Colorado
Dive into social studies with our vertically-aligned Colorado Series. Curated to enrich Colorado's 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade social studies classrooms, these programs are customized to fully cover the newly-revised 2022 Colorado Academic Standards. Our evidence-based resources support students and teachers in exploring history, geography, economics, civics, personal financial literacy, and culture.
Exploring Time and Place, Colorado edition
Exploring Time and Place, Colorado Edition sets students on the path to understanding their community through geography, history, economics, civics, and culture. Each unit begins with a Big Question and includes tips and features to scaffold science of reading fluency development, identify fact versus fiction, speaking and listening skills, and more. The text is filled with thought-provoking images, timelines, maps, graphs, and charts, making this a comprehensive exploration of Colorado and students’ roles within their communities.
The Colorado Story, 3rd edition
The Colorado Story, 3rd edition covers the history of Colorado from the earliest people on the land to the challenges facing Coloradans today. The latest edition is fully correlated to the 2022 standards and artfully curated to highlight the unique features and symbols that represent Colorado.
The entire program is inquiry-based. Each chapter begins and ends with The Big Question. The student edition and curricular features guide students toward forming fact-based opinions and conclusions. Content about the state’s government, geography, and economy are woven into the historical narrative, making this a comprehensive exploration of the Colorado story.
Who We Are: A History of the United States
Who We Are presents a comprehensive study of the United States. The narrative and curriculum weave geography, civics, economics, culture, and history together to guide students through the interconnected events and circumstances that formed the United States. The text has been artfully curated using primary sources, maps, timelines, and images that offer multiple perspectives for students to evaluate. Each chapter is designed using inquiry-based practices and promotes literacy for every level of learner.
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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
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
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
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.