Introduces core content while promoting: visual literacy classroom discussion small group interaction individual student research projects

Every lesson includes content-rich: visual and textual source documents background information analysis questions assessment options

Generates spirited yet carefully ordered classroom interactions using: editorial cartoons photos paintings poster art written documents

Begin with History Unfolding to engage students in class-wide discussions about fascinating historic images and illustrations and build their visual literacy skills.

History Unfolding and Debating the Documents provide the to empower students to zero in on telling details of visual primary sources.

Debating the Documents adds short textual passages to more visual primary sources. Students: read short background accounts assess a timeline of events debate the merits of different primary sources

The DBQ Writing Program guides students to write a persuasive response to document based questions. Students learn: how to analyze questions craft thesis statements write supporting paragraphs conclude in a way that ties it all together.

The Historian’s Apprentice adds secondary sources to deepen student historical understanding by doing what historians actually do: sourcing weighing evidence comparing documents forming conclusions

The Historian’s Apprentice guides students to: detect multiple meanings embedded in sources take into account varying interpretations by other historians avoid the trap of present-mindedness

The Historian’s Apprentice guides students to: develop empathy with people vastly different from them use their imaginations to clarify complex realities reach cautious, qualified conclusions prepare to defend conclusions with vigor

The Historian’s Apprentice series introduces students to a more nuanced and sophisticated view of history. Students are exposed to the complex processes by which historians practice their craft in a scaffolded, manageable way.

The MindSparks U.S. History Program The MindSparks World History Program

The MindSparks U.S. and World History Programs are a great value because: Site license provides every teacher at your school with perpetual access to dozens of engaging high-quality history lessons and strategies. Unparalleled variety of effective lessons.

Programs are a great value because: Retail price for the combined individual titles in the programs without site license is thousand of dollars more than the programs. Unlimited school wide access makes the savings and value even greater!

The MindSparks U.S. History Program includes 99 outstanding lessons from History Unfolding Debating the Documents Historian’s Apprentice plus the History Unfolding DBQ Writing Program

The MindSparks U.S. History Program covers: Colonial America15 titles The Early Republic17 titles Divided Nation15 titles Gilded Age22 titles War & Reform30 titles Modern America17 titles

The MindSparks World History Program includes 74 outstanding lessons from History Unfolding Debating the Documents Historian’s Apprentice Including the History Unfolding DBQ Writing Program

The MindSparks World History Program covers: Foundations (8000 BCE–600 CE)14 titles Civilizations Interacting (600–1450)16 titles The First Global Age (1450–1750)9 titles The Age of Revolution & Empire (1750–1914)21 titles A Global Community & Its Perils (1914–present) 17 titles

The MindSparks Programs bring together four complimentary product lines to maximize your effectiveness as an educator. Our sequential process builds key student skills while teaching core historic content. This scaffolding guides students’ to a deeper understanding and retention of the nuances of history.

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