Ohio as America 3.0 is a living curriculum that is constantly undergoing revision, with new content, accessibility options, fixes, and more being added every quarter. Below you will find the updates for 2024 broken down by quarter, as well as a full list of all changes made in the curricula since Q2 of the 2022-2023 school year. Check back every few months to see what we have changed and added!
If you have a content suggestion, edit, fix, or accessibility need that you would like to see addressed, email ohioasamerica@ohiohistory.org so we can put it on the next quarterly update!
Patch Notes for Q2 2023-2024
It’s been a few months since our last update. We hope you are enjoying the new Resources and Experiences tab and all of the ported 2.0 content. We’ve got a smaller update this quarter, with plenty of bug fixes and quality-of-life updates. However, we’ve got two new readings for you in 10.1’s Resources and Experiences tab about some of Ohio’s natural disasters, and a very special treat: our first pedagogical overview of American Indian history! What does that entail? Check it out below!
As a reminder, make sure to join the Ohio as America Facebook forum. This is a place for all Ohio as America subscribers to congregate, learn about new things coming down the pipeline, collaborate with one another, and more! If you want to take your social studies to the next level, drop by today!
Major Changes
American Indian Pedagogical Document (for Professional Development)
We’ve spent the past few months working with several representatives of the Tribal Nations of Ohio to get together our first pedagogical document on American Indian history. But first, what is a pedagogical document? This is a large, comprehensive document on a single subject of history that covers the historical knowledge, cultural competency, and educational guidelines for teaching said subject. Consider it the equivalent of a full day professional development seminar on the subject by historical experts, pedagogical experts, and the members of said historical subject. We hope to put more of these together if this is well received, so let us know if you want to see more documents with this focus!
When we first conceived of these professional development documents, we wanted to cover a subject many teachers find difficult to teach. Based on both internal and external feedback, we identified American Indian history as the subject most in need of PD. This 26-page, 10,000 word document covers many facets of American Indian history and education. To see the separate parts, you can look at the patch notes below then check out the link on the accompanying chapters!
For now, we will attach these documents to the relevant teacher materials in chapters pertaining to American Indian history. In the future, we intend to have a landing page for PD materials where similar documents like this one can live.
2 New Resource Readings
We’ve been making new resource readings since dropping the Q1 update, and we’ve come back with two more readings! These readings cover some of Ohio’s natural disasters, how and why they occurred, and what can be done to prevent future natural disasters. You can find them in the Resources and Experiences tab of Chapter 10, or can click on the links below to check them out!
Bug Fixes
As usual, we have our slew of bug fixes that we put out. However, we’ve also got a special announcement regarding these: we’ll be doing a full edit pass of Ohio as America this year with our new manager and editor, Becky Sicking! She comes with 30 years of experience in curriculum and textbook editing, and has already done fantastic work on Chapter 1. The sheer amount of edits are too numerous, even for our patch notes, so go check out the improved Chapter 1 readings!
Note: Because of our edits, the recorded audio for Chapter 1 is out of sync with the readings. We intend to re-record these readings in Q3’s update in January, and intend to fully re-record all readings as we do our edit passes of each chapter. In the meantime, if you would like a recording that matches the reading 1:1, use the Immersive Reader in the bottom-right of the screen.
Full Changelog Q2 2023
American Indian Pedagogical Document (for Professional Development)
Chapter 1, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 7, Chapter 10: Added the American Indian Pedagogical Document to the Teacher Materials of these chapters. This 26-page document contains the following resources:
- Definitions: Definitions of common and useful terminology about American Indians and American Indian history.
- Standards: A new set of standards, created in conjunction with tribal representatives and aligned to the Ohio Department of Education Social Studies and Social-Emotional Learning standards, to help you know what your grade level should be teaching in American Indian history.
- Overview of American Indian History in Ohio: A short overview of American Indian history, with a focus on Ohio’s American Indian tribes.
- Sources: Trusted sources that you can pull from to craft American Indian educational content. These sources include both primary and secondary sources, and distinguish between native and non-native authors.
- Tribal Contacts: The contact information for each of the tribes of Ohio, for purposes of communicating with the tribes for educational content.
- Best Practices in Teaching American Indian History: A short series of “do’s” and “don’ts” when teaching American Indian history.
2 New Resource Readings
10.1: Added 2 new supplemental readings to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10 named "A Raging Torrent -- Ohio's Floods" and "A River on Fire -- The Cuyahoga River Fires."
Bug Fixes
Chapter 1: Fully edited the readings (both digital and PDFs) and their ancillaries (Guided Student Notes and PowerPoints) for quality-of-life fixes. The full list of these changes and fixes is too numerous to post in the patch notes. Take a look for yourself!
2.3: Fixed the guided student notes, reading, and PowerPoint so that their text matched one another better.
3.2: Fixed the headings for the guided student notes and the reading.
5.2: Fixed the title of the link for the reading to correct identify that it was a reading, not guided student notes.
6.1: Fixed a broken link for the reading.
6.2: Fixed a broken link for the reading.
6.4: Fixed a broken link for the reading.
Patch Notes for Q1 2023-2024
Welcome back to school for 2023-2024! We’ve been cooking up a lot of new things for Ohio as America subscribers. Many of these have been live since June 2023, but we’re taking the time to talk about them all. Make sure to read them all below, because this has been the biggest update to Ohio as America 3.0 since its launch in 2021!
As well, before we dive in, make sure to join the Ohio as America Facebook forum. This is a place for all Ohio as America subscribers to congregate, learn about new things coming down the pipeline, collaborate with one another, and more! If you want to take your social studies to the next level, drop by today!
Major Changes
New Resources and Experiences Tab (ONGOING)
We’ve been readying this for a while, and we finally have the first version available for users! This tab exists on each chapter as a link on the far right of the “Teacher Materials” and “Chapter Glossary” links. Here you will find all content not associated with the main curricula – supplements, field trips, pedagogical material, and more! This tab is an ongoing creation of ours, and we intend to spend much of 2023-2024 populating it with more materials than you could possibly use. Our hope is teachers can use this tab to help create their own lesson plans or supplement our mainline curricula.
Note: We are using the summer to craft a UI/UX for this page that will make it easier to navigate. For now, you will find everything listed under their respective section, as well as whether it is a reading, activity, video, or field trip experience.
Ohio as America 2.0 Content LIVE in 3.0
We’ve talked about this since we first launched our 3.0 curricula in 2021, and here it is! Ohio as America 2.0 content is now living in our 3.0 version as part of our “Resources and Experiences” tab. Here you can find those materials that we considered quality enough to live as supplemental material in our new Resources and Experiences tab. This includes 83 readings, 74 activities, and 44 videos from 2.0, for a total of over 200 new resources for teachers to use in 3.0! For reference, 3.0 already has ~150 readings, activities, or videos tailor-made for 3.0. These 2.0 materials are completely different from our 3.0 materials. Use our 2.0 materials as supplements to the mainline curricula or to craft your own curriculum!
Note: Not all 2.0 resources have been attached in 3.0. Some materials no longer met the standards of the Department of Education, while others no longer reflect good historiography or pedagogy. We have also elected not to include digitized materials, lesson plans, or most 2.0 assessments for logistical reasons. If you are a current 2.0 user, please continue to use 2.0 for these resources.
Updated Chapter 10
We always try to update our present-day chapter with the current events making headlines in Ohio. This year, we interviewed East Palestine residents and wrote up a new introduction in our Chapter 10.1 reading to reflect one of the ongoing problems in Ohio’s environment. If you enjoyed our previous introduction, have no fear – we’ve kept it by creating a separate short reading and moving it into our “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10!
We also have updated our “Make a Historical Marker!” with a “How It’s Made” style video on the construction of Ohio’s historical markers and some history of the program. Use the new activity to help students learn more about their local history!
New Supplemental Resources
In addition, we’ve added a couple new supplemental readings to go with our new Resources and Experiences tab. These materials are new to 3.0 and did not exist in 2.0.
We’ve also added over 50 of our historic sites from across Ohio to this tab and categorized them by section so that you can easily find a field trip or site that fits that particular section. If these sites have their own website or educational materials, we’ve also added those links to our resources. Finally, all of these sites are free to enter with an Ohio History Connection membership – which OaA subscribers can get for free with their subscription!
Youth History Day Integration
We’re also excited to bring you a whole new chapter to Ohio as America centered around Youth History Day! This optional section is great for anyone interested in project-based learning or in taking a schoolwide project to the next level. Youth History Day is a national competition designed to engage students around social studies, and our new chapter integrates the experience with as little as an additional 200 minutes of classroom time over the entire school year! We have also integrated it directly into our lesson plans, so you’ll know just when to swap to a Youth History Day lesson at the appropriate time in the school year.
Bug Fixes
As usual, we also have a slew of bug fixes that we’ve worked on over the summer. Make sure to stop on by and see what’s new!
Full Changelog Q1 2023
New Resources and Experiences Tab (ONGOING)
All Sections: Added the Resources and Experiences tab. Current layout is temporary and will be changed over the summer to be more legible.
Ohio as America 2.0 Content LIVE in 3.0
Note: If you would like to see the names of each individual resource, check each of the “Resources and Experiences” tab for the chapter you would like to view resources for. They are organized by section and type of resource.
1.1: Added 5 supplemental readings, 5 supplemental activities, and 3 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 1.
1.2: Added 5 supplemental readings, 5 supplemental activities, and 9 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 1.
1.3: Added 1 supplemental readings to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 1.
1.4: Added 2 supplemental readings and 3 supplemental activities to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 1.
1.5: Added 2 supplemental readings, 4 supplemental activities, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 1.
2.1: Added 4 supplemental readings, 4 supplemental activities, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 2.
2.2: Added 1 supplemental reading and 2 supplemental activities to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 2.
2.3: Added 4 supplemental readings, 4 supplemental activities, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 2.
2.4: Added 1 supplemental reading and 2 supplemental activities to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 2.
3.1: Added 2 supplemental readings and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 3.
3.2: Added 2 supplemental readings, 4 supplemental activities, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 3.
3.3: Added 1 supplemental reading and 2 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 3.
4.1: Added 1 supplemental reading, 1 supplemental activity, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 4.
4.2: Added 2 supplemental readings and 2 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 4.
4.3: Added 3 supplemental readings, 1 supplemental activity, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 4.
5.1: Added 2 supplemental readings and 1 supplemental activity to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 5.
5.2: Added 1 supplemental readings and 1 supplemental activity to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 5.
5.3: Added 2 supplemental readings, 1 supplemental activity, and 3 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 5.
6.1: Added 4 supplemental readings, 3 supplemental activities, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 6.
6.2: Added 1 supplemental reading, 2 supplemental activities, and 3 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 6.
6.3: Added 1 supplemental reading to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 6.
6.4: Added 4 supplemental readings, 1 supplemental activity to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 6.
7.1: Added 4 supplemental readings, 3 supplemental activities, and 2 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 7.
7.2: Added 3 supplemental readings, 2 supplemental activities, and 2 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 7.
7.3: Added 3 supplemental readings, 6 supplemental activities, and 3 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 7.
7.4: Added 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 7.
8.1: Added 4 supplemental readings, 6 supplemental activities, and 3 supplemental videos to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 8.
8.2: Added 2 supplemental readings and 2 supplemental activities to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 8.
8.3: Added 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 8.
9.1: Added 3 supplemental readings and 1 supplemental activity to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
9.2: Added 1 supplemental reading, 2 supplemental activities, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
9.3: Added 3 supplemental readings, 1 supplemental activity, and 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
9.4: Added 1 supplemental video to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
10.1: Added 3 supplemental readings to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10.
10.3: Added 1 supplemental reading to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10.
10.4: Added 2 supplemental readings to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10.
Updated Chapter 10
10.1: Rewrote our introduction for 10.1. The old introduction has been made as an individual reading in the Resources and Experiences tab in 10.1
10.4: Added a new video link to the lesson plan to be used in conjunction with “Making a Historical Marker!”
New Supplemental Resources
Note: If you would like to see the names of each individual resource, check each of the “Resources and Experiences” tab for the chapter you would like to view resources for. They are organized by section and type of resource.
1.1: Added “Ohio – A Roller Coaster of a State!” supplemental reading and 1 field trip to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 1.
1.2: Added 4 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 1.
3.1: Added 1 field trip to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 3.
3.2: Added 7 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 3.
3.3: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 3.
4.1: Added 1 field trip to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 4. Added “Legendary and Unsung Heroes of Ohio’s American Indians” supplemental reading.
4.2: Added 1 field trip to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 4.
5.3: Added 3 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 5. Added supplemental reading “Indian War Chiefs in the American Revolution.”
6.2: Added 4 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 6.
7.1: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 7. Added supplemental reading “Frontiersmen in Early Ohio.”
7.2: Added 4 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 7.
7.3: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 7.
8.1: Added 3 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 8.
8.2: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 8.
8.3: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 8.
9.1: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
9.2: Added 1 field trip to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
9.3: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
9.4: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 9.
10.1: Added “Ohio’s #1 Problem is a #2 Problem” supplemental reading and 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10.
10.3: Added 2 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10.
10.4: Added 3 field trips to the “Resources and Experiences” tab in Chapter 10.
Youth History Day Integration
Chapter 11: Added a new chapter with 4 sections related to Youth History Day and 7 separate activities. These sections include all materials necessary for students to create YHD projects as well as activities that can be done in class to supplement historical thinking skills.
1.2: Added YHD integration into the lesson plan.
1.4: Added YHD integration into the lesson plan.
2.2: Added YHD integration into the lesson plan.
4.3: Added YHD integration into the lesson plan.
Bug Fixes
Chapter 1
1.2: Fixed “Famous Ohioans Trading Cards” typo in virtual activity.
Chapter 6
6.1: Fixed the “Make a Constitution Activity” header in both the PDF and virtual activity to match the correct section.
Chapter 8
8.1-8.3: Fixed 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3 printable assessment split questions and missing lines.
Chapter 9
9.1-9.4: Attached teacher notes to the PowerPoints.
Chapter 10
10.1: Four Corners activity fixed incorrect sections on PowerPoint and exit slip, both PDF and virtual versions.
10.2-10.4 – Fixed reading assessments in Teacher Materials and linked new versions into the reading assessment teacher materials.
10.4: Renamed the “Indian Reservation Matching Game?” to “Where are the Tribes Today?.” Fixed the header and placed the directions into the 10.4 lesson plan.
All Sections
Removed mentions of “video comprehension questions” from all lesson plans.
Audio blocks are now located at the top of the reading, rather than the bottom.
Previous year's quarterly updates can be found below.