Lessons in the Basic Skills series help social studies instructors respond to the need to both teach course content and provide meaningful instruction in basic skills. Organized by skills, this unit is designed to be a supplement to the adopted U.S. history textbook, not a replacement for it.

Lessons review content in pre- and post-Civil War chronological divisions. Topics covered in Basic Skills: U.S. History include the election of 1860, Watergate, the assassination of James A. Garfield, the Emancipation Proclamation, America’s wars, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Part 1 strengthens reading skills with lessons such as Recognizing the Main Idea: Famous Americans and Using Primary Sources: Marius Robinson and Garrett A. Morgan. Part 2 reinforces study skills with lessons that include Following Directions: Morse Code and Summarizing Information: Civil Disobedience. Part 3 addresses reference and information research skills. Lessons include Using an Encyclopedia: Locating Information and Using the Internet: Searching the World Wide Web. Part 4 focuses on maps, globes, and visual materials. Lessons include Working with Location: New Orleans and Using Graphs and Percentages: Immigration, 1820 and 1874. Part 5 provides practice in using information skills, with lessons such as Recognizing Author Bias: Native Americans and Identifying Alternative Courses of Action: The Constitutional Convention and World War I. Part 6 explores interpersonal relationships and social participation skills. Lessons include Developing Social and Political Participation Skills: Local Current Events and Developing Group Guidelines: The War of 1812 and the Age of Industrialization.