In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve put together the following collection of resource for teachers and / or parents working with their own K-12 children. Please review directions first before sharing any of these resources with children, and note the following:  

• Many of these resources cannot be completed independently – they will require parental and / or sibling involvement at some level.  
• For those resources marked as lessons, you'll find step by step directions.  
• Those resources marked as primary source sets are designed to be used in historical investigations where students are asked a question (included), and then through careful review of the evidence in the set, develop their own interpretations in response.
• Those resources marked as Current Context are designed to help students learn more about current events in the news.  They include short readings and follow up questions.

For Elementary School Students

K-5 Picture Book Recommendation List (Get lost in a picture book)

Kindergarten - Understanding Now and Long Ago

What Does it Mean to be an American? (Kindergarten primary source set)

Work Long Ago (Kindergarten primary source set)

School Safety (Kindergarten primary source set)

1st Grade - Time and Space

School Rules (1st grade primary source set)

Life Now Compared to Life Long Ago (1st grade primary source set)

Cost and Consequences (1st grade primary source set)

Symbols of the U.S. (1st grade primary source set)

2nd Grade - People Who Make a Difference

Heroes (2nd grade primary source set)

People Remember the Past (2nd grade primary source set)

Why do People Move? (2nd grade primary source set)

African American Biographies (2nd grade primary source set) 

3rd Grade - Community History

Native Californian Communities (3rd grade primary source set)

Why Did People Settle in California? (3rd grade primary source set)

Community (3rd grade primary source set)

4th Grade - California History

California Indians - Pre-Columbian to Mexican Rancho period (4th grade primary source set)

California Indians & the Mission System (4th grade lesson)

California Missions, the Environment, and the Economy (4th grade primary source set)

California Missions, the Environment, and the Economy -SPANISH (4th grade primary source set)

California Missions' Impact on People (4th grade primary source set)

Literacy Support for California Indians Source Sets (4th grade)

Discovery of Gold (4th grade primary source set)

5th Grade US History & Geography (Exploration - 18th C. US History)

Native American Systems of Government (5th grade primary source set)

Age of Exploration (5th grade primary source set)

Slavery in the Colonies (5th grade primary source set)

The Stamp Act (5th grade lesson)

Road to the American Revolution (5th grade lesson)

Road to the American Revolution (5th grade primary source set)

Common Sense (5th grade lesson)

Introduction to the Constitution (5th grade lesson)

The Constitution (5th grade primary source set)

Westward Expansion (5th grade primary source set)

Patriots and Grievances (5th grade primary source set)

For Middle School Students: 

6th Grade Ancient World History & Geography

Ancient Hebrews (6th grade primary source set)

Ancient Hebrews - SPANISH (6th grade primary source set)

Mesopotamia, Kush, and Egypt (6th grade primary source set)

Religious Influences on the Roman Empire (6th grade primary source set)

7th Grade Medieval & Early Modern World History & Geography

Expansion and Fall of the Roman Empire (7th grade primary source set)

The Mongol Empire (7th grade primary source set)

Christianity & Exchange - Guadalupe (7th grade primary source set)

Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World (7th grade multi-lesson unit)

8th Grade 19th C. US History & Geography

The Declaration of Independence (8th grade lesson)

Founding of the US (8th grade lesson)

Frederick Douglass (Abolitionist Movement) (8th grade lesson)

US Abolitionism (8th grade primary source set)

The Civil War (8th grade multi-lesson unit)

Western Expansion (8th grade lesson)

Angel Island Immigration (8th grade primary source set)

Current Context:  Roots of the Immigration Crisis (current events resource)

For High School Students: 

Current Context:  Teaching Current Events (13 Current Event Resources for HS Students)

Comparing COVID19 with 1918 Flu (lesson plan)

9th Grade (Ethnic Studies)

W.E.B. Du Bois (9th grade primary source set) 

Reflections on Vietnamese American Identity (primary source set)

10th Grade 20th C. World History & Geography

Tyranny and the Rule of Law (10th grade lesson)

Revolutions in the Atlantic World (10th grade primary source set)

Impact of Colonialism on Native People - CA example (10th grade primary source set)

Impact of Colonialism on Native People - CA example - SPANISH (10th grade primary source set)

The Armenian Genocide (10th grade primary source set)

Effects of WWI - Middle East Maps (10th grade primary source set)

Communism and Fascism (10th grade primary source set)

WWII (10th grade lesson)

The Cold War (10th and 11th grade multi-lesson unit)

The Cuban Missile Crisis (10th grade primary source set)

The Contemporary World - Environmental Challenges (10th grade primary source set)

Maquiladoras in Northern Mexico (10th grade primary source set)

Terrorism (10th grade primary source set)

Current Context:  Youth vs. Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Agriculture and Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Sea Level Rise (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Water Scarcity (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Climate Change (Current events resource)

11th Grade 20th C. US History & Geography

Founding of the US (11th grade lesson)

Reconstruction (11th grade lesson)

Reconstruction's Impact on the Country (11th grade primary source set)

Immigration to the US (11th grade primary source set)

US in WWI (11th grade primary source set)

Rise of the US (11th grade primary source set)

Women's Suffrage (11th grade primary source set)

The 1920s (11th grade primary source set)

The Great Depression (11th grade primary source set)

The Cold War (10th and 11th grade multi-lesson unit)

McCarthyism (11th grade lesson)

Civil Rights (11th grade primary source set)

Civil Rights - MLK (11th grade lesson)

Civil Rights Movements (11th grade primary source set)

Power of the Presidency - Vietnam (11th grade lesson)

Contemporary American Issues (11th grade primary source set)

Current Context:  Youth vs. Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Agriculture and Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Sea Level Rise (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Water Scarcity (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Fire in California (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Auto Emissions and Air Quality (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Youth in Action (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Offshore Oil Drilling (Current events resource)

12th Grade Government

Government Power (12th grade government primary source set)

Judicial Review (12th grade government primary source set)

Federalism (12th grade government primary source set)

Social Activism and the Media (12th grade government primary source set)

Current Context:  Youth vs. Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Agriculture and Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Sea Level Rise (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Water Scarcity (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Fire in California (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Auto Emissions and Air Quality (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Youth in Action (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Offshore Oil Drilling (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Roots of the Immigration Crisis (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Public Land Management (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Managing Public Land in the West (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Water in California (Current events resource)

12th Grade Economics

Globalization (12th grade economics primary source set)

Current Context:  Youth vs. Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Agriculture and Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Sea Level Rise (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Climate Change (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Fire in California (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Auto Emissions and Air Quality (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Offshore Oil Drilling (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Public Land Management (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Managing Public Land in the West (Current events resource)

Current Context:  Water in California (Current events resource)