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Maryland

New 6/7 standards! New 6/7 books!

Passages and Pathways is an inquiry-based program that explores social studies through the lens of geography. Students will examine historic and contemporary events that have shaped our world through the study of patterns, places, and people. From physical and human geography to economic and political systems to the exchange of culture and disease, Passages and Pathways is curated to provide full vertical alignment to the Maryland 6th and 7th Grade social studies frameworks, giving teachers the tools they need to successfully engage their students in content mastery.

  • Maryland 6
  • Maryland 7
  • MD345

Maryland 3, 4, 5

Dive into social studies with our vertically-aligned Maryland Series. Curated to enrich Maryland's 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade social studies classrooms, these programs are customized to fully cover the newly-revised State Standards and Frameworks in Social Studies. Our evidence-based resources support students and teachers in exploring history, geography, economics, civics, and culture.

Maryland K–2

Our kindergarten through second-grade series for Maryland introduces young learners to social studies by making connections to the world around them and developing life. Each textbook explores geography, history, economics, and civics while spiraling social studies skills and scaffolding literacy development through Science of Reading techniques. 

  • MDK
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Kindergarten
 

Exploring My Place in the World

Exploring My Place in the World
takes kindergarteners through concepts like freedom, rules, place, time, and choice. 

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Grade 1
 

Exploring My Communities

Exploring My Communities has first-grade students examining leadership and problem solving, decision making, human and environment interaction, and personal finance.

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Grade 2
 

Exploring Near and Far

Exploring Near and Far allows second-grade students to analyze government and the common good, the movement of people and ideas, and context within history.

MD3
Grade 3

Exploring Time and Place, Maryland Edition

Exploring Time and Place, Maryland Edition sets students on the path to understanding their community through geography, history, economics, civics, and culture. The text is filled with thought-provoking images, timelines, maps, graphs, and charts, making this a comprehensive exploration of Maryland and students’ roles within their communities.

MD4
Grade 4

Maryland, An American Adventure 1450 - 1790

Maryland, An American Adventure is a two-part series that fully aligns to your fourth and fifth grade standards. The first book covers history from 1450–1790. These two books hone, support, and develop the basic social studies skills scaffolded in Exploring Time and Place, Maryland Edition.

También disponible en español

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 Grade 5
 

Maryland, An American Adventure 1780 - Present

Maryland, An American Adventure is a two-part series that fully aligns to your fourth and fifth grade standards. The second book covers 1780–Present. These two books hone, support, and develop the basic social studies skills scaffolded in Exploring Time and Place, Maryland Edition.

También disponible en español

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Grade 6

Passages and Pathways, World Geography: Part 1

Each unit is designed to engage students in critical thinking and analysis of the dynamic relationship between humans and the land, exploring connections, divisions, and movement around the globe. Our curriculum spirals social studies skills and scaffolds literacy development, including location-specific and thematically-based Case Study features for students to explore human interaction with the environment and interpret the world around them.

MD7-comingsoon
Grade 7

Passages and Pathways, World Geography: Part 2

Each unit is designed to engage students in critical thinking and analysis of the dynamic relationship between humans and the land, exploring connections, divisions, and movement around the globe. Our curriculum spirals social studies skills and scaffolds literacy development, including location-specific and thematically-based Case Study features for students to explore human interaction with the environment and interpret the world around them.

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 Grade 8
 

An American Odyssey, Maryland Edition

An American Odyssey, Maryland Edition, explores the history of the US from the convergence of Indigenous people, Europeans, and Africans in North America through the tumultuous Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age. 


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Inquiry Arc, Timelines, and Visual Literacy

Each chapter provides an inquiry-based approach that focuses student learning through a “Big” or “Essential” question. The question is drawn from state-specific standards or standards from the C3 Framework for Social Studies and is supported by Key Ideas, Learning Goals, and Key Terms in each chapter. Activities throughout the text and curriculum are scaffolded and designed to build upon each other and to gain skills, as well as content knowledge. Each chapter opening spread also includes a timeline relevant to the content to be covered and a primary or secondary source image with an accompanying caption to engage students.

Engaging Textbook Design

Every page of the text is designed to engage readers, featuring a variety of maps, images, graphs, charts, primary, and secondary sources that are grade-level appropriate. Many of the features found in the text provide opportunities to examine multiple perspectives for analysis and evaluation throughout, including the ability to express, clarify, justify, interpret, and represent their ideas and to respond to peer and teacher feedback orally and/or in written form. Students frequently engage meaningfully with complex texts and are able to see themselves in the content. Captions included with the visual features in the text include open-ended questions for students to consider, discuss, and debate. Maps, graphics, and sources throughout each chapter support an inquiry arc.

Formative Assessments

After each lesson, students can check their understanding of the content and concepts they have studied. The assessment includes basic recall questions as well as critical thinking questions that are scaffolded to the Chapter Assessments. These checks for understanding allow for students to display a range of depth of knowledge and also include a self-assessment for students to reflect on their own learning and performance.

Social Studies Skills Activities

These activities emphasize the skills historians use to understand and interpret history. Students employ historical-thinking skills to build understanding as well as make connections with historical concepts. They also have the opportunity to use skills like analysis, compare and contrast, contextualization, cause and effect, periodization, forming fact-based opinions, research, defending a position, and accurate chronicling historical events.

Academic and Domain-Specific Vocabulary

The Key Terms within each lesson strengthen understanding of the grade-level content and vocabulary, often include activities to increase comprehension and retention, and feature many terms that can be used by students in other contexts.

Primary Source Analysis

Each chapter includes at least one primary source activity. Questions are scaffolded, allowing students to build confidence and skill as they explore, examine, evaluate, and interpret primary and secondary sources to understand historical concepts and make connections to the world around them.

Explore GSE's Unparalleled Social Studies Resources And Premier Professional Development Services

Voices

Diversity Studies

Black American history, Ethnic studies, and hot topics. Accurate, authentic, and engaging, these resources will give educators the tools they need to guide their students to think critically, analyze multiple narratives and perspectives, and delve into the events and contributions of historically marginalized communities.

GSEonline

GSEonline

All-in-one platform offering seamless access to Gibbs Smith Education eBooks and advanced study features. Our digital platform offers access to your programs including student and teacher-facing materials.

Professional Development

Professional Development

GSE’s Pathways to Excellence professional development program is designed to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to build and sustain strong school cultures and communities that foster academic achievement, character development, and community stewardship.