Emerging America builds teachers’ capacity to access and effectively use primary sources to engage students of all abilities.
Emerging America supports K-12 history educators and students – especially struggling learners – to develop skills of inquiry, exploration and interpretation of the past through primary sources.
We strive to offer stimulating and useful professional development, and exemplary projects and online resources.
Emerging America is a program of the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Since 2006, Emerging America has offered workshops and resources help teachers and students meet content and skills standards in History and Social Science and in English Language Arts literacy.
The name, “Emerging America,” reflects our approach to the study of history; like the nation itself, historical inquiry constantly evolves, ever growing, changing, and incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences.
Land Acknowledgement
The offices of the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton lie in Pocumtuc land, part of the Nipmuc Nation. Learn more about the Nipmuc Nation: https://www.nipmucnation.org/. Find the original peoples of your community using the Native Land interactive map and website.
Land and sovereignty are important topics in social studies that we can teach in ways that help students understand why control over the land we live on has been so important throughout history. See Emerging America's partner program, History's Mysteries, for a powerful set of third-grade lessons on What strategies did Native nations use to protect their sovereignty during the American Revolution? The unit begins in the present with What is Native sovereignty and why does it matter? (Mystery 1). Starting with people of today is important because too often, students can be left with the mistaken impression that Native people and communities no longer exist. It continues with What can different maps tell us about Native sovereignty and Native land? (Mystery 2), and builds on this understanding in What strategies did Native nations use to protect their sovereignty during the American Revolution?(Mystery 3 & Mystery 4).
We partner with national and regional organizations, including the Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Westfield State University.
Workshops, courses, and free online resources support programs for Accessibility, Civics, Teaching with Primary Sources, and more.
Emerging America staff and network of teacher coaches offer professional development and consult regularly with schools and districts in Massachusetts and across the US.