Enrolling Now for 2026-27 School Year.
Enrolling Now for 2026-27 School Year.
Dear Learning Coach,
Thank you for partnering with CCA and investing in your learner’s education. This Learning Coach Guide is intended to help you support your learner in their Honors U.S. History course.
Within this guide, you will find the goals, components, and features of the online course. Please take time to read and review this information so you understand how to help your learner interact with all the course’s elements.
The Learning Coach Guide also includes information about each of the units in this course. On each page of unit information, you will discover the following.
CCA wishes you and your learner a terrific school year!
Your role as a Learning Coach is very important. Here are a few ways you can help your learner do their very best in the course.
This Honors United States History course is a survey of U.S. history since Reconstruction. Learners explore the major social, political, economic, and military events that shaped U.S. history during this time and the themes that run through the period.
Learners will watch videos, use interactive multimedia, and listen to audio recordings. They will read both primary texts (works from the period) and secondary texts explaining historical facts and concepts. They will read a lot and write a lot. They will complete several independent research projects. As they do so, they will need to think critically and incorporate evidence drawn from their reading and research to support their ideas.
This course will prepare learners to take future honors and/or AP® courses.
In addition to the focus on U.S. history, the course begins with a unit on digital citizenship. This unit is intended to address the reality of today’s high school students: they live in a digital age and will need to learn to make sense of it.
In this first unit, learners will reflect on the effects digital media has on their lives. Learners reflect on how digital media affects their relationships, and how it can affect their reputations. They grapple with the challenge of misinformation and learn how to fact-check information, a skill that is essential for both history and life.
By the end of the year, your learner will be able to:
Lesson Components:
Each day, your learner will spend roughly 60 minutes completing a history lesson. Some days may take less time while other days may take a little more time. The lesson does not need to be completed in one sitting, and in fact, there are natural stopping points for breaks. Encourage your learner to take short breaks as they need.
This section will help you to understand how your learner’s course is structured in edio.
Lesson Bundling:
Within the lesson bundles, there are different components your learner will interact with. These components will not be used every day.
1. Getting Started Lesson: There is one Getting Started lesson in this course. It can be found on Day 1 of Unit 1. This lesson includes important information about the course and contact information for your teacher.
2. Unit Overview: Each unit will include a Unit Overview. This describes what your learner will learn in the unit and how many assessments the unit will have.
3. Prep for Success: At the beginning of each unit, your learner will find a Prep for Success. This component offers learners tips to be successful in the course, such as study tips, important software information, safety reminders, and more.
4. Knowledge Check: There will be one Knowledge Check in each unit. The Knowledge Check is designed to check prior learning and understanding about key skills and concepts that will be taught in the unit. The Knowledge Check is not a graded assessment. Instead, learners will answer a few questions (at least five questions, but sometimes more) to check their existing level of knowledge on this subject.
The first lesson in every unit is often a bundle of lessons that introduces your learner to a new unit.
See the example below.
Each lesson has its own components to help guide your learner through the lesson.
1. Lesson Overview: At the beginning of every lesson, your learner will see the lesson overview. This section contains lesson objectives, lesson vocabulary, materials your learner will need for the lesson, and the suggested lesson length.
2. Engage: The first section of the lesson is Engage. In this section, learners will be introduced to the lesson by making a connection to past and present knowledge and will get ready for the lesson’s instruction.
3. Discover: New content and instruction is presented in the Discover section. Your learner will interact with the lesson content through defined vocabulary terms, videos, audio, and Pause and Think activities. Your learner will be able to practice and answer questions as they work through the lesson.
4. Show: Learners will demonstrate what they have learned in the lesson through a series of practice questions.
5. Summary: This section recaps the day’s objectives and prepares learners for a future lesson or assessment.
The course includes assignments and projects. These graded assignments allow your learner to show what they have learned and apply their new skills. All CCA assignments and projects include these components.
1. Assessment Overview: At the beginning of each assessment, your learner will see the assessment overview. This section contains the goals of the assessment, materials your learner will need, the length of the assessment, and directions for
completion.
2. Plan: In the Plan section, learners will be introduced to the assignment or project. Learners may be provided with a review of content from the previous lessons, strategies for completing the activity, graphic organizers, and grading rubrics.
3. Do: Learners will put their plan into action and work to complete the assignment or project successfully. This section also provides the grading expectations and/or rubric the teacher will use to grade the work.
4. Reflect: In Reflect, learners will think back to the work they completed. They will reflect upon the experience and analyze how well they completed the task. These moments of reflection are important and allow learners to think about their learning and their work habits.
In addition to assignments and projects, this course also includes quizzes and tests.
This course includes and uses unique features such as:
Textual analysis: Text analysis, in which learners read a specific historical document closely, so they can learn how to analyze and interpret documents.
Document-Based Questions (DBQs): Document-Based Questions (DBQs), in which learners practice reading and evaluating documents. Analyzing these historical documents gives learners the chance to practice the kinds of skills historians use. Historians must sort and synthesize documents from different people and work hard to make sense of them and create a larger historical narrative that makes sense. These assignments also give learners the chance to “hear” voices sometimes left out of traditional history texts, like workers, immigrants, and farmers.
Artistic analysis: Artistic analysis, when learners interpret songs, poems, and images from specific historical periods to better understand how people felt during crucial events and what these defining moments in American history meant to them.
Creative questions: Creative questions, which give learners practice in both analysis and empathy as they role-play people from the past to get a glimpse into their world and understand what major historical events mean to them.
Unit Overview
Digital media and technology are evolving at a rapid pace. This unit introduces skills to help your learner use technology to improve online communication as well as to be able to understand the differences in types of digital media. It includes lessons that discuss different types of information your learner may find online, both for this class and as a digital media consumer.
Unit Assessments
Quiz ________________________
Test_________________________
Assignment________________
Project_____________________
Exam_______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
What did you find interesting or surprising about bias in news stories?
How can digital citizens analyze online information for bias and check its accuracy?
How does this unit help you understand fact and opinion?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will identify ways to engage in active listening in both online and face-to-face communication. Your learner will also identify the difference between fact and opinion and learn to evaluate a news story for bias as well as misinformation by applying critical thinking skills analysis.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
none
Unit Overview
Digital media and technology are evolving at a rapid pace. This unit introduces skills to help your learner use technology to improve online communication as well as to be able to understand the differences in types of digital media. It includes lessons that discuss different types of information your learner may find online, both for this class and as a digital media consumer.
Unit Assessments
Quiz ________________________
Test_________________________
Assignment________________
Project_____________________
Exam_______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
What did you find interesting or surprising about bias in news stories?
How can digital citizens analyze online information for bias and check its accuracy?
How does this unit help you understand fact and opinion?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will identify ways to engage in active listening in both online and face-to-face communication. Your learner will also identify the difference between fact and opinion and learn to evaluate a news story for bias as well as misinformation by applying critical thinking skills analysis.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
none
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the causes of the Civil War, the major events in that war, and its impact on political and social life. Your learner will examine how the U.S. responded to the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War and explore the nation’s commitment to liberty and justice for all.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
How did the Civil War change the United States?
What did you find surprising about the Civil War? Why?
What are the most difficult things to understand about this period?
Unit Notables
Your learner will explore how the Civil War divided the United States, and the ways Reconstruction worked to try and reunite the nation. Your learner will also explore the legal outcomes of the war in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution. If your learner is interested in this period, encourage them to research and explore major Civil War places, such as Gettysburg.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the causes of the Civil War, the major events in that war, and its impact on political and social life. Your learner will examine how the U.S. responded to the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War and explore the nation’s commitment to liberty and justice for all.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
How did the Civil War change the United States?
What did you find surprising about the Civil War? Why?
What are the most difficult things to understand about this period?
Unit Notables
Your learner will explore how the Civil War divided the United States, and the ways Reconstruction worked to try and reunite the nation. Your learner will also explore the legal outcomes of the war in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution. If your learner is interested in this period, encourage them to research and explore major Civil War places, such as Gettysburg.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore a period of great change in American History. During this era, the United States had great advances in technology and industrialized. Millions of people immigrated to the U.S. from other parts of the world, and the country expanded west to California. Political problems including corruption, an economic gap between rich and poor, and social problems based on race continued to cause tensions throughout the country.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
Which technological innovation created the most social change during this period?
Why was there so much political corruption?
What did you find the most interesting or surprising in this unit?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will explore many of the issues that helped make America modern. Some things, like the oil industry, the telegraph, the telephone, and electricity, were new. Others, like immigration, had been happening since the first settlers came to America, but the number of new immigrants was much higher than in previous centuries. Each of these factors helped create the world Americans know today. You can support your learner by encouraging them to research the past evolution of their favorite technology. Many current technologies have their origins in the industrialization of America.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore a period of great change in American History. During this era, the United States had great advances in technology and industrialized. Millions of people immigrated to the U.S. from other parts of the world, and the country expanded west to California. Political problems including corruption, an economic gap between rich and poor, and social problems based on race continued to cause tensions throughout the country.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
Which technological innovation created the most social change during this period?
Why was there so much political corruption?
What did you find the most interesting or surprising in this unit?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will explore many of the issues that helped make America modern. Some things, like the oil industry, the telegraph, the telephone, and electricity, were new. Others, like immigration, had been happening since the first settlers came to America, but the number of new immigrants was much higher than in previous centuries. Each of these factors helped create the world Americans know today. You can support your learner by encouraging them to research the past evolution of their favorite technology. Many current technologies have their origins in the industrialization of America.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will learn about two major U.S. policies: imperialism and progressivism. Your learner will explore how Imperialism led to the U.S. conquest of Hawaii, and to the country’s involvement in the Spanish-American War and political struggles in Cuba, Mexico, Asia, and Latin America.
Your learner will also explore the Progressive movement that took place in the U.S. during this time, including the struggle for women’s right to vote.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
What were the results of the Spanish-American War?
How would you have felt if you had been a citizen of Cuba or Hawaii during American invasions of these nations?
What is interesting or hard to understand about the argument over whether women should have the right to vote? Why?
Unit Notables
A key challenge when studying this period is recognizing how much social attitudes have changed. For example, some of the American military interventions abroad assumed the United States should get involved because it was culturally superior. Sometimes this involved explicit assumptions about race and religion that would seem very shocking today.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will learn about two major U.S. policies: imperialism and progressivism. Your learner will explore how Imperialism led to the U.S. conquest of Hawaii, and to the country’s involvement in the Spanish-American War and political struggles in Cuba, Mexico, Asia, and Latin America.
Your learner will also explore the Progressive movement that took place in the U.S. during this time, including the struggle for women’s right to vote.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
What were the results of the Spanish-American War?
How would you have felt if you had been a citizen of Cuba or Hawaii during American invasions of these nations?
What is interesting or hard to understand about the argument over whether women should have the right to vote? Why?
Unit Notables
A key challenge when studying this period is recognizing how much social attitudes have changed. For example, some of the American military interventions abroad assumed the United States should get involved because it was culturally superior. Sometimes this involved explicit assumptions about race and religion that would seem very shocking today.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the changes in the U.S. from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. As the U.S. became a global power, it became involved in major global conflicts, including World War I. After the war, the U.S. played an active role in trying to reshape the world and prevent future wars.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
What were the results of the Spanish-American War?
How would you have felt if you had been a citizen of Cuba or Hawaii during American invasions of these nations?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will explore how complicated society and history can be. Your learner will discover the reasons World War I happened, including the ways a network of treaties pulled nation after nation into the conflict. Your learner will explore how the war reshaped U.S. domestic and international policy. If your learner struggles with remembering the various policies, treaties, and their results, encourage them to use a graphic organizer for their notes.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the changes in the U.S. from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. As the U.S. became a global power, it became involved in major global conflicts, including World War I. After the war, the U.S. played an active role in trying to reshape the world and prevent future wars.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
What were the results of the Spanish-American War?
How would you have felt if you had been a citizen of Cuba or Hawaii during American invasions of these nations?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will explore how complicated society and history can be. Your learner will discover the reasons World War I happened, including the ways a network of treaties pulled nation after nation into the conflict. Your learner will explore how the war reshaped U.S. domestic and international policy. If your learner struggles with remembering the various policies, treaties, and their results, encourage them to use a graphic organizer for their notes.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore life in the U.S. after World War II. While many Americans wanted life to go back to normal after the war, they soon learned that the country was quickly changing. With the rise of communism in the Soviet Union, the U.S. became an example of a free, democratic world. The Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union began in 1945 and would last for over 40 years. With both countries having nuclear weapons, the United States, and much of the world, faced new problems.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
Why did the United States get involved in the Korean War?
Can you see anything in the contemporary world that seems like the split between capitalism and communism during this time?
Why do you think the post-World War II youth culture took the form it did?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will explore the ways the world was shaped by political influence and national alliances. After World War II, Communism seemed like a threat to everything the United States stood for, and so the U.S. fought against communism in its foreign and domestic policy alike. If your learner struggles with the details of the Cold War, encourage your learner to create a comparison chart of how the U.S. and the Soviet Union were different in political, social, and economic ways.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore life in the U.S. after World War II. While many Americans wanted life to go back to normal after the war, they soon learned that the country was quickly changing. With the rise of communism in the Soviet Union, the U.S. became an example of a free, democratic world. The Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union began in 1945 and would last for over 40 years. With both countries having nuclear weapons, the United States, and much of the world, faced new problems.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
Why did the United States get involved in the Korean War?
Can you see anything in the contemporary world that seems like the split between capitalism and communism during this time?
Why do you think the post-World War II youth culture took the form it did?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will explore the ways the world was shaped by political influence and national alliances. After World War II, Communism seemed like a threat to everything the United States stood for, and so the U.S. fought against communism in its foreign and domestic policy alike. If your learner struggles with the details of the Cold War, encourage your learner to create a comparison chart of how the U.S. and the Soviet Union were different in political, social, and economic ways.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Watergate scandal, a political crime that put the United States through a constitutional crisis. Your learner will examine the rise of the modern conservative movement, and how it reshaped both U.S. society and the larger world.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
Do you think Richard Nixon should have been prosecuted for his actions in Watergate? Explain.
What did you find interesting or surprising in this unit? Why?
Unit Notables
Your learner will complete an assignment about the Watergate crisis as well as a DBQ essay on the rise of conservatism. If your learner struggles with the DBQ, encourage them to create a list of the main points of each document they are presented with. From these main points, encourage your learner to write their thesis statement, which will help them focus their writing.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Watergate scandal, a political crime that put the United States through a constitutional crisis. Your learner will examine the rise of the modern conservative movement, and how it reshaped both U.S. society and the larger world.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
Do you think Richard Nixon should have been prosecuted for his actions in Watergate? Explain.
What did you find interesting or surprising in this unit? Why?
Unit Notables
Your learner will complete an assignment about the Watergate crisis as well as a DBQ essay on the rise of conservatism. If your learner struggles with the DBQ, encourage them to create a list of the main points of each document they are presented with. From these main points, encourage your learner to write their thesis statement, which will help them focus their writing.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the United States since the end of the Cold War. As the U.S. had a more global reach, the world became more interconnected than ever before. This globalization has impacted migration, immigration, the climate, and politics since the 1990s.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
How did the events of 9/11 affect the United States?
What surprised you the most in this unit?
You are living through this period. What do future generations need to know about it?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will examine how the U.S. today has been influenced by the national and international decisions of the last thirty years. As they explore globalization, the rise of global terrorism, the impact of technology, and modern challenges in the world, your learner will link the past to the present. Encourage your learner to discuss the trends that they have noticed over time throughout this course, and what predictions they might make for the future of the country.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Unit Overview
In this unit, your learner will explore the United States since the end of the Cold War. As the U.S. had a more global reach, the world became more interconnected than ever before. This globalization has impacted migration, immigration, the climate, and politics since the 1990s.
Unit Assessments
Quiz _________________________
Test _________________________
Assignment ________________
Project _____________________
Exam _______________________
Have your learner identify which assessment type they see in their unit. Check all that apply.
Unit Discussion Questions
How did the events of 9/11 affect the United States?
What surprised you the most in this unit?
You are living through this period. What do future generations need to know about it?
Unit Notables
In this unit, your learner will examine how the U.S. today has been influenced by the national and international decisions of the last thirty years. As they explore globalization, the rise of global terrorism, the impact of technology, and modern challenges in the world, your learner will link the past to the present. Encourage your learner to discuss the trends that they have noticed over time throughout this course, and what predictions they might make for the future of the country.
Kit Materials
none
Household Materials
notebook, writing utensils
Enrolling Now for 2026-27 School Year.
