Arizona

cactus wren

OER Project courses are the right fit for Arizona schools in more ways than one.

World History Project (WHP) 1200 to the Present is ideal for world history students and aligns with the vast majority of Arizona’s high school History and Social Science Standards. While Arizona’s world history course starts in the fifteenth century, the WHP 1200 course provides a bit more context with which to understand world changes that occurred around 1450.
Big History Project is an excellent fit for Arizona sixth- or seventh-grade students, with strong alignment to both grade-level standards.

Explore the courses mentioned above at your own pace, and once you’re ready to dive into planning, check out the tailored resources below to get started!

Which best describes you?

I’m new to OER Project and about to start using the courses and materials.
I’m a returning OER Project user in Arizona looking to see what’s new.

New to OER Project checklist

Getting started with WHP 1200 or Big History Project is a piece of cake! We recommend following the onboarding checklists below so that you’re equipped with all the information you need to get started:

	World History Project (1200)	Big History Project
Professional development opportunities	Explore the WHP 1200 course. You can also find our WHP 1200 course guide here. Attend a live WHP 1200 introductory PD session. Register for a session today! Take our free, online PD course, Teaching World History (TWH) 1200.	Explore the Big History Project course. You can also find our BHP course guide here. Attend a live BHP introductory PD session. Register for a session today! Take our free, online PD course, Teaching Big History.
Standards alignment materials	Read our WHP 1200 Arizona standards alignment document. Read our WHP 1200 course plan, generated by a Arizona teacher, which includes a pacing guide. You can find other Arizona course plans on our OER Project and Standards Alignment blog.	Read our BHP Arizona standards-alignment document (sixth grade) Read our BHP Arizona standards-alignment document (seventh grade) Read our sample BHP year-long and semester-long course plans, which include pacing guides.
Talk to a real person!	Connect with other Arizona teachers in the OER Project Online Teacher Community—ask questions, share stories, and seek support! Still have questions? Email an OER Project outreach coordinator for support! You can either email them or find a time on their calendar for a meeting.

"WHP has changed the way I teach. Now my classroom is inquiry-driven and my students enjoy it! Because they get to take hold of their learning they are more engaged than ever before. With all of the scaffolding of skills and resources, even my struggling students are doing better. I have seen real growth. The difference in where they started and where they end up is amazing. This is a far better way to teach." — Rebecca, ninth- and tenth-grade world history teacher, Mesa, AZ

Returning to OER Project checklist

So you’ve taught with OER Project materials in Arizona before. Welcome back! We update our courses and materials each year, so let’s catch you up on what’s new. To prepare for a new term or semester, we recommend checking off the following items:

	World History Project (1200)	Big History Project
Professional development opportunities	Attend a live WHP 1200 introductory PD session, or attend an advanced training tailored for veterans. Register for a session today! If you haven’t already, take our free, online PD course, Teaching World History (TWH) 1200.	Attend a live BHP introductory PD session, or attend an advanced training tailored for veterans. Register for a session today! If you haven’t already, take our free, online PD course, Teaching Big History.
Standards alignment materials	Read our WHP 1200 course plan, generated by a Arizona teacher, which includes a pacing guide. You can find other Arizona course plans on our OER Project and Standards Alignment blog.	Read our sample year-long and semester-long BHP course plans, which include pacing guides.
Talk to a real person!	Connect with other Arizona teachers in the OER Project Online Teacher Community—ask questions, share stories, and seek support! Still have questions? Email an OER Project outreach coordinator for support! You can either email them or find a time on their calendar for a meeting.

What Arizona Teachers are Saying

I’ve been teaching with Big History Project and World History Project in my sophomore world history classes in Arizona for about five years, and I’m so grateful for the rich resources provided. The activities are well thought out so you can implement them easily, and they are also clearly aligned with instructional objectives so you can modify to meet the needs of your students. The materials for building skills like contextualization and source evaluation are a perfect fit with the Arizona standards. Each year, it takes the students a little while to warm to the Three Close Reads process—but each year they say how much more confident they are with informational text.

— Carrie, tenth-grade world history teacher, Phoenix, AZ

Cover image: The cactus wren often nests in cactus to avoid predators and is the state bird of Arizona. © John Cancalosi / Photolibrary / Getty Images Plus