: Abraham Lincoln: Lawyer, Leader, Legend by Justine and Ron Fontes
Era 12 Resistance and Recovery: Rebuilding a War-Torn Nation (1870s to 1890s) 83
Text Study: Journey of a Pioneer by Patricia J. Murphy
Era 13 The Next Benchmark: America Is a Global Leader (1890s to 1920) 89
Text Study: A Weed Is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver by Aliki
Era 14 The Great War: Rallying American Patriotism (1914 to 1929) 95
Text Study: Bessie Smith and the Night Riders by Sue Stauffacher
Era 15 Prosperity Has Its Price: Economic Collapse and World War II (1929 to 1945) 103
Text Study: Finding Daddy: A Story of the Great Depression by Jo and Josephine Harper
Era 16 The New American Dream: Freedom from Tyranny (1946 to Late 1950s) 111
Text Study: Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot: A True Story of the Berlin Airlift and the Candy That Dropped from the Sky by Margot Theis Raven
Era 17 Communism and Counterculture: The Challenges of the ’50s and ’60s
(1950s to Late 1960s) 117
Text Study: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington by Frances E. Ruffin
Era 18 Modern Times: Presidential Scandals, Conservatism, and Unrest
(1968 to Present) 125
Text Study: America’s White Table by Margot Theis Raven
Era Summaries 131
Era 1 Across Beringia: Original People of North America (ca. 20,000 bce to ca. 1600 ce) 133
Indigenous Peoples Arrive • Distribution, Diversity, and Cultural Regions • Native American Civilization in North America and Beyond • The Effects of European Contact in the Americas
Era 2 Driven to Discover: Europeans Establish the New World (Late 1400s to Late 1600s) 135
Europe Discovers the Americas • European Rivals in the Americas • Aims of British Settlement Differ by Region • The Colonists Encounter the Native North Americans
Era 3 Uniquely American: The Beginnings of a New Nationality (1607 to Late 1600s) 139
The Early Colonies: Regional Differences Abound • Religious Tension and Tolerance • The Rise, Entrenchment, and Regional Patterns of Slavery • The Rise of Representative Government and Popular Power in the Colonies
Era 4 Taxation without Representation: Tension Mounts (ca. 1660 to 1763) 142
Britain Expands Its Rule over America • The Colonies Become More Modern, British, and Like One Another • The Colonies’ Role in the Empire Grows and Becomes More Complex
Era 5 Independence: America Gains Its Freedom (1763 to 1783) 145
The French and Indian War Prods Britain to Seek Revenue from the Colonies • The Colonies Reject British Taxation and Respond to the Stamp Act • Crisis Builds toward Revolution • The Revolutionary War: America Stands Up for Freedom, Britain for Its Empire
Era 6 We the People: Building an American Republic (1776 to 1789) 149
Democratic Experiments: The Articles of Confederation and the State Constitutions • The Constitutional Convention of 1787 • The Battle for Ratification and the Call for a Bill of Rights
Era 7 Democracy Made Real: America Passes the Torch (1789 to 1800) 153
Creating the National Government • The First Party Schism • The New Nation’s Parties and Politics • The Revolution of 1800
Era 8 Going West: Opportunity and Peril on America’s Frontier (1800 to 1830s) 157
A Young and Fast-Expanding Nation • America Defies the European Powers • The Economy Transforms as Commerce Expands
Era 9 Freedom for All: American Democracy Begins to Transform (1820s to 1840s) 161
The New Party Schism and the Jacksonian Era • A More Perfect Society: Social Change and the Reform Movements • After Its Post-Revolution Decline, Slavery Gains Strength
Era 10 A House Divided: North versus South (1820 to 1859) 164
A Line in the Sand: Slavery in the Territories • The Sectional Divide Grows • The Divide Begins to Rend the Country
Era 11 Blue versus Gray: Civil War and Reconstruction (1860 to 1877) 168
Secessionists and Unionists • The War for the Union: 1861–1862 • The War against Slavery: 1863–1865 • The Rise and Fall of Reconstruction
Era 12 Resistance and Recovery: Rebuilding a War-Torn Nation (1870s to 1890s) 174
Industrialization, Immigration, and Expansion • The Strains of the Gilded Age • The New South and the Rise of Jim Crow
Era 13 The Next Benchmark: America Is a Global Leader (1890s to 1920) 178
The United States Looks Overseas • Social Strain at Home and the Progressive Push for Reform • The Limits of Progressivism and the Call for Civil Rights
Era 14 The Great War: Rallying American Patriotism (1914 to 1929) 182
America Enters Europe’s War • The War at Home: Growth and Government, Patriotism, and Repression • Post-War America: Prosperity and New Freedoms—for Some
Era 15 Prosperity Has Its Price: Economic Collapse and World War II (1929 to 1945) 186
Crash, Depression, and the New Deal Response • Totalitarian Europe and Global Crisis: Alarm, Extremism, and Isolationism at Home • The United States Joins the Second World War • The World War II Home Front
Era 16 The New American Dream: Freedom from Tyranny (1946 to Late 1950s) 193
The Soviet Union and the Emerging Cold War • The Cold War at Home and the New Red Scare • American Life in the Post-War Era • The Renewed Civil Rights Movement
Era 17 Communism and Counterculture: The Challenges of the ’50s and ’60s
(1950s to Late 1960s) 199
The Superpowers Find an Uneasy Balance: Deterrence and the Battle for Hearts and Minds • Cold War Tensions under Kennedy and Johnson • Reform at Home: The Civil Rights Revolution and LBJ’s Great Society • The ’60s: War, Counterculture, and Conflict
Era 18 Modern Times: Presidential Scandals, Conservatism, and Unrest (1968 to Present) 205
Global Conflict and Diplomacy: Détente, China, and the Middle East • The Cold War Ends, and European Communism Falls • The Changing Post–Cold War World • Recent Trends: Global Ties and Conflicts •
Postscript: Recent Events (1992 to Present)
Who Is Common Core 217
Acknowledgments 219
Index 221