The Americans Homeschool

American History Homeschool Curriculum Grades 9–12

Why?
Features
Additional Resources
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  • Why?

    Exclusive Partnership with HISTORY®

    Together, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and HISTORY® are creating a new arena in the classroom—and an opportunity for students to relive, reflect, and re-imagine the people, places, events, and decisions that have made us who we are today.

    Engaging Students with Accessible Social Studies Content

    From reading support to differentiated instruction, The Americans is filled with a variety of student-friendly features designed to enhance the learning experience. With this support, every student can understand how events in our nation's history affect how we live our lives today.

    Superior Differentiated Resources

    The Americans design and teaching strategies fully support differentiated instruction. For example, the Guided Reading Workbook provides students with additional understanding by using both visual summaries to demonstrate concepts and critical thinking questions to further narrow the focus of content.

    HISTORY® and related logos are the property of A&E Television Networks (AETN).

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    • Preview

      Experience The Americans Today!

      The Americans integrates HISTORY® multimedia to make history human through personal voices of Americans. Explore how this program engages students. Watch our HMH® & HISTORY® partnership introduction video.

       

      HISTORY® and related logos are the property of A&E Television Networks (AETN).

       

    • Scope and Sequence

      Preview the skills taught throughout each unit and chapter.

      Grades 6–12 (5.8MB)

    • Authors

      Meet the team that has made The Americans one of the best-selling high school programs on the market.

      Gerald Danzer, Ph.D. - Program Author

      Gerald A. Danzer is professor of history at University of Illinois, Chicago. He served from 1992 to 1994 as chair of the Council for Effective Teaching and Learning at UIC and was director of the Chicago Neighborhood History Project. Danzer’s area of specialization is historical geography, in which he has written Discovering American History Through Maps and Views and numerous other publications. Before entering university teaching, Danzer taught high school history in the Chicago area. Danzer received his Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University.

      J. Jorge Klor de Alva, J.D. and Ph.D. - Program Author

      J. Jorge Klor de Alva is president of Apollo International, Inc., a global education provider. Formerly he was president of the University of Phoenix. Before that he was Class of 1940 professor of comparative ethnic studies and anthropology at University of California, Berkeley and former professor of anthropology at Princeton University. Klor de Alva’s interests include interethnic relations, historical ethnography, and educational reform. His publications include The Aztec Image of Self and Society and Interethnic Images: Discourse and Practice in the New World, 1492–1992, as well as many other books and more than seventy scholarly articles. Klor de Alva earned his J.D. from University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in history/anthropology from University of California, Santa Cruz.

      Larry S. Krieger, B.A., M.A., M.A.T. - Program Author

      Larry S. Krieger is the social studies supervisor for Grades K–12 in Montgomery Township Public Schools in New Jersey. For 26 years he has been a world history teacher in public schools. He has also introduced many innovative in service programs, such as “Putting the Story Back in History,” and has co-authored several successful history textbooks. Krieger earned his B.A. and M.A.T. from University of North Carolina and his M.A. from Wake Forest University.

      Louis E. Wilson, Ph.D. - Program Author

      Louis E. Wilson is associate professor and from 1989 through 1998 was the chair of the Afro-American and African Studies department at Smith College. In 1999 Wilson was a Senior Fulbright history professor at University of Cape Town, South Africa. Previously Wilson was on the faculty at University of Colorado, Boulder, and was a senior Fulbright Scholar at University of Ghana, Legon. Wilson is the author of The Krobo People of Ghana to 1892: A Political, Social, and Economic History and Genealogical and Militia Data on Blacks, Indians, and Mustees from Military American Revolutionary War Records. Wilson is currently writing Forgotten Patriots: African Americans and Native Americans in the American Revolution from Rhode Island. In 1991, Wilson received The Blackwell Fellowship and Prize as Outstanding Black New England Scholar. Wilson received his Ph.D. in history from University of California, Los Angeles.

      Nancy Woloch, Ph.D. - Program Author

      Nancy Woloch teaches history at Barnard College, where she has been on the faculty since 1988. Woloch’s main scholarly interest is the history of women in the United States, and in this area she has published Women and the American Experience and Early American Women: A Documentary History, 1600–1900. She is also the author of Muller v. Oregon and the co-author of The American Century. Woloch was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships. She received her Ph.D. in history and American studies from Indiana University.

  • Features

    Meeting the needs of all learners is no easy task. This is why Houghton Mifflin Harcourt created The Americans. Designed to engage students with the narrative while integrating rich multimedia assets, the program brings content to life for students and enriches their understanding.

     
    Homeschool Feature

    Homeschool Components

    HMH® supports homeschooling with curricula, supplements, and books to guarantee the diverse and accredited education that your child deserves.

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    Skills Features

    Comprehensive Skill Development

    The Americans develops students’ comprehension skills, critical thinking skills, and analysis skills throughout the text.

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    Document-based Features

    Document-Based Instruction

    The Americans engages students by bringing the voices of history and primary sources alive.

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    • Homeschool Components

      The Americans Homeschool Package consists of a Student Edition and an Interactive Online Edition.

      The Student Edition includes:

      • Strong narrative centered around Essential Questions
      • Integrated skills development and critical thinking components
      • Reading strategies and skill development

      The Interactive Online Edition includes:

      • Interactive Online Student Edition and Online Teacher Edition
      • Embedded audio at point-of-use and TextHelp
      • HISTORY® videos and games related to biographies and features at point of use
      • Unit level Multimedia Connections with HISTORY® video, primary sources, and maps
      • Essential Question podcast for every chapter
      • Primary source, Interactive world atlas and maps, current events, NoteTaking Wizard, and web research guide
      • Online assessments

      HISTORY® and related logos are the property of A&E Television Networks (AETN).

    • Reading Support and Accessibility

      In The Americans, reading support works seamlessly with the content, preparing students to learn with focused success.

      Main Idea and Why It Matters Now

      Main Idea and Why It Matters Now at the section opener establish the purpose for reading and provide relevance.

      Inner-column Reading

      Inner-column reading prompts support comprehension, background knowledge, and academic vocabulary at point of use.

      Section Assessment

      Section Assessments provide scaffolded questions based on Bloom’s taxonomy.

      Reading Social Studies

      Reading Social Studies by Kylene Beers helps students in every social studies course develop content-area reading skills. It includes reading-skill practice, think-aloud strategies, graphic organizers, and practice skill lessons for world history, geography, U.S. history, and civics.

      Guided Reading Workbook

      Guided Reading Workbook (English and Spanish/English) helps all students understand and master the content using a visual summary and critical thinking questions to organize chapter content; section-by-section note-taking to master main ideas; and challenge activities to extend concept learning.

    • Comprehensive Skill Development

      The Americans develops students’ comprehension skills, critical-thinking skills, and analysis skills throughout the text.

      Interact with History

      Interact with History begins each chapter to get students thinking and talking about issues in the context of historical settings.

      Daily Life

      Daily Life shows how young people worked and played throughout American history, while providing some thought-provoking facts about their lives.

      Key Players

      Key Players focus on historically significant people related to the content.

      Geography Spotlight

      Geography Spotlights highlight the impact geography has on our nation’s history.

      Tracing Themes

      Tracing Themes encourages students to connect past events through themes to see the connections to today.

      Difficult Decisions

      Difficult Decisions place students in the situations in which they are studying and ask them to take a position.

      Now & Then

      Now & Then makes history relevant for students by connecting them with the past.

      Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court

      Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court allow students to study the impact of Supreme Court decisions on U.S. history.

      American Literature, Economic Background, and Science/Technology

      American Literature, Economic Background, and Science/Technology features connect students to other subject areas so they see how history connects to them.

      Thinking About Content Reading

      Thinking About Content Reading helps students develop content-area reading skills in every social studies course using the think-aloud strategy and graphic organizers.

    • Differentiated Instruction

      The Americans provides a variety of teaching strategies and activities designed to reach all learners.

      Differentiated Instruction and Enrichment Activities

      The Differentiated Instruction and Enrichment Activities of the Chapter Planning Guide target program resources to address the needs of struggling or reluctant readers, English language learners, special education students, and advanced/GATE students.

      Teacher’s Edition

      The Teacher’s Edition provides point-of-use Differentiating Instruction activities for English language learners, special education students, learners having difficulty with the content, and advanced learners.

      Guided Reading Workbook

      Guided Reading Workbook (English and Spanish/English) helps all students understand and master the content using a visual summary and critical thinking questions to organize chapter content; section-by-section note-taking to master main ideas; and challenge activities to extend concept learning.

      Modified Lesson Plans for English Learners

      The Modified Lesson Plans for English learners include section-by-section lesson plans with teaching tips on adapting lessons and activities.

    • Document-Based Instruction

      What does it mean to read like a historian? The Americans teaches students to analyze written documents, photographs, political cartoons, documents, art, and more. By engaging students, the program motivates them to learn with a variety of primary sources to bring history to life.

      Primary Sources and Personal Voices

      Primary Sources and Personal Voices encourage students to study primary source documents and think critically to answer the document-based questions.

      American Literature

      American Literature features present students with excerpts of significant literature of the period.

      Analyzing Political Cartoons

      Analyzing Political Cartoons deconstructs political cartoons, highlighting the symbolism and controversies of historical events.

      Point/Counterpoint

      Point/Counterpoint encourages students to use critical-thinking skills by comparing and evaluating opposing viewpoints on important issues, such as using the atomic bomb.

    • Interactive Online Editions

      When is a book not a book? When it’s an Online Edition! Our online programs contain the same Student Edition that you find in print, but with a host of additional resources and features.

      TextHelp

      TextHelp is a text-to-speech feature that allows for a section of the text to be read aloud at either slow, medium, or fast speeds. Student can also select a word to be translated into Spanish.

      Multimedia Connections

      Multimedia Connections, developed in partnership with HISTORY®, provide in-depth coverage of key concepts and people brought to life in the Online Edition with interactive features, primary source documents, and engaging activities.

      HISTORY® Videos

      High-quality bellringer HISTORY® videos are included with each chapter opener and indicated at point of use with various biographies and features. Where applicable, we’ve included links to the full-length videos as well.

      Essential Question Podcasts

      The Essential Question at the beginning of each chapter engages students by connecting people, places, and events and by setting a main purpose for reading. The Americans takes it one step further with Essential Question Podcasts that go into greater detail, providing additional support for all learners and continuing to set them up for success.

      Current Events Website

      hmcurrentevents.com enriches your classroom with subject-specific information from world history, world geography, American history, economics, psychology, sociology, civics, government, and African American history. It also spotlights today’s headlines with blogs, quizzes, activities, and web links.

      Additional Student Resources

      Students find chapter and section resources here, including reading support, enrichment activities, skill development activities, and section and chapter review assessment.

      Additional Teacher Resources

      Everything teachers need to plan, present, and assess is available online through the Teacher Resources section of the Online Edition, as well as the Teacher One Stop™. Teachers will find the Interactive Teacher’s Edition, ExamView® Test Generator, enrichment activities, assessments, answer keys, and much more.

      HISTORY® and related logos are the property of A&E Television Networks (AETN). ExamView® is a registered trademark of Turning Technologies, LLC.

  • Additional Resources

    Explore Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s social studies resources that further develop students’ comprehension skills.

    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt & HISTORY® Partnership Website

    Updated monthly, you will find valuable resources you can incorporate into your instruction, such as Teacher’s Guides to relevant HISTORY® show airings and related links. Come here often to take advantage of what this site has to offer.

    Current Events Website

    hmcurrentevents.com enriches your classroom with subject-specific information from world history, world geography, American history, economics, psychology, sociology, civics, government, and African American history. It also spotlights today’s headlines with blogs, quizzes, activities, and web links.

    Table of Contents

    Download The Americans Table of Contents to see how the program meets your curriculum needs.

    Table of Contents (2.7 MB)

    Product Samplers

    We are pleased to offer a preview of The Americans program. Download a PDF sampler to review.

    Sampler (5.1 MB)

    HISTORY® and related logos are the property of A&E Television Networks (AETN).

  • Contact Us

    The homeschool team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is here to help you every step of the way on your homeschooling journey. Simply fill out the Homeschool Inquiry Form and one of our representatives will contact you.

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