The United States History course provides students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge to deal critically with the problems and materials in our nation’s history. In DMPS we teach Modern US History thematically exploring the themes of Resource, Reform, Global Interactions, Movement, Rights of Citizenship, and Self Determination. Within these themes students build chronological understanding of cause and effect, adding complexity to historical events as they explore each theme. While investigating US history thematically students use inquiry skills to assess historical materials – their relevance to a given problem, reliability, and importance – and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. Students will also develop the skills to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in writing.
The course guide linked below provides teachers with the following:
The course guide linked below provides teachers with the following:
- Unit Pacing
- Learning Targets and Success Criteria
- Target Based Inquiries
- These inquiries were developed from the Inquiry Design Model and include Compelling and Supporting Questions, aligned sources, formative and summative tasks, target based rubrics, and supporting student materials. Each inquiry is linked below the unit scales.
Curriculum Guide
The below sites offer curriculum and instructional resources to support the teaching of U.S. history.
American Historical Association (AHA)
The largest professional organization in the U.S. devoted to the study and promotion of history and historical thinking, the AHA integrates a variety of resources to support educators, including videos, teaching prizes, primary sources, and advancing conversations about teaching history.
America in Class
This resource, from the National Humanities Center, provides primary and secondary resources, webinars, and lessons for history and literature teachers. Resources are designed to promote the analytical skills called for in the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in HSS(PDF).
Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research
The Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research was established in 1988 to serve as a living tribute to the attorneys, community, organizers, and plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of May 17, 1954, Brown v. the Board of Education.
DocsTeach
This resource from the National Archives features thousands of primary sources spanning the course of American history as well as document-based activities. Use the search field to find written documents, images, maps, charts, graphs, audio, and video in their ever-expanding collection.
EDSITEment
A partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Trust for the Humanities EDSITEment offers a treasure trove for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality material on the Internet in the subject areas of literature and language arts, foreign languages, art and culture, and HSS.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
This institute supports the study and love of American history through a wide range of programs and resources for students, teachers, scholars, and history enthusiasts throughout the nation. The institute creates and works closely with history-focused schools; organizes summer seminars and development programs for teachers; produces print and digital publications and traveling exhibitions; hosts lectures by eminent historians; administers a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state and U.S. territory; and offers national book prizes and fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection as well as other renowned archives. Free subscriptions are available to K–12 teachers and students.
HistoryMatters: Many Pasts
This feature contains primary documents in text, image, and audio about the experiences of ordinary Americans throughout U.S. history. All of the documents have been screened by professional historians and are accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical significance and context.
Historical Thinking Matters
Historical Thinking Matters focuses on key topics in U.S. history, designed to teach students how to critically read primary sources and how to critique and construct historical narratives.
National Congress of American Indians
The National Congress of American Indians offers a guide for teachers titled, Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction, developed to provide a basic overview of the history and underlying principles of tribal governance. The guide also provides introductory information about tribal governments and American Indian and Alaska Native people today.
New Visions for Public Schools U.S. History
New Visions for Public Schools is an organization based in New York City that developed full scope and sequence curricular frameworks for HSS courses. The curriculum is provided in editable format through Google Docs, and integrates primary and secondary texts, maps, images, videos, and other resources to create easy-to-implement lessons designed to improve literacy, critical thinking, speaking, and writing skills. Units include pacing guides, vocabulary, and formative and summative assessments.
Teaching American History
This project, hosted by the Ashbrook Center, provides free high-school-level curriculum in both American history and government. The curriculum focuses on nine primary documents, each formed into a unit. Each unit also provides multiple assessment options.
Teaching History
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education and created by the Center for History and New Media, this organization provides a clearinghouse of resources and materials geared at improving U.S. classroom history education.
Teachers Righting History (TRH)
TRH is an educational project started by former Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios that highlights historic American women in classrooms across the country. Using a database of information collected by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s recent effort to redesign the nation’s currency, teachers and students have the ability to discuss and post images of historic American women in their classrooms as a teaching tool.
Understanding Tribal Governments
This self-paced online course was designed to help students fulfill criterion two of the State Seal of Civic Engagement. The course provides a general understanding of the history of American Indians, their contributions to the U.S. Constitution, tribal sovereignty, and tribal governance.
UnTold History
Developed in partnership with the New York Historical Society, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, iCivics, the White House Historical Association, and the American Battlefield Trust, UnTold History develops videos about key issues in U.S. history that may not be included in traditional textbooks. Topics include arts and artifacts, American democracy, and slavery.
Veterans National Educational Program (V-NEP)
V-NEP aims to teach U.S. modern history through the understanding of the humanistic and cultural aspects of America’s military conflicts and how they have influenced the fabric of our global society.
Virginia Center for Digital History (VCDH)
VCDH is home to a number of digital projects spanning the range of American history, from the Jamestown settlement, to the Civil War, to the Civil Rights movement. These projects are built to be used by K–12 educators, college students, scholars, and the general public.
American Historical Association (AHA)
The largest professional organization in the U.S. devoted to the study and promotion of history and historical thinking, the AHA integrates a variety of resources to support educators, including videos, teaching prizes, primary sources, and advancing conversations about teaching history.
America in Class
This resource, from the National Humanities Center, provides primary and secondary resources, webinars, and lessons for history and literature teachers. Resources are designed to promote the analytical skills called for in the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in HSS(PDF).
Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research
The Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research was established in 1988 to serve as a living tribute to the attorneys, community, organizers, and plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of May 17, 1954, Brown v. the Board of Education.
DocsTeach
This resource from the National Archives features thousands of primary sources spanning the course of American history as well as document-based activities. Use the search field to find written documents, images, maps, charts, graphs, audio, and video in their ever-expanding collection.
EDSITEment
A partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Trust for the Humanities EDSITEment offers a treasure trove for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality material on the Internet in the subject areas of literature and language arts, foreign languages, art and culture, and HSS.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
This institute supports the study and love of American history through a wide range of programs and resources for students, teachers, scholars, and history enthusiasts throughout the nation. The institute creates and works closely with history-focused schools; organizes summer seminars and development programs for teachers; produces print and digital publications and traveling exhibitions; hosts lectures by eminent historians; administers a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state and U.S. territory; and offers national book prizes and fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection as well as other renowned archives. Free subscriptions are available to K–12 teachers and students.
HistoryMatters: Many Pasts
This feature contains primary documents in text, image, and audio about the experiences of ordinary Americans throughout U.S. history. All of the documents have been screened by professional historians and are accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical significance and context.
Historical Thinking Matters
Historical Thinking Matters focuses on key topics in U.S. history, designed to teach students how to critically read primary sources and how to critique and construct historical narratives.
National Congress of American Indians
The National Congress of American Indians offers a guide for teachers titled, Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction, developed to provide a basic overview of the history and underlying principles of tribal governance. The guide also provides introductory information about tribal governments and American Indian and Alaska Native people today.
New Visions for Public Schools U.S. History
New Visions for Public Schools is an organization based in New York City that developed full scope and sequence curricular frameworks for HSS courses. The curriculum is provided in editable format through Google Docs, and integrates primary and secondary texts, maps, images, videos, and other resources to create easy-to-implement lessons designed to improve literacy, critical thinking, speaking, and writing skills. Units include pacing guides, vocabulary, and formative and summative assessments.
Teaching American History
This project, hosted by the Ashbrook Center, provides free high-school-level curriculum in both American history and government. The curriculum focuses on nine primary documents, each formed into a unit. Each unit also provides multiple assessment options.
Teaching History
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education and created by the Center for History and New Media, this organization provides a clearinghouse of resources and materials geared at improving U.S. classroom history education.
Teachers Righting History (TRH)
TRH is an educational project started by former Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios that highlights historic American women in classrooms across the country. Using a database of information collected by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s recent effort to redesign the nation’s currency, teachers and students have the ability to discuss and post images of historic American women in their classrooms as a teaching tool.
Understanding Tribal Governments
This self-paced online course was designed to help students fulfill criterion two of the State Seal of Civic Engagement. The course provides a general understanding of the history of American Indians, their contributions to the U.S. Constitution, tribal sovereignty, and tribal governance.
UnTold History
Developed in partnership with the New York Historical Society, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, iCivics, the White House Historical Association, and the American Battlefield Trust, UnTold History develops videos about key issues in U.S. history that may not be included in traditional textbooks. Topics include arts and artifacts, American democracy, and slavery.
Veterans National Educational Program (V-NEP)
V-NEP aims to teach U.S. modern history through the understanding of the humanistic and cultural aspects of America’s military conflicts and how they have influenced the fabric of our global society.
Virginia Center for Digital History (VCDH)
VCDH is home to a number of digital projects spanning the range of American history, from the Jamestown settlement, to the Civil War, to the Civil Rights movement. These projects are built to be used by K–12 educators, college students, scholars, and the general public.
