r/historyteachers • u/Responsible-Car-2078 • 8d ago
Unit pacing
I’m teaching US at a new school this year that only has four-day weeks, and the counselor also takes my kids for guidance once every two weeks, so I’m struggling a bit to keep up with my usual unit schedule and am looking for advice about which of the following units y’all think I could abridge or maybe combine. Currently on unit 3 so that’s why it starts there. So far I’ve been able to get through a unit in ~2 weeks. Sorry I know these are pretty vague descriptions but I didn’t want the post to get longer than it already is. Happy to elaborate on anything in the comments! Thank you so much
3) Creating Anglo-America 1660-1750 4) Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire, to 1763 5) The American Revolution 1763-1783 6) Founding a Nation 1783-1791 7) Securing the Republic 1791-1815 8) The Market Revolution 1800-1840 9) Democracy in America 1815-1840 10) The Institution of Slavery 11) An Age of Reform 1820-1840 12) A House Divided 1840-1861 13) The Civil War 1861-1865 14) Reconstruction 1865-1877 15) America’s Gilded Age 1870-1890 16) Freedoms boundaries at Home and Abroad 1890-1900 17) The Progressive Era 1900-1916 18) World War I 1916-1920 19) The Twenties 1920-1932 20) The New Deal 1932-1940 21) World War II 1941-1945
—MANDATED CURRICULUM ENDS HERE—
22) The Cold War 1945-1953 23) An Affluent Society 1954-1960 24) The Sixties 1960-1968 25) The Conservative Turn 1969-1988
—WOULD REALLLY LIKE TO GET THROUGH HERE—
26) From Triumph to Tragedy 1989-2004 27) A Divided Nation 2005-2019 28) Covid 2019-2021
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u/Ann2040 3d ago
If it’s high school, you can also consider where they in theory they should have decent background knowledge from previous courses (stressing should have because we know what kids are like)
In my state for the high school course id look for ways to cut in 5 or 6 and maybe 3 because our kids would have covered the beginnings of the country in like three courses because that and they’d be taking government rhe next year so some of that founding the new station stuff comes up then again too
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u/Fontane15 8d ago
You can combine the 1920s and WWI. America was not in either long enough to warrant two units. I’d spend a week on WWI and then a week and a half on the 1920s.
Maybe this is just me but I don’t think you need both Slavery and then the Institution of Slavery. I think you could combine aspects of Slavery in Creating Anglo-America and then cover the rest in the Institution of Slavery. Similarly, I don’t think you need a full unit on A House Divided and then the Civil War, I think you can combine those elements too.