United States Geography Classroom Resource Binder PDF Download

This publication is a response to teachers' requests for practical assistance in implementing the history and social science framework for California's public schools. The document sets out resources that are useful in teaching U.S. history and geography for fifth grade students. Participants in a summer institute worked in grade level groups to identify instructional materials and develop content appropriate teaching strategies; their findings gave rise to the document. Resources and strategies that the participants identified were field tested and refined by teachers and other scholars. The historical period primarily covered by the guide begins with the original inhabitants, prior to European exploration and concludes with the mid-19th century. The document includes eight units entitled: (1) "The Land and People before Columbus"; (2) "Age of Exploration"; (3) "Settling the Colonies"; (4) "Settling the Trans-Appalachian West"; (5) "The War for Independence"; (6) "Life in the Young Republic"; (7) "The New Nation's Westward Expansion"; and (8) "Linking Past to Present: The American People, Then and Now." (LBG)