American Girl - Girls of American History Unit 12 Growing Up in the USA in 1974-Julie® - Co-op/School License

A challenging time in our history - war, freedoms, equal rights, the environment - so much change.  Peer into 1974 through the eyes of a tenacious young girl.

Making history engaging for students is possibly one of the most difficult tasks for teachers.  How do we overcome that?  Two key things are critical for accomplishing this task.  First, it must be relatable in someway, and secondly, it needs to offer learning opportunities for multiple learning styles.  Girls of American History uses the popular American Girl book series.  This instantly makes history relatable, as the main characters are school age children, families and strong male characters. 

Girls of American History uses multisensory learning, which follows a pattern of Do It, Write It, Say It, Read It, See It.  Multisensory learning is great for every kind of learner - because each learner gets to experience learning the way they are most comfortable - but they also have the opportunity to learn through other senses.  Studies and research have shown that learning material through multiple senses helps children to retain information better.

The experiences practiced in multisensory learning allow each student to participate in ways that help them understand and retain best.  Boys and girls learn together and help each other with projects such as making a kite or fortune cookies, having discussions about the story, historical information, as well as positive character traits such as tenacity, honesty etc.  

Schooling multiple ages together, in a co-op setting for example, is very manageable.  And, with the continuity of the same subject matter for literature and history, as well as crafts and field trip experiences, opportunities for discussion are plentiful and help build a love of learning.

Field trip options include roller skating, a day at the beach, a wild animal rescue shelter and more. This six week unit study using the American Girl® Julie® series books is also great for doing school in a large class setting,  or a smaller co-op environment. Each unit suggests a time period themed celebrations party at the end of the unit to showcase what the students have learned.

There are two options for the required readers for this unit.  American Girl orignally printed the Julie® stories in a six book set. These stories have been reformatted into a three book set called "Beforever".  Either book set will work for this curriculum.

This study is not only about Vietnam, environmental issues and equal rights, but includes life as a young tenacious girl facing family issues and discovering herself along the way.

A fun unit filled with many activities and field trips. Topics covered include environmental issues, Title Nine, Vietnam and more. This is a very full unit with several options to include language arts, science and math. During this unit you might consider studying President Ford and President Nixon as well as many other notable individuals. Craft and field trip ideas from the time period are included in the unit to help enhance the study. Some examples of crafts include; making a Tie Dye shirt, drawings and more.

**Crafts are not included in the purchase of the curriculum, but resources and instruction as to what crafts to purchase are included.  Some units do include free craft templates. Co-op/School License allows permission for the purchasing school allow as many teachers to teach this curriculum to as many groups and classes as they like.  There is no expiration.  The school may not make copies for parents, or other schools/co-ops.  The file remains the property of the purchasing school only.