Short Nonfiction Toolkit Texts for American History
Grades 4-8

Colonial Times Westward Expansion The American Revolution and Constitution Civil War and Reconstruction

 

These short nonfiction Toolkit Texts for American History include:

  • 10 comprehension strategy lessons for close reading in content literacy
  • Short nonfiction articles on a wide range of topics and at a variety of reading levels (45 articles in Colonial Times, 52 in American Revolution and Constitution, 78 in The Civil War and Reconstruction, and 63 in Westward Expansion)
  • An image bank of primary source and historic document, historic images, and artifacts
  • Bibliographies, web sites, and ideas for online investigations.

Plus a Digital Companion Resource provides all of the texts, primary source documents, and the image bank in a full-color digital format so you can display them for group analysis.

Download these samplers and see how this carefully crafted nonfiction resource depicts the controversies, issues, and perspectives that shaped American history—including untold stories of lesser-known individuals and new insights into historic figures and events. 

“The CCSS and other state standards expect that children will read a variety of texts on a common topic and synthesize the ideas and information. These resources include families of articles on a common topic or theme, with the understanding that the more widely kids read on a common topic, the more they learn and understand.
—Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis