History · US History

SEL activities for American History: Reconstruction to the Present

29 RoseThread Connect activities matched to the chapters of American History: Reconstruction to the Present (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Each one teaches the chapter's content and builds one Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skill in about 20 minutes.

We look only at each book's table of contents (chapter titles and topics) to suggest activities that fit the flow of your course. We don't use or reproduce any textbook content, and your edition's chapter order may differ slightly. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by these publishers.

Module 1: American Beginnings (Prologue)

• Rebuilding After the Civil War Relationship skills · US HistoryStudents learn how freedpeople rebuilt families, founded schools and churches, and voted during Reconstruction and consider what real repair after deep harm requires.
• Debating the Constitution Relationship skills · US HistoryStudents compare Federalist and Antifederalist arguments over ratification and practice deliberating respectfully with someone who sees an issue differently.
• Becoming a Citizen Historian Self-awareness · US HistoryStudents explore the Enlightenment ideas behind the nation's founding and name the questions about belonging and fairness they bring to the American story.

Module 2: Westward Expansion

• Unalienable Rights, Unfinished Promises Social awareness · US HistoryStudents read the Declaration of Independence alongside the experiences of enslaved people, women, and Native nations and consider how promises look different from different places.

Module 3: Industrialization

• The Jungle and the Factory Floor Social awareness · US HistoryStudents read excerpts from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle about working conditions and food safety and practice imagining daily life from a worker's point of view.
• Cities Built by Newcomers Social awareness · US HistoryStudents map how immigrants and migrants built growing industrial cities divided by race, ethnicity, and class and practice noticing who might feel left out in a group.

Module 4: Immigration and Urbanization

• Cities Built by Newcomers Social awareness · US HistoryStudents map how immigrants and migrants built growing industrial cities divided by race, ethnicity, and class and practice noticing who might feel left out in a group.
• Americanization and Identity Self-awareness · US HistoryStudents examine the Americanization movement's pressure on immigrants to give up language and customs and reflect on the parts of their own identity they carry proudly.

Module 5: Progressivism

• Progressives Take Action Relationship skills · US HistoryStudents learn how Progressives, including Hiram Johnson in California, won reforms such as the initiative, referendum, and recall and plan how a group can improve their school.

Module 6: U.S. Imperialism

• Becoming a World Power Responsible decision-making · US HistoryStudents map the Spanish American War and expansion in the Pacific, including Filipino and Native Hawaiian perspectives, and weigh the costs of a choice for everyone it affects.

Module 7: World War I

• The Home Front in the Great War Self-management · US HistoryStudents examine wartime propaganda, limits on speech, and the Great Migration and practice managing stress when pressure to conform runs high.

Module 8: The Roaring Twenties

• Harlem Renaissance Voices Self-awareness · US HistoryStudents read poems by Langston Hughes and work by Zora Neale Hurston and use writing to express an emotion and an identity of their own.

Module 9: The Great Depression

• The Crash and the Human Toll Self-management · US HistoryStudents examine the causes of the Great Depression and how families coped and identify healthy ways to handle stress about money and the future.
• Dust Bowl Migrants Come to California Social awareness · US HistoryStudents study Dorothea Lange's photographs of Dust Bowl families arriving in California and consider how communities can welcome people in crisis.

Module 10: The New Deal

• New Deal Debates Responsible decision-making · US HistoryStudents weigh arguments for and against New Deal programs, including the Central Valley Project that reshaped California water, and practice evaluating a policy by its intended and unintended effects.

Module 11: World War II

• Sacrifice and Service Self-management · US HistoryStudents learn about the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Navajo Code Talkers who served a nation that often denied them equal rights and reflect on what motivates service.
• Japanese American Incarceration Relationship skills · US HistoryStudents examine the forced removal of Japanese Americans, Korematsu v. United States, and the 1988 apology and redress, and consider what a sincere apology requires.
• The Atomic Decision Responsible decision-making · US HistoryStudents weigh the arguments made for and against dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and practice holding a difficult decision with care and humility.

Module 12: The Cold War

• Cold War Fears at Home Self-management · US HistoryStudents examine McCarthyism, blacklisting, and duck and cover drills and practice separating real evidence from fear when they hear an accusation.

Module 13: The Postwar Boom

• Braceros and the Valley Harvest Social awareness · US HistoryStudents learn how the Bracero Program brought Mexican workers to California farms, including in the Coachella Valley, and express gratitude for the hands that feed the nation.

Module 15: Civil Rights

• Huelga: The Farmworker Movement Relationship skills · US HistoryStudents learn how Filipino and Mexican American farmworkers led by Larry Itliong and Dolores Huerta, with the union cofounded with César Chávez, organized from Delano to the Coachella Valley and practice building unity across differences.
• Students Who Faced the Mob Self-management · US HistoryStudents connect Brown v. Board of Education and California's earlier Mendez v. Westminster case to the courage of the Little Rock Nine and name what helps them stay steady under pressure.
• Letter From Birmingham Jail Relationship skills · US HistoryStudents analyze how Martin Luther King Jr. answered his critics with reason and restraint and practice responding to criticism without losing their temper.
• Every Vote Counts Responsible decision-making · US HistoryStudents analyze how the Voting Rights Act and the Twenty Fourth Amendment opened access to the ballot and decide how they will take part in civic life.
• Women's Rights and Differing Views Self-awareness · US HistoryStudents compare differing perspectives on the roles of women, from Stanton and Anthony to activists and opponents in the 1960s and 1970s, and reflect on the expectations that shape their own choices.

Module 16: The Vietnam War

• Vietnam and a Divided Nation Social awareness · US HistoryStudents hear perspectives from veterans, protesters, and Vietnamese refugees who later settled in California and practice listening across deep disagreement.

Module 17: Transitions and Conservatism

• Watergate and Public Trust Self-awareness · US HistoryStudents examine the constitutional crisis of Watergate and how the press, courts, and Congress responded, then reflect on choosing integrity when no one is watching.
• Protecting Land and Water Responsible decision-making · US HistoryStudents weigh the views of conservation and property rights advocates on issues like the Salton Sea and Colorado River water and propose a fair solution for the Coachella Valley.

Module 18: Into a New Millennium

• Cold War Fears at Home Self-management · US HistoryStudents examine McCarthyism, blacklisting, and duck and cover drills and practice separating real evidence from fear when they hear an accusation.
• Watergate and Public Trust Self-awareness · US HistoryStudents examine the constitutional crisis of Watergate and how the press, courts, and Congress responded, then reflect on choosing integrity when no one is watching.

Module 19: The United States in the 21st Century

• Cold War Fears at Home Self-management · US HistoryStudents examine McCarthyism, blacklisting, and duck and cover drills and practice separating real evidence from fear when they hear an accusation.
• Vietnam and a Divided Nation Social awareness · US HistoryStudents hear perspectives from veterans, protesters, and Vietnamese refugees who later settled in California and practice listening across deep disagreement.
• Watergate and Public Trust Self-awareness · US HistoryStudents examine the constitutional crisis of Watergate and how the press, courts, and Congress responded, then reflect on choosing integrity when no one is watching.
• New Neighbors After 1965 Social awareness · US HistoryStudents learn how the Immigration Act of 1965 transformed communities across California and interview a partner about a journey from a source or an imagined family.
• Protecting Land and Water Responsible decision-making · US HistoryStudents weigh the views of conservation and property rights advocates on issues like the Salton Sea and Colorado River water and propose a fair solution for the Coachella Valley.
• Gratitude and the Next Chapter Relationship skills · US HistoryStudents reflect on how Americans across generations widened democracy and write a note of gratitude to someone who helped them grow this year.

RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.