The Alexandria Plan

The Alexandria Plan is Common Core s curriculum for the teaching of United States and world history. This strategic framework identifies high-quality informational texts and narrative nonfiction that teach students history and promote mastery of the Common Core State Standards for ELA. The history studied complements the best state social studies standards. This four-volume series encompasses Grades K-2 and 3-5 for both United States and world history.

Features of each book include

• Concise Era Summaries that orient both teachers and students to the historical background of an era
• A list of suggested anchor texts that teach an essential aspect of an era
• One text study per era that draws students through a close read of an anchor text with text-dependent questions and writing-based performance assessments
• Learning Expectations that articulate the key ideas, events, facts, and figures to study in a particular grade span

This volume introduces upper elementary students to eighteen key eras in world history, from the discovery of fire to modern globalization, through stories that will captivate readers and inspire curiosity to learn more.

On the Cover : Graffiti on the west side of the Berlin Wall. Photo: Junophoto | Getty

How can art be a form of protest?

Common Core takes advantage of every opportunity to build students cultural literacy. That is why the cover of each book we publish is illustrated with an important work of painting, sculpture, or architecture. We select images that we know students will love to look at again and again. These works relate to ideas taken up in the book. The Berlin Wall, constructed in 1961, is the most familiar image of the Cold War. For nearly 20 years it divided the free world from the Communist block, in many cases separating families. Approximately one thousand people died trying to get to freedom on the other side. Citizens on the free side protested the wall, in part, by covering it with graffiti. Meanwhile, on the Communist side, where people were not allowed freedom of expression, the wall remained blank.

Common Core, Inc. (commoncore.org) is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to advocate for a content-rich liberal arts education in America s K-12 schools. To improve education in America, Common Core creates curriculum materials, conducts professional development, and also promotes programs, policies, and initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels that provide students with challenging, rigorous instruction in the full range of liberal arts and sciences. Common Core, Inc. is not affiliated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

The Alexandria Plan

The Alexandria Plan is Common Core s curriculum for the teaching of United States and world history. This strategic framework identifies high-quality informational texts and narrative nonfiction that teach students history and promote mastery of the Common Core State Standards for ELA. The history studied complements the best state social studies standards. This four-volume series encompasses Grades K-2 and 3-5 for both United States and world history.

Features of each book include

• Concise Era Summaries that orient both teachers and students to the historical background of an era
• A list of suggested anchor texts that teach an essential aspect of an era
• One text study per era that draws students through a close read of an anchor text with text-dependent questions and writing-based performance assessments
• Learning Expectations that articulate the key ideas, events, facts, and figures to study in a particular grade span

This volume introduces lower elementary students to eighteen key eras in world history, from the discovery of fire to modern globalization, through stories that will captivate readers and inspire curiosity to learn more.

On the Cover: The Pyramids of Giza, ca. 2470 BC. Photo: Peter Adams | Getty

How hard is the test of time?

Common Core takes advantage of every opportunity to build students cultural literacy. That is why the cover of each book we publish is illustrated with an important work of painting, sculpture, or architecture. We select images that we know students will love to look at again and again. These works relate to ideas taken up in the book. Built more than 4000 years ago, the pyramids of Giza are the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one still in existence. They were constructed to serve as tombs for the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Today they stand as a reminder of how few works by man s hand survive the test of time.

Common Core, Inc. (commoncore.org) is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to advocate for a content-rich liberal arts education in America s K-12 schools. To improve education in America, Common Core creates curriculum materials, conducts professional development, and also promotes programs, policies, and initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels that provide students with challenging, rigorous instruction in the full range of liberal arts and sciences. Common Core, Inc. is not affiliated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

The Alexandria Plan

The Alexandria Plan is Common Core s curriculum for the teaching of United States and world history. This strategic framework identifies high-quality informational texts and narrative nonfiction that teach students history and promote mastery of the Common Core State Standards for ELA. The history studied complements the best state social studies standards. This four-volume series encompasses Grades K-2 and 3-5 for both United States and world history.

Features of each book include

• Concise Era Summaries that orient both teachers and students to the historical background of an era
• A list of suggested anchor texts that teach an essential aspect of an era
• One text study per era that draws students through a close read of an anchor text with text-dependent questions and writing-based performance assessments
• Learning Expectations that articulate the key ideas, events, facts, and figures to study in a particular grade span

This volume introduces upper elementary students to eighteen key eras in our country s history, from the original Native American people to modern times, through stories that will captivate readers and inspire curiosity to learn more.

On the Cover: George Catlin (1796 1872), The White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas, 1844-1845, oil on canvas. Photo: © Corbis

What can a portrait teach us?

Common Core takes advantage of every opportunity to build students cultural literacy. That is why the cover of each book we publish is illustrated with an important work of painting, sculpture, or architecture. We select images that we know students will love to look at again and again. These works relate to ideas taken up in the book. In the 1800s, artist George Catlin painted a series of portraits of Native American leaders. Unique in his time, Catlin painted Native Americans not as types but as individuals, much the same way as presidents and national heroes historically had been painted. The power of individualism is a central theme of the books that comprise the basis for this volume.

Common Core, Inc. (commoncore.org) is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to advocate for a content-rich liberal arts education in America s K-12 schools. To improve education in America, Common Core creates curriculum materials, conducts professional development, and also promotes programs, policies, and initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels that provide students with challenging, rigorous instruction in the full range of liberal arts and sciences. Common Core, Inc. is not affiliated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

The Alexandria Plan

The Alexandria Plan is Common Core s curriculum for the teaching of United States and world history. This strategic framework identifies high-quality informational texts and narrative nonfiction that teach students history and promote mastery of the Common Core State Standards for ELA. The history studied complements the best state social studies standards. This four-volume series encompasses Grades K-2 and 3-5 for both United States and world history.

Features of each book include

• Concise Era Summaries that orient both teachers and students to the historical background of an era
• A list of suggested anchor texts that teach an essential aspect of an era
• One text study per era that draws students through a close read of an anchor text with text-dependent questions and writing-based performance assessments
• Learning Expectations that articulate the key ideas, events, facts, and figures to study in a particular grade span

This volume introduces lower elementary students to eighteen key eras in our country s history, from the original Native American people to modern times, through stories that will captivate readers and inspire curiosity to learn more.

On the Cover : The Statue of Liberty, dedicated 1886. Photo: Diogo Salles | Getty

Why are symbols important?

Common Core takes advantage of every opportunity to build students cultural literacy. That is why the cover of each book we publish is illustrated with an important work of painting, sculpture, or architecture. We select images that we know students will love to look at again and again. These works relate to ideas taken up in the book. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a gift from the people of France, in celebration of America s independence. The statue is among the best known symbols of freedom, viewable from the boats that brought more than 12 million new Americans to our shores over the course of more than 60 years. The goal of freedom, and the sacrifices people have made to obtain it in America, is an essential theme of the books that comprise the basis for this volume.

Common Core, Inc. (commoncore.org) is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to advocate for a content-rich liberal arts education in America s K-12 schools. To improve education in America, Common Core creates curriculum materials, conducts professional development, and also promotes programs, policies, and initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels that provide students with challenging, rigorous instruction in the full range of liberal arts and sciences. Common Core, Inc. is not affiliated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.