With the nation-wide push towards adopting a more rigorous Common Core curriculum, I have seen first hand how the investment in literacy and reading has positively impacted my social studies scholars over the past 10 months. This past year I pushed students to dig into historical text and to analyze the text in order to make connections both to their own lives and also to events in the past.  Students were invested in their learning but we were not always able to find reliable text for each civilization that we studied. 

The theme of my class is around the world in 180 days and students are excited to travel to different cultures and time periods, through reading.  Therefore, the puropose of this cause is to purchase a collection of "Eyewitness Books: World History." The book collection is described as being "like a museum in each book" with high-quality photographs of artifacts and illustrations on each page. The books also have in-depth articles and textual descriptions.  The series of 24 books includes each early civilization and goes up through to World War II. The book series has won numerous awards including the ALA Best Book for Young Adults, the New York Times Notable Book, and Outstanding Science Trade Books.   

This 24 book collection will allow scholars the opportunity to get a first hand look at each culture that we study and will allow each unit to be as rich and fulfilling as the previous one. We will use them for gallery walks and station activities so that each student has an opportunity to look at the collection.  Having this book collection in the classroom, will eliminate gaps in finding textual resources for each civilization. 

Thank you for considering my project and I appreciate any and all investments in order to make this possible for my sixth grade historians! 

Back Up Plan