
Middle School History
6th - 8th grade
In this discussion and activity-based course, students take a deep dive into American history. This immersive class will transport students to the time of the Pilgrims, the Civil Rights movement, and much more! Through Socratic discussions, games, group and personal research projects, weekly homework assignments, and unit exams, students will learn the ways people thought, governed, fought, worked, played, worshipped, and died from the time America was first colonized to our present day.
Middle School American History
In this comprehensive, interactive, and activity-based course, your student will explore the rich and diverse history of America’s first-nation peoples, early European colonization, and the creation of a new nation. We will cover everything from the settlement of America, the American Revolution, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Civil Rights, and we will conclude the year by looking at America today.
Unit 1 - Colonization
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Jamestown, Pilgrims, 13 Colonies, Mayflower Compact, Articles of Confederation
Unit 2 – Revolutionary War
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Taxation, Boston Massacre, Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War
Unit 3 – Constitution
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3 Branches of Government, Democratic Republic
Unit 4 - Westward Expansion
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1801 - 1870, Louisiana Purchase, Manifest Destination, Lewis and Clark, Oregon Trail
Unit 5 - Civil War
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1861 - 1865, Cotton gin and the increase of slavery, Abraham Lincoln, underground railroad, key battles in the war, Emancipation Proclamation, uniting the North and South and healing the wounds of separation
Unit 6 – Industrial Revolution
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Modern machinery, factories, America becoming a world power, huge boom of inventors: Edison, Tesla, Wright Brothers, AM/FM Radio, Telephone
Unit 7 - World War 1 & 2
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World War 1, Trench Warfare & Tanks, Treaty of Versailles, Women’s Suffrage, Prohibition (1920-1933), Great Depression (1929-late 1930’s), World War 2, Pearl Harbor, Holocaust, Israel becomes a nation again
Unit 8 - Modern Age (1950’s through 1970’s)
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50’s: Baby boomers, Suburbia, Inventions: TV, Microwave, air conditions changed where people lived, etc., Communism begins to spread
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60’s: Korean War, Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, British invasion, Vietnam War, Protests, Assassination of JFK (1963), Civil Rights Movement: MLKJ, Rosa Parks, Segregation
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70’s: US involvement in Vietnam War ends in 1973, Nixon opens the door to China, Watergate and the resignation of Nixon, Disco, Cold War continues, Iran hostage crisis, Apollo landing
Unit 9 - Modern Age (1980’s through present)
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80’s: Challenger explosion, Ronald Reagan, Cold War at its peak, stockpiling nuclear weapons, 1988 Fall of Berlin Wall, Dismantling of Communism and the end of the Cold War
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90’s: Iraq invaded Kuwait, Desert Storm, Bill Clinton impeached for lying under oath, internet explosion
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21st Century: Technology keeps multiplying, 9/11 and the war on terror, the impact of the internet on society
Class Materials
Required Textbook
American History, Grades 6-8 Beginnings Through Reconstruction by Mcdougal Littell
A History of US: All the People: Since 1945 A History of US Book
Lined paper and paper/pens in class
All other materials will be provided by the instructor
This class requires printing several materials at home. Please have paper and ink in your printer!