America’s Heritage: An Experiment in Self-Government
America’s Heritage: An Experiment in Self-Government
America’s Heritage: An Experiment in Self-Government (American Heritage, 2016) is the next major FREE supplemental teacher unit resource developed by the American Heritage Education Foundation (AHEF) in partnership with the Wayne Duddlesten Foundation and the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation to support and strengthen 6th-12th grade social studies and civic education on the founding, governing documents and principles of the United States of America.
The America’s Heritage: An Experiment in Self-Government resource (“Experiment”) is a sequel to AHEF’s first, amazingly successful, free resource titled America’s Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty. “Adventure” is an award-winning K-12 supplemental lesson plan resource which has been utilized by over 140,000 teachers in all 50 states!! The new sequel volume, Experiment, provides new content and activities to help teachers and students focus on and analyze the purpose and meaning of America’s key founding documents and governing principles! Experiment is highly user-friendly and can easily supplement any teacher’s curriculum and instruction. Your students, friends, and family will be much better informed on American founding ideas and ideals, and become strong American patriots.
Topics in Experiment include the Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Federalist Paper 47, U. S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Three Branches of Government, union of the states, national debt, and more. Activities focus on primary source reading and study, text analysis, and question/answer and writing assessments. Units include correlations with Advanced Placement (AP), National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
Many of the units in Experiment refer to AHEF’s sourcebook/text, The Miracle of America: The Influence of the Bible on the Founding History and Principles of the United States of America for a People of Every Belief. Summaries of key principles from Miracle of America are featured in the “Teacher Resources” section of the Experiment resource.
Experiment is a response to the growing need for student and citizen education in the areas of U. S. history, U. S. government, American Political Thought/Philosophy, and Civic Education. Recent studies and reports have indicated that many schools are not teaching (or teaching less) about America’s founding heritage. Due to this and various other educational, cultural, socio-economic, political, and immigrational factors, students and citizens of all ages are not adequately knowledgeable about America’s founding institutions, history, documents, and the ideas historically supported and expressed by them. (See the Problem page on the AHEF website.) Without students’ and citizens’ learning of America’s founding principles and history, America as we know it cannot survive. American students and citizens must understand the philosophical origins of America to perpetuate history’s first and most successful experiment in self-government. To address the challenges facing teachers, students, and schools in our nation today, Experiment serves to assist and support teachers in developing and/or strengthening their curriculum and instruction in related subjects.
To access Experiment in downloadable PDF, sign up to be an AHEF member educator (no cost or obligation). As a member, you can log in to access our Member Resources. The printed binder format of the resource is available for purchase at our bookstore. (The printed format comes with tabs, is full color, and is 245 pgs (MS) or 273 pgs (HS)). It is a lifetime treasure for teachers, parents, children, and grandchildren on America’s founding principles.