Understanding U.S. History is a two-part textbook series that teaches students a general strategy for analyzing historical events, processes, and periods by analyzing the problem-solution-effect. The strategy is then applied to U.S. history using original materials. The program contains concept maps and interspersed questions (to foster higher-order thinking) and a variety of writing projects. The texts are written by Carnine, Crawford, Harniss & Hollenbeck in 1994 and include:
Understanding U.S. History, Volume 1 - Through 1914
Understanding U.S. History, Volume 2 - Reconstruction to World Leadership
The two books overlap (Volume 1's chapters 15-21 are repeated in Volume 2). Araminta Coleman has written a paper on the texts:
Coleman, Araminta (1998) How Well Understanding U.S. History Addresses The California State History-Social Science Standards-Grade 8
http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/coleman.pdf
The textbooks and accompanying Teacher's Manual are available for order from the University of Oregon Bookstore Warehouse.
Attention: Mail Order Department
462 East 8th
Eugene, Oregon 97401
Phone: 541-345-8805 or 1-800-352-1733.
Volume 1 costs $30 per text and Volume 2 costs $25 per text.
