| Lesson | Title |
| 1 | Read and Annotate: Stop, think, and react using a variety of strategies to understand |
| 2 | Annotate Images: Expand understanding and learning from visuals |
| 3 | Build Background to Understand a Primary Source:Read and paraphrase secondary sources to create a context for a topic |
| 4 | Read and Analyze a Primary Source: Focus on what you know and ask questions to clarify and explain |
| 5 | Compare Perspectives: Explore the different life experiences of historical figures |
| 6 | Read Critically: Consider point of view and bias |
| 7 | Organize Historical Thinking: Create a question web |
| 8 | Read with a Question in Mind: Focus on central ideas |
| 9 | Surface Common Themes: Infer the big ideas across several texts |
| 10 | Synthesize Information to Argue a Point: Use claim, evidence, and reasoning |
| These short nonfiction texts were selected using the following criteria: | |
| Interest/Content | Because kids love the quirky and the unexpected, these texts highlight important but often lesser-known or unrecognized perspectives and voices from the past. |
| Visual literacy | Since visual literacy is an essential 21st-century skill, these texts include historical images, paintings, and maps, as well as diagrams, timelines, charts, and photographs. |
| Writing quality and accuracy | To foster student engagement, these articles feature vibrant language in an active voice supported by a rich assortment of visual features. |
| Reading level/complexity | These texts are written at a range of reading levels and include a wide variety of topics to capture the interests of all readers. |