Common Core Curriculum: World History, Grades 3-5

290 Pages·2014·4.46 MB·English

by  Common Core

Common Core Curriculum:
World History,
Grades 3–5
Cover design by Chris Clary
Cover image: Graffiti on the Berlin Wall © Junophoto
Copyright © 2014 by Common Core, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Common Core Curriculum: world history, grades 3-5/Common Core, Inc. — First edition.
pages cm. — (Common Core U.S. and world history)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-83524-1 (pbk.); ISBN 978-1-118-84095-5 (pdf); ISBN 978-1-118-84085-6 (epub)
1. History—Study and teaching (Elementary)—United States. I. Common Core, Inc.
D16.3.C679 2014
372.89—dc23
2013045501
Printed in the United States of America
first edition
PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction: How to Use the Alexandria Plan vii
Era 1 From First Fire to First Community: Humanity Evolves (ca. 200,000 bce
to 3000 bce) 1
Text Study: Early Humans by DK Publishing
Era 2 Civilizations Emerge: The Power of Words and of Bronze (ca. 3500 bce
to ca. 1000 bce) 7
Text Study: Mesopotamia by Don Nardo
Era 3 From Iron to Ideas: Religion and Freedom Take Shape (ca. 1700 bce to
400 bce) 15
Text Study: Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide
by Marian Broida
Era 4 The Classical Era: Hellenistic Greece and Rome Flourish (400 bce to 476 ce) 23
Text Study: Roman Diary: The Journal of Iliona of Mytilini, Who Was Captured
and Sold as a Slave in Rome, ad 107 by Richard Platt and David Parkins
Era 5 Religion and War: Driving Change in Asian Empires (1750 bce to ca. 1650 ce) 31
Text Study: Kubla Khan: The Emperor of Everything by Kathleen Krull
Era 6 The Rise of Islam: Religion Travels on a Road of Silk (ca. 610 ce to 1500s) 39
Text Study: Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta, 1325–1354
by James Rumford
Era 7 Europe after Rome Fell: The Middle Ages Descend (400s to 1350) 47
Text Study: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Era 8 The Renaissance: Thought Reborn and Made Beautiful (ca. 1300 to 1648) 55
Text Study: Michelangelo by Diane Stanley
Era 9 Americas North and South: The “New” World (ca. 20,000 bce to ca. 1500 ce) 65
Text Study: The Ancient Maya by Jennifer Fretland VanVoorst
Era 10 Europe’s Global Expansion (1492 to ca. 1700) 73
Text Study: Hernando Cortés: Spanish Invader of Mexico by John Zronik
Era 11 The Revolutionary Roots: The Modern West (ca. 1600 to 1800) 81
Text Study: Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei by Peter Sis
Era 12 The Industrial Revolution: Nationalism Unites (1790s to 1880s) 91
Text Study: Marie Antoinette: “Madam Deficit” by Liz Hockinson
Era 13 Modern Imperialism: A Race of Conquest and Supremacy (ca. 1790s to 1900) 99
Text Study: The Slave Trade by Melody Herr
iv | Contents
Era 14 National Rivalries: The Eruption of Global Conflict (1880s to 1918) 107
Text Study: “In Flanders Field” by John McCrae
Text Study: Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion
by Linda Granfield
Era 15 Depression after Versailles: The Rise of Totalitarian Powers (1919 to 1930s) 115
Text Study: “Joseph Stalin (1879–1953)” by BBC History
Text Study: Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin
Era 16 Global Calamity: Appeasement Fails and Global Conflict Returns
(mid-1930s to 1945) 123
Text Study: Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories
by Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson
Era 17 Post-War World: An Iron Curtain Divides the Globe (1945 to 1960s) 133
Text Study: “Lesson on Discrimination Based on Race” by United Nations
Cyber School Bus
Text Study: “Apartheid Timeline” by United Nations Cyber School Bus
Text Study: Journey to Jo’Burg: A South African Story by Beverley Naidoo
Era 18 The Cold War Thaws: Uneasy Cooperation between Nations (1960s to Present) 141
Text Study: Hands around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books
by Karen Leggett Abouraya
Era Summaries 149
Era 1 From First Fire to First Community: Humanity Evolves (ca. 200,000 bce
to 3000 bce) 151
Human Origins and Migration • Paleolithic Societies and the Emergence
of Human Culture • The Agricultural Revolution • Technology, Trade,
and the Rise of Settled Communities
Era 2 Civilizations Emerge: The Power of Words and of Bronze (ca. 3500 bce
to ca. 1000 bce) 154
The First Cities: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China • States of the Early
Bronze Age • The Invention and Impact of Writing • The Later Bronze
Age in West Asia and the Mediterranean
Era 3 From Iron to Ideas: Religion and Freedom Take Shape (ca. 1700 bce
to 400 bce) 158
Bronze Age Collapse and the New Peoples of the Iron Age • Ancient Israel
and the Roots of Eura Ancient Israel and the Roots of Eurasian Monotheism • 
The Revival of Greek Culture and the Expansion of Greek Influence • 
The Brief Glories of Classical Athens
Era 4 The Classical Era: Hellenistic Greece and Rome Flourish (400 bce to 476 ce) 163
Alexander’s Empire and the Hellenistic Legacy • Rome Rises • 
Imperial Rome and Its Breaking Point • Christianity, Constantine,
and the Decline of the Western Empire
Era 5 Religion and War: Driving Change in Asian Empires (1750 bce to ca. 1650 ce) 168
India: From the Vedas to the Guptas—Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Wider
World • Imperial China Emerges • China from Tang to Qing • Lands beyond
China: Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia
Contents | v
Era 6 The Rise of Islam: Religion Travels on a Road of Silk (ca. 610 ce to 1500s) 174
Islam’s Origins and Rapid Conquests • Political Division and Cultural
Achievement • Amid Chaos, Continued Expansion • Later Islamic Empires
Era 7 Europe after Rome Fell: The Middle Ages Descend (400s to 1350) 179
Europe Rebuilds in the Wake of Rome’s Fall • The Carolingian Empire and Its
Successors • The Feudal States of Western Europe • European Commerce
and Culture: The Medieval Revival
Era 8 The Renaissance: Thought Reborn and Made Beautiful (ca. 1300 to 1648) 185
The Changing World of Late Medieval Europe • Classical Revival,
the Expansion of Learning, and the Rise of the Renaissance • Exploration
and the Roots of European Expansion • The Reformation and
Its Consequences
Era 9 Americas North and South: The “New” World (ca. 20,000 bce to ca. 1500 ce) 192
Early Human Settlement of the Americas • The Native Peoples of
North America • The Native Peoples of Mesoamerica • The Native
Peoples of South America
Era 10 Europe’s Global Expansion (1492 to ca. 1700) 196
Spain Takes On the New World • Other European Powers Enter
the Americas • The African Slave Trade Intensifies • Europe Expands
into Asia and Eastern Colonialism Begins
Era 11 The Revolutionary Roots: The Modern West (ca. 1600 to 1800) 201
Uneven Growth and Economic Modernization • Freedom versus Power:
England and France in the Seventeenth Century • New Ideas Emerge
in a Rapidly Modernizing Europe • America and France Enter the Age
of Revolution
Era 12 The Industrial Revolution: Nationalism Unites (1790s to 1880s) 209
Napoleon’s Europe • Industrialization, Technology, Science—and Turmoil • 
Napoleon’s Wake: Rising Threats to Europe’s Old Regimes • 
Nationalists, Conservatives, and the Unification of Italy and Germany
Era 13 Modern Imperialism: A Race of Conquest and Supremacy (ca. 1790s to 1900) 217
European Empires Face Decline in the Americas • Britain Takes Over India
as Europe Edges into Africa • The West’s Heavy Hand in the Pacific • 
Late-Century Climax: The Disintegration of China and the Scramble for Africa
Era 14 National Rivalries: The Eruption of Global Conflict (1880s to 1918) 224
Empires in Collision • Europe’s Tinderbox • Europe’s Tensions Erupt into
World War • A New World of Science, Technology, War, and Culture
Era 15 Depression after Versailles: The Rise of Totalitarian Powers (1919 to 1930s) 232
The Versailles Settlement and Its Discontents • Totalitarians Rising • 
The Global Depression and the Entrenchment of the Nazis • Science
Advances in a World of Growing Danger
Era 16 Global Calamity: Appeasement Fails and Global Conflict Returns
(mid-1930s to 1945) 240
Fascist Aggression Intensifies • As Appeasement Fails, Europe
Slides toward War • Hitler Sweeps across Europe • Global Conflict
and the Devastation of Total War
vi | Contents
Era 17 Post-War World: An Iron Curtain Divides the Globe (1945 to 1960s) 248
The Emerging Cold War • Deterrence and the Uneasy Balance of
the Superpowers • The End of the Colonial Empires and the Rise of
New Nations: South Asia and the Pacific • Africa and the Middle East
Era 18 The Cold War Thaws: Uneasy Cooperation between Nations
(1960s to Present) 254
Global Conflict and Diplomacy: Détente, China, and the Middle East • 
The Cold War Ends and European Communism Falls • The Changing
Post–Cold War World • Recent Trends: Global Ties and Conflicts
Who Is Common Core 263
Acknowledgments 265
Index 267
Introduction: How to
Use the Alexandria Plan
The Alexandria Plan is Common Core’s curriculum tool for teaching United States and world
history. It is a strategic framework for identifying and using high-quality informational texts and
narrative nonfiction to meet the expectations of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for
English language arts (ELA) while also sharing essential historical knowledge with students in
elementary school (kindergarten through fifth grade). These resources can be used in either the
social studies block or the ELA block during the elementary school day. The curriculum helps
teachers pose questions about texts covering a wide range of topics: from the caves at Lascaux to
King Tut’s tomb, Chief Joseph to Kubla Khan, and the birth of democracy to the fall of the Berlin
Wall. These books tell stories that thrill students. Accompanying text-dependent questions
(TDQs) will elevate student learning to a level that will help them master the new CCSS for
English language arts (CCSS-ELA).
We call these curriculum materials the “Alexandria Plan” because we enjoy thinking about the
role that they—and the teachers who use them—play in passing along important knowledge to
future generations. In ancient Egypt, the Library of Alexandria, along with a museum, was part of
a grand complex that sought to collect and catalog “all the knowledge in the world.” It became a
center of learning, attracting scholars, philosophers, scientists, and physicians from all corners of
the earth. Though it fell to fire, the spirit of Alexandria remains. Some twenty-three hundred
years later, a new library stands near the site of its ancient ancestor, and the story of Alexandria
and its great library inspires our efforts to help teachers illuminate the future by inculcating in
their students an understanding of the past.
The Alexandria Plan is the second in a suite of curriculum materials Common Core is
developing to help educators implement the CCSS. In 2010, Common Core released its Curriculum
Maps in English Language Arts. The Maps are a coherent sequence of thematic units, roughly six
per grade level, for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Now known as the Wheatley
Portfolio, these resources connect the skills delineated in the CCSS with suggested works of litera-
ture and informational texts and provide sample activities that teachers can use in the classroom to
reinforce the standards. The Wheatley Portfolio will soon grow, with resources to help educators
enact the instructional shifts while cultivating in students a love of excellent books—all based on
featured anchor informational and literary texts, poetry, and the arts. In summer 2013, we began
rolling out a comprehensive, K–12, CCSS-based mathematics curriculum known as Eureka Math,
with embedded professional development. Please watch our website, commoncore.org, for future
releases.
How will tHe AlexAndriA PlAn HelP Me, My ScHool, My diStrict,
or My StAte iMPleMent tHe ccSS-elA?
The CCSS-ELA emphasize the importance of literacy across the curriculum. Indeed, CCSS
architect David Coleman has said, “There is no such thing as doing the nuts and bolts of reading
in kindergarten through fifth grade without coherently developing knowledge in science, and
history, and the arts—period.” Unfortunately, research has illustrated that history is one in a group
of core subjects that have been squeezed out of many classrooms. The Alexandria Plan guides
viii | IntrodUctIon: How to Use tHe AlexAndrIA PlAn
educators through the process of reprioritizing the teaching of history in the classroom and will
assist teachers in addressing key CCSS-ELA while also meeting state social studies standards.
How Are tHeSe reSourceS Structured?
The print editions of the Alexandria Plan, each organized by subject and grade span,
present essential content knowledge in United States and world history. United States history
is separated into eighteen eras, and so is world history. To make this knowledge accessible to
students in elementary school, we established two grade spans: lower elementary (kindergar-
ten through second grade) and upper elementary (third grade through fifth grade). Each book
contains one subject area (United States or world history) as well as the resources for teach-
ing to one grade span (lower or upper elementary). Learning expectations articulate the key
ideas, events, facts, and figures to be understood by students in a particular grade span.
Suggested anchor texts; text studies (comprising TDQs and exemplar student responses, and
accompanied by performance assessments based on one or more featured anchor texts); and
more select resources flesh out the content for each era. The following is a detailed break-
down of what is contained in a given era of the Alexandria Plan as well as in the accompanying
collection of era summaries that provide additional historical content for teachers.
Overview
Each overview captures the essence of the history presented in a given era. The paragraph
concludes with a brief description of what students will learn and be able to do after completing
the associated text study.
Learning Expectations
This section describes what our teachers have identified as being appropriate and necessary
for students to know in each grade span. It is this knowledge that students need to master so that
they will be prepared for later grades. Teachers can break down the content indicated into grade-
specific expectations that fit their classroom.
Suggested Anchor Texts
For each era of U.S. and world history, we provide a well-vetted list of suggested anchor texts
that can be used to impart essential knowledge found in the “Era Summaries” and “Learning
Expectations.” So that educators can select the book that is best suited to their classroom, we
provide text recommendations covering an array of topics in the era. These carefully curated
selections include exceptional works of narrative nonfiction, informational texts, and historical
fiction. The texts are rich in historical content, well written, fair in their presentation of history,
and often beautifully illustrated, allowing for the development of text-dependent questions that
illuminate both the historical content and the authors’ and illustrators’ craft. These texts may also
serve as mentor texts for students’ own writing.
Featured Anchor Text
Teacher-writers selected one or two of the suggested anchor texts to illuminate in a text
study aimed at the higher end of a particular grade span. Although all of the suggested anchor
texts are worth exploring with students, each featured anchor text captures a particularly