Cluster 1: North America’s Indigenous Societies before 1500 (Lessons 1-3)

This section introduces students to the history and cultures of Indigenous societies in North America before 1500 by examining historical artifacts and evidence.

Cluster 2: European Nations and Their “New World” Colonies (Lessons 4-6)

Starting in the 16th century, European nations competed for territory and resources, causing drastic changes for Indigenous people and introducing different colonizing strategies that students will compare.

Cluster 3: Britain’s North American Colonies before 1750 (Lessons 7-10)

This cluster spotlights the diverse character of Britain's North American colonies by exploring their economies, labor systems, and interconnections through themes like the sugar trade.

Cluster 4: Conflict and Cooperation in the British Colonies (Lessons 11-13)

This section examines the interactions between British colonists and Indigenous societies, using primary and secondary sources to explore examples of conflict and cooperation.

Cluster 5: Slavery and the Struggle for Freedom in the Americas (Lessons 14-19)

This cluster details the emergence of race-based slavery in the British colonies, focusing on the forced migration and resistance strategies of enslaved African people.

Cluster 6: The British American Colonies in 1750 (Lessons 20-21)

This final inquiry-based cluster asks whether people in the British colonies identified as American in 1750, synthesizing themes from the unit and preparing students for the next one.

Summative Assessment (2 days)

The summative assessment for this unit will assess students’ abilities to investigate primary sources the way historians do, focusing on two historical practices students have worked with throughout Unit 1: question generation and source analysis. The summative assessment also engages two of the Essential Questions for this unit: What happens when communities interact and why?, and How do lands and places matter to people?

Cluster 1: The Colonies before the Revolution (Lessons 1-6)

This section focuses on the development of colonial governments and the factors that led to the American Revolution, including the French and Indian War and subsequent tensions with Great Britain.

Cluster 2: The American Revolution and Its Aftermath (Lessons 7-10)

In this cluster, students examine the American Revolution and its aftermath, exploring the varied decisions of individuals and groups, including Indigenous peoples, regarding their support for either the crown or independence.

Cluster 3: Diverse Contributions to Independence (Lessons 11-13)

This inquiry-based cluster asks students to analyze the contributions and cooperation of various groups in winning independence and to write a dialogue in response to the guiding question.

Cluster 4: Building the Nation’s New Government (Lessons 14-18)

This section investigates why and how a new government was formed, exploring how the U.S. Constitution balanced the differing viewpoints and interests of its authors while also considering what the document might have looked like if a more diverse group had been at the table.

Summative Assessment (3 days)

Perspectives in Dialogue (Tasks 1-3) Note: This portion of the assessment may be given after Lesson 13, since it focuses only on content from Clusters 1 and 2. 

In this part of the assessment, students first create dialogue responses to the perspective of a British official: one response from an Indigenous perspective and the other from a colonial perspective. They then add to an imagined dialogue between a Patriot and a Loyalist who meet up at a tavern years after the end of the Revolution. The dialogue includes a discussion about the Revolution, the changes each side experienced when the Revolution started, and the actions each side took to protect rights and interests. This exercise in creating evidence-based dialogues based on two sharply contrasting views provides an important opportunity for students to model civic dialogue through a writing task and discuss what respectful disagreement looks like. 

Evaluating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (Task 4) 

This part of the assessment begins with a whole-class discussion focused on the question: What are the good things about representative government, and what are the challenges of making it work? This serves as an opportunity for students to practice civic skills of respectful communication and discourse and to synthesize what they have learned in preparation for the reflective writing exercise. In the writing exercise, students offer a “huzzah” and a “humbug” to the writers of the Constitution for the decisions that they made about what the Constitution would say. In each case, they identify an aspect of the Constitution or Bill of Rights and then indicate why it is deserving of praise or criticism based on the United States’ declared values.

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Studying the Distant Past

This cluster focuses on how social scientists work together to study and build knowledge about the distant past and early human history.

The Evolution of Homo sapiens in the Paleolithic Era

Students in this cluster will chronicle the major developments of the Paleolithic Era, including the evolution of modern humans, their global migration, and their survival strategies.

The Neolithic Era and the Birth of Agriculture

This section centers on the major turning points of the Neolithic Era, such as the domestication of plants and animals and the birth of early complex societies.

In-Depth Inquiry: Foragers and Farmers

This cluster guides students through an in-depth inquiry to answer the question, "Did foragers or farmers have a better life?" by examining Paleolithic and Neolithic lifestyles.

Summative Assessment (2 days)

Throughout this unit about human origins and the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras, students have identified turning points in early human history. In this assessment, students circle back to their Essential Question: What were the most important turning points in early human history? This Summative Assessment gives students an opportunity to synthesize the knowledge needed to answer the Essential Question. Arguments can be made for any turning point in this unit, and many items in the Turning Point Bank are not mutually exclusive. The focus here is not on right or wrong answers, but rather on assessing students’ knowledge of early human history using the practices of asking questions, categorizing information, and supporting a claim with evidence. They will also show their skills in chronological thinking by placing important events on a timeline.

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