<p>MindSparks is for-profit and provides curriculum sets for grades 4-5, 5-8, and 8-12. </p>

<p>Curriculum sets consist of primary source documents, worksheets, overheads, DBQs, maps, posters, and teacher’s booklets. Teacher’s booklets contain discussion questions, follow-up activities, points to make with students, and suggestions for additional activities.</p>

<p>All periods of American History are covered by the MindSparks series. Series available are: Debating the Documents – reproducible booklets, approximately 20 pages in length, consisting of pairs of conflicting primary source documents, worksheets, overheads of the documents, and a final DBQ on the documents; Editorial Cartoons – sets of six political cartoons featured on posters, a teacher’s guide with further background material, questions and follow-up activities; Excursions in History – timelines, maps, games, posters, and reproductions of documents; History Unfolding – sets of 10 student workbooks, one teacher’s manual, and a binder of 14 MindSparks sets, organized by era; and, The Way We Saw It – a 20-page booklet with transparencies of photos, poster art, cartoons, and historical prints, and a teacher’s booklet with discussion questions, reproducible lessons with background information and individual or small group follow-up activities. </p>

<p>Samples are available online and titles may be ordered through the MindSparks website.</p>

<p>Jackdaws is for-profit and produces hands-on primary source materials for upper elementary and middle school students. </p>

<p>These sets include reproductions of primary sources, including maps, photographs, letters, diaries, and posters. Each set of sources is accompanied by full descriptions of the documents, timelines, and broadsheet essays – historians’ detailed narratives of the topics presented in journal-like formats. There is also a study guide/lesson plan with every set that includes worksheets, activities, and assessments.</p>

<p>Units in American history are available in the following categories: New York state history, California state history, American Indian History, Colonial America, Economics, Government and Civics, Immigration, Slavery and the Civil War, Westward Expansion, and Conflicts and Social Issues.</p>

<p>Samples are not available online, though titles may be ordered through the Jackdaws website.</p>

<p>SPICE is non-profit and develops multidisciplinary curriculum materials on international themes for elementary, middle school, and secondary students.</p>

<p>SPICE units include thorough lesson plans with subject overviews, primary source materials, handouts, worksheets, in-class activities, projects, and assignments. Many units are interdisciplinary.</p>

<p>While SPICE curricular materials focus primarily on international issues, a number of curricular units are appropriate for an American history course. Selected titles include: Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball and Japanese-American Internment; Security, Civil Liberties, and Terrorism; Comparative Health Care: The United States and Japan; Introduction to Diasporas in the United States; San Francisco Peace Treaty: The Cold War and the Peace Process; and, U.S.-Mexico Economic Interdependence: Perspectives from Both Sides of the Border. </p>

<p>Only the tables of contents for units are available online, though titles may be ordered through the SPICE website.</p>

<p>NCHS is non-profit, funded by grants from both the public sector and private foundations, and produces teaching units for grades 5-12.</p>

<p>Each reproducible unit is rated for grade-level appropriateness and accompanied by background readings, primary source documents, discussion questions, lesson activities, and evaluation activities. Units are between 50 and 150 pages in length. </p>

<p>American history titles are available for Pre-Colonial history; Colonization and Settlement; Revolution and the New Nation; Constitutional Issues; Women in American History; Culture and the Arts in American History Native Americans; Slavery and Civil Rights; Immigration; and, Conflicts and Foreign Policy. </p>

<p>Previews of units are available in pdf form online and titles may be ordered online through Social Studies School Services at <a href="http://www.socialstudies.com">http://www.socialstudies.com</a&gt;, which also offers many NCHS titles for immediate download as e-books. </p>