History has been under-emphasized in recent years given the national testing focus on English / language arts and mathematics. The History Blueprint initiative is designed to address the marginalization of the discipline by providing teachers, administrators, and parents research-based and Standards-aligned resources to develop student critical thinking, literacy skills, and historical content knowledge.  

Goal

• To increase student achievement and engagement
• To improve student literacy and critical thinking in order to address the achievement gap
• To provide formative and summative data on student content knowledge, critical thinking, reading and writing

Components 

• Common Core-Aligned Curriculum. Blueprint curriculum combines primary and secondary sources, and strategies for developing critical thinking and literacy to engage students and increase learning.
  • The Civil War (Unit #1)
  • The Cold War (Unit #2)
  • Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World (Unit #3)
• Innovative Formative and Summative Assessments. Assessment tools measure student progress throughout the Blueprint resources, which allow teachers to plan instruction and parents to assess their children’s progress.
  • Sample assessment:  "Was the Civil War a War for Freedom?"
• Literacy. Blueprint resources incorporate a research-based, classroom-tested, and Standards-aligned approach to develop expository reading comprehension and writing ability.
  • Supporting student reading sample lesson:  Why did Lincoln Fight?
  • Supporting student writing sample lesson:  What did the U.S. lose in Vietnam?
• Teacher Professional Development. Utilizing our statewide network of expert teacher leaders and scholars, Blueprint professional development programs provide expert modeling, ongoing mentoring, and collaborative support to improve classroom instruction and increase student learning and literacy.
  • Learn how your school or district can participate

More 

All History Blueprint materials are Copyrighted by the Regents of the University of California, Davis.  These materials, however, are designed for K12 educational purposes, and as such, teachers have the right to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.  This use is predicated on the assumption that educators will give appropriate credit, provide a link to our site (http://chssp.ucdavis.edu), and indicate if any changes were made.  Educators may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the University or the California or the California History-Social Science Project endorses said teacher, school, or related organization.  Finally, educators or any members of the public may not apply any legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from accessing the materials or doing anything that this agreement permits.

• History Blueprint Professional Development Programs
• Videos:  Why I support the History Blueprint 
• Blueprint Advisory Council
• Our Partners and Sponsors
• Become part of the Blueprint Team