About Teaching California. In 2017, the California Historical Society was awarded funding from the State of California to develop an online collection of primary source sets, aligned to the 2016 History-Social Science Framework, known as Teaching California. The California History-Social Science Project is a subcontractor and partner in this project, tasked with the content development of these sets for grades K-12.
Apply for our Educator Fellowship! Deadline: January 5, 2024.
About the Source Sets. Each set we developed contains a collection of 6-10 primary sources, excerpted for the appropriate grade level. Each of these sources is paired with secondary context, and the full collection includes a short teacher background, and at least one literacy strategy, aligned to California's ELD and Common Core Standards.
How to Access the Source Sets. The Historical Society has 30 source sets available on their Teaching California beta site, which offers educators the ability to download high-resolution versions of individual primary sources. Those sets, organized collectively in PDFs, are also available for download below, as well as 49 more.
Kindergarten - Understanding Now and Long Ago
1st Grade - Time and Space
- School Rules
- What is my Community Like?
- Many People One Nation
- Schools Over Time
- Cost and Consequences
2nd Grade - People Who Make a Difference
- People Remember the Past
- Why do People Move?
- How Food Gets to the Table
- Heroes
- Government Institutions
3rd Grade - Community History
4th Grade - California History
- California's Natural Environment
- California Indians - Pre-Columbian to Mexican Rancho period
- California Missions, the Environment, and the Economy
- California Missions, the Environment, and the Economy -SPANISH
- California Missions' Impact on People
- Literacy Support for California Indians Source Sets
- California's Diverse Population
- Water and Growth
- Discovery of Gold
- Local Government - Bike Lanes
5th Grade US History & Geography (Exploration - 18th C. US History)
- Native American Systems of Government
- Age of Exploration
- Interactions between Native Americans and European Explorers
- People of Colonial America
- Road to the American Revolution
- Women and the American Revolution
- Articles of Confederation
- Westward Expansion
6th Grade Ancient World History & Geography
- Migrations of Early Humans: Evidence and Interpretations
- Ancient Hebrews
- Ancient Hebrews - SPANISH
- Mesopotamia, Kush, and Egypt
- Maurya Connections
- Hellentistic Culture
- Silk Road
- Religious Influences on the Roman Empire
7th Grade Medieval & Early Modern World History & Geography
- Expansion and Fall of the Roman Empire
- The Mongol Empire
- Baghdad Interactions
- South and Southeast Asia
- Korean Adaptation and Transmission of Chinese Culture and Buddhism
- Christianity & Exchange - Guadalupe
- Was Slavery Always Racial
- Sikhism
- Tenochtitlan
8th Grade 19th C. US History & Geography
- American Revolution and Natural Rights
- US and Native American Relations in the Early Republic
- US Abolitionism
- Slavery and the Civil War
- Reconstruction
- Angel Island Immigration
Ethnic Studies
10th Grade 20th C. World History & Geography
- The World in 1750
- Revolutions in the Atlantic World
- Impact of Colonialism on Native People - CA example
- Impact of Colonialism on Native People - CA example - SPANISH
- Mexican Revolution
- Cholera
- The Armenian Genocide
- Effects of WWI - Middle East Maps
- Communism and Fascism
- Comfort Women
- The Cuban Missile Crisis
- The Rwandan Genocide
- The Contemporary World - Environmental Challenges
- Maquiladoras in Northern Mexico
- Terrorism
11th Grade 20th C. US History & Geography
- Reconstruction's Impact on the Country
- Immigration to the US
- Rise of the US
- Women's Suffrage
- The 1920s
- The Great Depression
- World War II and Movements for Equality
- Civil Rights Movements
- Vietnam and Movements for Equality
- Contemporary American Issues
12th Grade Government
- Citizenship over Time
- Government Power
- Presidential Powers
- Dangers of Majority Rule: Redlining
- Federalism
- Social Activism and the Media
- Nations and Terrorism
- Rights and Responsibilities in the Era of Climate Change
12th Grade Economics