Early U.S. History Guided Notes

Google and Print

American History Guided Notes, American History Interactive Notebook, Google and Print, American History Note Taking, American History PowerPoints, American History Anticipatory Guides

Also part of Early American History MEGA BUNDLE

American Colonies Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Road to Revolution Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint American Revolution Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Federalist Era 1789-1800 Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Building a New Nations from Articles of Confederation to Constitution 1789-1800 Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint The Constitution of the US Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Expansion and Conflict, 1800-1850, Jefferson to Taylor Presidencies Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Industrial Revolution 1800s Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Expansion and Conflict, 1818-1853, Manifest Destiny Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Reform Movements, 1820-1860 Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Sectionalism 1820-1860, North and South Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint The Civil War, 1861-1865 Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint Reconstruction 1865-1877 Interactive Guided Notes and PowerPoint

Let's be honest about notes in history class

Every history teacher knows the moment. You put up a slide on the Stamp Act, turn around, and half the class is copying every single word while the other half has quietly checked out. Ten minutes later, almost nobody can tell you why the colonists were so upset.
Note-taking was the part of teaching social studies I wrestled with the most. Some kids wrote too much, some wrote nothing, and very few walked away with notes they could actually study from. So I started building guided notes that met students in the middle. That work grew into my Early U.S. History Guided Notes Bundle, and I want to walk you through what's in it and how I'd use it.

Why guided notes actually work

Guided notes hand students a frame. The big ideas are already laid out on the page, and students fill in the missing pieces while you teach. Instead of racing to copy a slide, they're listening for something specific.
That small change makes a big difference for struggling readers, students with IEPs, and English learners. It helps your strongest students too, because their notes come out organized enough to review the night before a test.
It also helps you. When everyone is working from the same page, it's easy to see who's keeping up and who needs you to stop by their desk.

What's inside the bundle

The bundle covers Colonial America through Reconstruction in 13 units, about 560 pages of guided notes and PowerPoints in all. Each unit comes with an editable PowerPoint, printable student notes, a teacher answer key, and review materials. You get direct PDF downloads plus links to Google and Dropbox versions, so it works whether your students are on paper, on Chromebooks, or a mix of both.

Here's the run of units, in order:

It's listed for grades 4 through 10, and most teachers use it in 8th grade and 10th grade U.S. History. Homeschool families use it too.

How I'd use it in a real classroom

You don't have to use these notes the same way every day. Here are a few ways teachers have made them fit their own rooms.

As your daily lesson. Pull up the PowerPoint, pass out the notes, and teach. Stop after each section for a quick turn-and-talk so students process before you move on.
For absent students. Post the digital version in Google Classroom. A student who missed Tuesday can catch up on their own and come back ready.
On sub days. Leave the slides and the notes. Your sub doesn't have to be a history expert to keep the class moving, and you come back to completed work instead of a wasted day.
For differentiation. Give some students a partly completed page, or pair them with a buddy. The answer key makes it easy to build these versions quickly.
Before the test. Have students use their finished notes with the unit review materials. They already have a study guide because they built it during class.

Because the PowerPoints are editable, you can also drop in your own primary sources, local history, or the vocabulary your district emphasizes.

What teachers are saying

The bundle has a 4.7 star rating from 30 teachers on TPT, and the reviews say it better than I can.
An 8th grade teacher in Texas who works with students with autism said the videos give her voice a break, and give her students a break from her voice. (Every teacher reading this just nodded.)
Another teacher who uses it in 8th and 11th grade shared that she'd tried other guided notes and was usually let down. Now her students actually ask to go back to "the other notes" because they're easier to use.
A homeschool mom said both of her kids were interested and engaged, and a 10th grade teacher called it helpful and engaging for her students.

Ready to take notes off your plate?

If you're planning a U.S. History course, or just tired of rebuilding the same notes every year, this bundle gives you a full year of structure from Jamestown to the end of Reconstruction. Bought as a bundle, it's $29 instead of $53.50 for the units on their own, a savings of $24.50.
Take a look at the Early U.S. History Guided Notes Bundle on TPT
Want even more? The bundle is also part of my Early American History MEGA BUNDLE, which adds more activities to go with the notes.
Have a question before you buy? Email me at learnedlessonstpt@gmail.com. I read every message, and I love hearing how teachers are using these in their classrooms.

Happy teaching,