Through its thematic approach to the American experience, this curriculum allows students to develop historical skills, including some of the following national standards:

1. Chronological thinking (Standard 1), or a sense of the past, present, and future and their connections through continuities and ruptures
2. Historical comprehension (Standard 2), or the ability to identify and describe narrative structures and historical evidence
3. Historical analysis and interpretation (Standard 3), or the ability to compare, contrast, and contextualize peoples, events, places, and times
4. Historical research (Standard 4), or skills to ask historical questions, to search for and find historical evidence, and to construct a coherent narrative
5. Problem-solving (Standard 5), or the ability to identify, analyze, and recommend solutions to historical and contemporary problems and issues
6. Story-telling, or the ability to recount history through the students' own voices and experiences (See "Historians and Their Craft" for a brief explanation of history and the writing of history.)

Students will read primary, first-person documents to understand the texts, themselves, and the cultures of the U.S. and world. Some of the language arts skills developed in this curriculum include:

1. Textual criticism (Standard 3), or the ability to comprehend, interpret, and evaluate texts
2. Contextual criticism (Standard 3), or the understanding of texts within their times, places, and genres, and the ability to draw from prior knowledge on the meanings and significances of texts
3. Audiences (Standards 4 & 5), or the recognition that authors write for themselves and their audiences, and that those audiences bring their own readings to the texts
4. Language and media (Standards 6 & 12), or the appreciation that the conventions of language, including print and non-print texts and pictures, convey meanings that might be hidden or simply assumed
5. Research skills (Standards 7 & 8), or the ability to pose questions and generate ideas, and to gather, evaluate, and synthesize data
6. Language diversity (Standard 9), or the respect for and understanding of the varieties of languages and their uses across peoples, places, and times
   

The national social studies standards most relevant to this curriculum include:

1. Culture (Standard I), or the identification and appreciation of diverse belief systems and behavioral patterns
2. Time, continuity, and change (Standard II), or an understanding of history
3. Places and environments (Standard III), or a recognition of the spatial dimensions of people's lives
4. Individuals, identities, and institutions (Standards IV and V), or an apprehension of the contexts of identity formation and the influences of institutions and practices
5. Power, authority, and governance (Standard VI), or a comprehension of the positions and articulations of privilege
6. Global connections (Standard IX), or a recognition of the interconnections across national boundaries
7. Civic ideals and practices (Standard X), or the understanding and exercise of responsible citizenship