Frequently Asked Questions
  Fasttrack to America's Past
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Free downloads of all sections for teachers: Teachers can now download, at no charge, individual sections of this title to photocopy and use with their students.  Click here to see the information page for details.


What is Fasttrack to America's Past?

   Fasttrack to America's Past, 7th edition, is a 244 page interactive study guide and review of the key facts, people, and events of U.S. history, with a matching Internet support site.  (Home page:  www.fasttrackteaching.com/ftap7)

   More than 70,000 copies of the print editions have been used in classrooms all across the U.S.  Teachers can now download the individual sections of this title, at no charge, to photocopy and use with their students.  Print editions are also available for purchase in a sturdy, spiral bound format.

   The graphics-rich, workbook style format of this learning guide engages students in a variety of knowledge and skill building activities.  These all promote a strong sense of "buy-in" and a commitment to succeed.  Interesting video resources, historical photo sets, and other useful materials for each section are suggested and linked from the matching Internet site.

   Fasttrack to America's Past has won the highest praise any book can receive: many students want to keep their copy when the school year ends.  It has become their own personal record of their journey into history, a quest on which they grew stronger in knowledge and wisdom.  They want to remember it, and visit America's past again.



 

Tell me more -

   Fasttrack to America's Past encourages students to explore topics widely, using a variety of resources, while providing a common framework of study.
  • Key terms, people, and events are explained in graphics-rich topic summary pages and timelines.
  • Students read and analyze selections from primary sources drawn from a diverse group of historical figures.
  • Students work with statistics to create charts and graphs of historical patterns, then draw conclusions based on their analysis of the data.
  • Students complete maps to help them see the connections of geography and historical events.
  • Students explore topics they choose in more depth using the matching Internet site and other online resources it suggests.
   The author favors a blended teaching strategy in the classroom that combines direct instruction with activities that get students involved in their own learning. 

   Fasttrack to America's Past has no ideological or political bias or agenda.  It is a straightforward, factual, and balanced guide to U.S. history.  The author is a 28 year veteran social studies teacher - now retired - with experience in high school and middle school classrooms in Virginia.

What grade levels is this for?
   
   Fasttrack to America's Past is very flexible and adaptable, just as a tourist guide book is designed to be useful and valuable for both experienced and first-time travelers.  It has been used widely in high school and middle school classrooms, as well as in home school settings.  Its pages help high school level students stay engaged and on track in those fast-paced U.S. history survey courses.  In middle school classes, where U.S. history is usually spread over two school years, teachers typically pick and choose sections and pages that best fit their lesson sequence and topics.

   Students in high school and middle school all love exploring the interesting history resources on this title's Internet support site.  No passwords or sign-ons are needed. 


   Note:  For middle school USII history classes (Reconstruction Era to the present), consider our Frameworks for America's Past learning guide and its matching Internet support site.  It provides a more structured instructional design, and closely follows the widely respected Virginia Standards of Learning for middle school grade levels.  Click here to visit the Frameworks for America's Past home page and learn more about that title.


Where can I see the pages inside?

   You can see all the pages on this web site.  On the home page for this title, click on the link for any of the sections / time periods.  A link to see the pages in that section will be up near the top.


What support is available for teachers and students using this?

    The Internet support site has a full set of Teacher Key pages for each section.  There are also extensive resources that you and your students will enjoy using, including historical photograph sets and links to interesting online video clips.

   The Tips for Teachers page on the web site has many ideas and suggestions for using the learning guide most effectively in your classroom.  You can find it, along with FAQs and ordering details, linked from the Information Page for this title.



montage of peopleWhy do students enjoy working with this so much?

   This approach is much more engaging to students, and that is the key to success in any classroom!
  
   Most students are interested in American history, but they want to be involved in the trip to explore the events and people of the past.

   Consider that any tourist going to a foreign country wants to go out and experience for themselves the streets, the people, the museums, and the landscape.  They do want a guidebook to help them find things, though, and also to give them the background to understand what they experience. That's what Fasttrack to America's Past is - a guidebook that, with your help, will ensure that they come away with an understanding of what they have seen, examined, and experienced.

   With Fasttrack to America's Past, students feel involved - because they are involved.  You will find that many students start telling their friends that history is now their favorite subject! 


What about the cost?

WWII poster - We Can Do It   Teachers can now download the individual sections of Fasttrack to America's Past to photocopy for use with their own students free of charge.  Printed copies in sturdy spiral bound format are available at a modest cost.  Please see all the options by clicking on the Ordering / Downloading link on the Information Page for this title.


May we place a link to pages on this web site?

   Teachers are welcome to place links from their own teacher web pages to this title's Internet support site home page, to a section main page, or to other specific pages.  You may not, however, take or copy content to transfer to your web site or pages, or other online sites or pages.  (It's just like in a museum: You may visit and have your students visit, but the museum doesn't let you steal the exhibits!)


How can I get more information?

   
Please contact our office in Springfield, Virginia, by phone at:  (703) 644 - 4612, or by email at:  ftm.contact@verizon.net