NEW 3rd Edition of U.S. History Skillbook Available Now

NEW 3rd Edition of U.S. History Skillbook Available Now

Sherpa Learning Publishes 3rd Edition of U.S. History Skillbook by Michael Henry, Ph.D., Updated to Fully Align with the Redesigned AP* U.S. History Course Framework

Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - 3:09pm

West Milford, NJ — Sherpa Learning has published the 3^rd Edition of U.S. History Skillbook - Practice and Application of Historical Thinking Skills for AP* U.S. History by Michael (Mike) Henry, Ph.D. The 3^rd Edition of Skillbook is completely restructured to fully align with the redesigned AP U.S. History course framework, updated in 2015 by the College Board.

The 3^rd Edition of U.S. History Skillbook features 37 chapters of practice and application exercises that will provide students with a solid foundation of the essential Historical Thinking Skills at the heart of the AP* U.S. History curriculum. Carefully sequenced essay skill exercises help students dissect a prompt, make a writing plan, develop a thesis, and use appropriate support for their written argument. Skillbook now includes detailed answers and explanations to support both independent and group study experiences. A free sample is available for download on the publisher’s website, www.sherpalearning.com/items/skillbook.

Author and many-many-time AP exam leader and table leader Mike Henry explains the importance of updating Skillbook: “There was no question in my mind that we should update Skillbook, not only for the sake of aligning to the course redesign, but also because now I am working with a publisher that allows me much more say in developing content, supported by input from the entire APUSH community.” Following up on this thought, publisher/editor David Nazarian explains the difference between the editions, saying, “With the previous editions of Skillbook, each lesson was built to conform to a predefined structure, like document skills and essay skills. With the 3^rd Edition, each lesson focuses on a specific historical thinking skill (or combination of skills), with the 37 lessons organically building from the most basic to the most advanced. Plus, the 9 units of the new edition are aligned to the 9 historical periods of the redesign course framework, allowing for complete coverage.”

When the College Board and ETS published additional revisions to the redesigned AP U.S. History course and exam framework in July, many educators reported that several aspects were still unclear. According to Nazarian, “By listening to the concerns of teachers, we were able to identify and tackle those grey areas head-on, using Mike’s hands-on expertise as an exam reader and table leader with input from APUSH teachers across the country. While still writing Skillbook, Mike also wrote a blog series, ‘Addressing the APUSH Redesign,’ which has been extremely popular, with over 15,000 unique visits since it launched back in Oct. of 2014.”

About the Author

Michael Henry, Ph.D., served as the Exam Leader at the AP U.S. History exam reading in Louisville for 8 years, in addition to his many years as Reader and Table Leader. Dr. Henry taught AP U.S. History for over twenty years in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and has written 4 books, 6 teacher’s guides, and twenty articles.He has given dozens of professional presentations and workshops across the country and has served as a consultant to the College Board. Currently, he is serving as adjunct professor of history at Prince George’s Community College and is a member of the Organization of American Historians. He lives in College Park, MD with his wife Ann and is a die-hard fan of the Washington Nationals.

About Sherpa Learning

Sherpa Learning

Launched in August of 2014 and based in West Milford, NJ, Sherpa Learning is a trusted publisher of print and digital skills-based instructional resources written by rock star teachers (i.e., leaders within their discipline) for Advanced Placement (AP) and other high-level courses. Founded on the principle that educators should author educational resources with collaborative input from the extended teaching community, Sherpa Learning develops resources for teachers, by teachers. Over 2,200 educators from across the country are registered with Team Sherpa to review, develop, and test original content. The company is currently producing both online and print resources for AP, Pre-AP, and Honors courses.