CK in Your State: History
Discover Core Knowledge in Your State
Bring your state’s story to life with Core Knowledge In Your State, a new series of state-specific history units designed to connect Core Knowledge’s rich content with your state’s specific and unique social studies standards.
These stand-alone units invite students to explore the people, places, and events that shaped their state’s past and continue to influence its future. Perfect for use alongside the Core Knowledge Sequence or Core Knowledge History & Geography series, or entirely on their own, these flexible resources make state history engaging, meaningful, and easy to implement in the classroom.
Coming Soon!
All Core Knowledge In Your State digital units will be available in March, with printed editions available in the summer.
Explore State History – Aligned and Enriching
Each In Your State unit helps teachers bridge the gap between Core Knowledge’s national scope and state-required curriculum. Developed for select elementary and middle school grades, every unit includes:
- Engaging narratives that connect key events and figures to broader U.S. and world history.
- Color maps, timelines, and photographs that bring learning to life.
- Activities and projects that build geography, civics, and social studies skills.
- Vocabulary terms and literacy supports to strengthen students’ understanding and critical thinking.
- Flexible pacing guides to fit your schedule—whether 30 days or a full semester.
Each unit covers your state’s history from its earliest peoples to the present day, exploring geography, economics, government, and the pivotal moments that shaped its character. Units include teacher materials, student readers, and pacing options.
Bring your state’s story to your classroom with Core Knowledge In Your State—where local history meets a strong foundation in knowledge.
The Story of Arizona (Grade 3)
The Story of Arizona introduces the history and geography of Arizona. Students learn about Arizona’s physical and human features, including its government. They trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day. Students explore Arizona’s colonial history and its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the Great Depression, two world wars, and the Cold War.
STUDENT READER: The Student Reader offers engaging and richly illustrated informative text. Each volume includes maps, historical photographs, vocabulary sidebars, and a glossary.
TEACHER GUIDE: The Teacher Guide provides detailed lesson plans for each Student Reader or Student Volume chapter, as well as instructional support, activity suggestions, activity page masters, and assessments.
TIMELINE CARDS: Timeline Cards support the Student Reader and Teacher Guide as visual aids to reinforce big ideas, clarify the chronology and context of historical events, and prompt discussion.
ONLINE RESOURCES: The Online Resources provide background information for the teacher, instructional support for lessons in the Teacher Guide, and additional activities that build on the information and instruction in the unit.
The Story of California (Grade 4)
The Story of California introduces the history and geography of California. Students learn about California’s physical and human features, including its government. They trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day. Students explore California’s colonial history, its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the Great Depression, two world wars, and the Cold War, and its emergence as a player in the global economy and as a hub for technology.
STUDENT READER: The Student Reader offers engaging and richly illustrated informative text. Each volume includes maps, historical photographs, vocabulary sidebars, and a glossary.
TEACHER GUIDE: The Teacher Guide provides detailed lesson plans for each Student Reader or Student Volume chapter, as well as instructional support, activity suggestions, activity page masters, and assessments.
TIMELINE CARDS: Timeline Cards support the Student Reader and Teacher Guide as visual aids to reinforce big ideas, clarify the chronology and context of historical events, and prompt discussion.
ONLINE RESOURCES: The Online Resources provide background information for the teacher, instructional support for lessons in the Teacher Guide, and additional activities that build on the information and instruction in the unit.
The Story of Colorado (Grade 4)
The Story of Colorado introduces the history and geography of Colorado. Students learn about Colorado’s physical and human features, including its government. They trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day. Students read about the exploration and settlement of Colorado and its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the Great Depression, two world wars, and the Cold War.
STUDENT READER: The Student Reader offers engaging and richly illustrated informative text. Each volume includes maps, historical photographs, vocabulary sidebars, and a glossary.
TEACHER GUIDE: The Teacher Guide provides detailed lesson plans for each Student Reader or Student Volume chapter, as well as instructional support, activity suggestions, activity page masters, and assessments.
TIMELINE CARDS: Timeline Cards support the Student Reader and Teacher Guide as visual aids to reinforce big ideas, clarify the chronology and context of historical events, and prompt discussion.
ONLINE RESOURCES: The Online Resources provide background information for the teacher, instructional support for lessons in the Teacher Guide, and additional activities that build on the information and instruction in the unit.
The Story of Minnesota (Grade 6)
The Story of Minnesota introduces the history and geography of Minnesota. Students learn about Minnesota’s physical and human features, including its government and economy. They trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day. Students explore Arizona’s Indigenous history, its development as a U.S. territory, and its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars, and the Cold War.
STUDENT READER: The Student Reader offers engaging and richly illustrated informative text. Each volume includes maps, historical photographs, vocabulary sidebars, and a glossary.
TEACHER GUIDE: The Teacher Guide provides detailed lesson plans for each Student Reader or Student Volume chapter, as well as instructional support, activity suggestions, activity page masters, and assessments.
TIMELINE CARDS: Timeline Cards support the Student Reader and Teacher Guide as visual aids to reinforce big ideas, clarify the chronology and context of historical events, and prompt discussion.
ONLINE RESOURCES: The Online Resources provide background information for the teacher, instructional support for lessons in the Teacher Guide, and additional activities that build on the information and instruction in the unit.
The Story of North Carolina (Grade 4)
The Story of North Carolina introduces the history and geography of North Carolina. Students learn about North Carolina’s physical and human features, including its government. They trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day. Students explore North Carolina’s colonial history and its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars, the Cold War, and the civil rights movement.
The History of North Carolina (Grade 8)
The History of North Carolina covers the history and geography of North Carolina. Students learn about North Carolina’s physical and human features, including its government. They trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day. Students explore North Carolina’s colonial history and its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars, the Cold War, and the civil rights movement.
STUDENT READER: The Student Reader offers engaging and richly illustrated informative text. Each volume includes maps, historical photographs, vocabulary sidebars, and a glossary.
TEACHER GUIDE: The Teacher Guide provides detailed lesson plans for each Student Reader or Student Volume chapter, as well as instructional support, activity suggestions, activity page masters, and assessments.
TIMELINE CARDS: Timeline Cards support the Student Reader and Teacher Guide as visual aids to reinforce big ideas, clarify the chronology and context of historical events, and prompt discussion.
ONLINE RESOURCES: The Online Resources provide background information for the teacher, instructional support for lessons in the Teacher Guide, and additional activities that build on the information and instruction in the unit.
The Story of Utah (Grade 4)
The Story of Utah introduces the history and geography of Utah. Students learn about Colorado’s physical and human features, including its government. They trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day. Students read about the exploration and settlement of Utah and its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the Great Depression, two world wars, and the Cold War.
The History of Utah (Grade 7)
The History of Utah covers the history of Utah. Students trace the state’s history from the first people who lived in the region to the present day, including the role of Utah’s state and local governments. They read about the exploration and settlement of Utah and its involvement in historical national and international events, such as the Great Depression, two world wars, and the Cold War.
STUDENT READER: The Student Reader offers engaging and richly illustrated informative text. Each volume includes maps, historical photographs, vocabulary sidebars, and a glossary.
TEACHER GUIDE: The Teacher Guide provides detailed lesson plans for each Student Reader or Student Volume chapter, as well as instructional support, activity suggestions, activity page masters, and assessments.
TIMELINE CARDS: Timeline Cards support the Student Reader and Teacher Guide as visual aids to reinforce big ideas, clarify the chronology and context of historical events, and prompt discussion.
ONLINE RESOURCES: The Online Resources provide background information for the teacher, instructional support for lessons in the Teacher Guide, and additional activities that build on the information and instruction in the unit.
Related Curriculum
CKHG follows our approach to knowledge-based schooling, outlined in the Core Knowledge Sequence. It allows students to build and deepen their knowledge grade by grade and to make cross-curricular connections across subjects.
CKHG and Civics
The history and geography curriculum materials aim to prepare students to actively participate in a democratic society. Within all CKHG American History titles, every Teacher Guide includes a feature called The Pathway to Citizenship.
CKHG for Social Studies
Used in their recommended sequence, CKHG materials can form the basis of an engaging Social Studies program that builds historical and geographical knowledge and skills grade by grade.
CKHG and Language Arts
You can also use CKHG to integrate content-rich nonfiction into your Reading or Language Arts lessons. CKHG objectives are correlated to the Common Core English Language Arts standards, which call for increased reading of nonfiction informational texts. With CKHG, you can take an interdisciplinary approach to reading that provides rich, meaningful, and sustained engagement with informational texts organized in a coherent sequence.
Biography Series
Voices in History is a Core Knowledge Biography Series that encourages young readers to learn about real Superheroes in history. As a result of acts of extraordinary bravery, ingenuity, strength, and determination, these people made a difference, and changed the world. Perhaps their remarkable stories will inspire young readers to become the Superheroes of the future.
Terms of Use
The Core Knowledge History and Geography curriculum materials made available for download are freely available for anyone to use, adapt, and share (with attribution). No one is permitted to extract any images included in our PDF materials for use in any other way; to do so would be a violation of the agreements under which the images were licensed. No one is permitted to sell either the original program, an adaptation of it, or lesson plans that reproduce any part of it. For more information, see the Guidelines to Core Knowledge and the Creative Commons License.