The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.
Here are the teacher pack items for Studying U.S. History:
Overview In this experience, students brainstorm how a space alien might describe American society as distinguished from people of other nations. Then they sequence any three eras in U.S. history. Next they name a turning point in U.S. history and apply questions about change and continuity to it. Finally they learn about American exceptionalism as defined by Alexis de Tocqueville and Seymour Martin Lipset, and they analyze how one of the values contributes to America’s success as a constitutional republic. Students will collaborate in small groups for scene 2 to scene 4. Objectives
This course begins U.S. history “in the middle.” By 1880 there were 38 states in the Union. The nation had a strong Constitution and emerged from a difficult civil war. In this experience, you will look at some of the principles and concepts that historians use when studying U.S. history.
Objectives
Imagine that you are an extraterrestrial being visiting Earth for the first time. You have traveled all around the globe and met many people from many nations.
How would you describe people of the United States to beings on your home planet? What distinguishes Americans from people of other nations?
According to a Pew Research Center study from 2015, the most common answers were individualism and work ethic. According to the study, Americans also stand out for their religiosity and optimism, especially when compared with other relatively wealthy countries.