Everything You Need to Ace U.S. History in One Big Fat Notebook, 2nd Edition: The Complete Middle School Study Guide

by Workman Publishing, Lily Rothman (Contributor), Philip Bigler (Contributor)

From the brains behind  Brain Quest comes the 2nd edition of the revolutionary U.S. history study guide. Updated to include recent history and revised to reflect a more complete, balanced recounting of historical events.
 
Big Fat Notebooks offer the support of a knowledgeable teacher in the form of an approachable peer—the notes of smartest kid in class.  Everything You Need to Ace U.S. History in One Big Fat Notebook is the same indispensable resource so many students depend on, updated with new and improved content covering Indigenous history in the U.S., the legacies of slavery, exploration, colonization, and imperialism, and significant current events through 2022, including the COVID-19 pandemic, political protests,, the most recent presidential election, and historic nominations to the Supreme Court. It will be the cutting-edge reference for students as education styles shift toward this informed approach to history.
 
The Big Fat Notebooks  meet Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and state history standards, and are vetted by National and State Teacher of the Year Award–winning teachers. They make learning fun, and are the perfect next step for every kid who grew up on Brain Quest .

Genres: History, Nonfiction

592 pages, Paperback

Published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely did not take over a year to read, I just didn't read past the part I teach until this year. Honestly, a reader friendly read.
It is almost funny how the closer we got to modern history the more I found flaws and perceived bias. The Civil Rights movement needed so much more, is that really all about Clinton's proclivities, etc. The author rightly points out it is hard to be objective about the modern era as it is personal.
There are some minor things I think the author got wrong, demonstrably incorrect, but besides those quibbles it is a good resource. Could it me more detailed? Yes! But not the author's purpose.
A good overall resource. I use the question sets in class frequently. Recommend.

[David Crumm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s More Help in Studying American History

I must credit a friend and professional colleague ESL-education expert Kathleen Gripman with introducing me to research on the power of illustrations in learning subjects like American history. I met Kathleen as the publishing house I help to run was preparing her book American History Made Easy for publication. She insisted that her book contain illustrations on nearly every page.

Gripman was correct, of course. She was familiar with the extensive scholarly research on this matter. Those studies of the impact of illustrations in publishing began in the 1970s with an initial assumption that may seem odd today: Perhaps illustrations distracted readers and were not helpful in learning. Well, research showed that quite the opposite was true, so four more decades of research has examined the power of illustrated books to engage, influence and ultimately to help readers remember what they have read. In fact, a landmark study of illustrations in books for ESL students, published by the U.S. Department of Education, looked at 40 years of research and concluded that, among those scholars, “the majority believe that illustrations act as a positive role in reading and comprehending.”

And, in the field of American history, that’s why Workman Publishing lavishly illustrates its series of Big Fat Notebooks, including one of its newest volumes, Everything You Need to Know about U.S. History, which is being released in April 2023.

Workman sent me a pre-publication review copy of that book and I’ve read it carefully. As a life-long journalist, I’m fascinated with U.S. history, which is the lifeblood of American journalism. As a parent, I successfully coached two high school kids through AP US History classes as their weekly quizmaster on the huge amount of material they needed to remember. As a publisher, I have been an enthusiastic supporter of Gripman’s (and many others) work with ESL students nationwide and I’m proud that our publishing house team helped Gripman launch a book that is used everyday. In her case, the book is used around the world, since many prospective ESL students begin their studies while still living in their homelands overseas.

What’s my recommendation about Workman’s new book on U.S. History?

I’m thrilled! As a parent working with my teenage kids decades ago, I wish I had both Gripman’s book and the Workman book handy in our home. I would have bought both books, back then, and moved back and forth between them to help my kids learn this material. As it was, we actually created an enormous “deck” of 1,000 “flash cards” we used. Had these two books been available back then? Wow, we would have saved countless hours making those cards!

So, going forward, first I’m going to recommend Gripman’s book to potential readers. That’s because her book presents the material as a continuous, easy-to-read narrative, which I think is essential in understanding and remembering the sweep of history and the connections between events and milestones. The Workman book is wonderful, but it is designed intentionally as a study aid to readers who already are reading a narrative version of this history. In effect, the pages of the Workman book are “flash cards,” and the book comes with permission for teachers to use pages out of the book, which is very helpful.

Kathleen Gripman deserves a big salute for her many years of helping men and women arriving from foreign lands become fully engaged in our American communities. Her educational expertise led her to create what I still think is the single most valuable volume for this purpose.

And Workman also deserves a salute for taking a lesson from those teachers and parents nationwide who have coached their kids with flash cards to learn subjects like U.S. History. Now, they can get the book and, if they want, can literally tear it apart to reinforce important milestones.

In the end, we’re all better off in these deeply divided times to learn the core of our nation’s history together.

[Nikoline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great 8th grade homeschool textbook. Covers a lot pretty quickly, and tries to make it interesting and memorable.

[La]

Helpful for students

[arian]

how am i supposed to rate a textbook

[Cheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone didn't do their research. Double-checked, my foot! This started out as a nice, concise book on the history of the U.S. I enjoyed it well enough and was planning to give it four stars, right up until I discovered a big, fat lie being misrepresented as a fact. Touted as one of Trump's "accomplishments" was the so-called relocation of the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. IT NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
Yes, Trump claimed that the Embassy was moved but, I know for a fact that it was not. My daughter and son-in-law were working at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv at the time. THE U.S. EMBASSY DID NOT RELOCATE. It stayed right where it was in Tel Aviv. The only concession made concerning this supposed relocation was the appearance of a sign in front of the Embassy that claimed it was the Tel Aviv Branch Office of the U.S. Embassy.
Makes me wonder what else in the book is incorrect. I mean, if you're going write a book about history, shouldn't you make certain your facts are straight?

[Bella2811 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book if you want a brief overview on U.S. History.