Pennsylvania Middle School History: A Full Year of Units for Grades 6–8
For a Pennsylvania middle school history course that needs ready lessons, the XXL History Teaching Bundle ($249.90) covers the major periods from ancient Greece and Rome to the Cold War and European integration in one set for Grades 6–9. It is world history, not U.S. or Pennsylvania history. Your district decides which grade studies what, so you teach the parts that match your course and add the rest.
Open the XXL history bundleThe XXL History Teaching Bundle ($249.90) is a Grades 6–9 world history set organized by period: ancient civilizations, the Middle Ages, the early modern era, modern history and the contemporary era, plus skills training in source analysis and historical judgment. Every unit comes with informational texts, differentiated worksheets, source tasks and creative writing, plus editable files, answer keys and rubrics. It is not aligned to Pennsylvania standards and contains no U.S. or Pennsylvania history units.
The resources
XXL History Teaching Bundle, Grades 6–9
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
XXL History Teaching Bundle – Grades 6 to 9 | Complete Curriculum
World History Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for Middle School History
World History: Complete Curriculum Bundle: Projects, Activities & Lessons (1000+ pages)
Middle School History Units Bundle | Black Death, Peasants, Pompeii, Industrialization, Migration & U.S. Presidents | 9 Resources | Grades 7–9
The real problem
Middle school history in Pennsylvania is decided at the district level
Pennsylvania writes its social studies standards in four areas: Civics and Government, Economics, Geography, and History. It does not publish a course sequence for the middle grades. Whether sixth grade studies ancient civilizations, seventh grade studies world history and eighth grade turns to the United States, or some other order applies, is a local choice. So two Pennsylvania teachers with the same course title can have very different content. That makes ready-made materials tricky. A set built for one state's grade 7 course rarely matches yours, and a set built for no particular state leaves you to sort out which parts belong where. The other pressure is time. Middle school history units need readable texts, source work that goes past copying answers, and assessments you can grade without rewriting a rubric every week. Civics often sits in the same course, and the state offers schools an Act 35 Civics Toolkit for that part. Building a full year of world history from scratch, while also covering civics and any U.S. or Pennsylvania topics your district assigns, is more than one teacher can do well in a single summer.
Why it fits
Which parts of the bundle match a Pennsylvania course
Map the bundle's periods onto your district's sequence first. Most courses will use some periods heavily and skip others.
- Ancient civilizations units on Greece and Rome, daily life and political systems suit an ancient history course.
- Middle Ages units on feudalism, the Black Death, knights and town life fit a medieval world block.
- Reformation, exploration and absolutism give an early modern unit that leads toward colonial American topics.
- Industrialization, labor movements and democracy work as a bridge if your eighth grade course turns to the United States.
- WWII, the Cold War and European integration suit a contemporary world unit at the end of the year.
- Source analysis and historical judgment tasks, with answer keys and rubrics, support grading across all periods.
Getting started
Fitting the bundle into your district's year
These steps assume a world history course in one of Grades 6–8. Adjust them to the sequence your district gave you.
- Mark the periods your course ownsList the periods in your district's scope and sequence next to the bundle's five eras. Highlight what matches, note what is missing, and decide which units become full units and which become short reviews.
- Open the year with skills trainingUse the source analysis and critical thinking material in the first weeks. Students who know how to question a source get more out of every period that follows, and you set the routine for later tasks.
- Teach the matching eras in orderWork through the periods your course covers with the informational texts and differentiated worksheets. The editable files let you change wording, cut questions or add a local example without rebuilding the page.
- Add U.S., Pennsylvania and civics piecesWhere your sequence includes U.S. or Pennsylvania history or civics, slot in district materials or the state's Act 35 Civics Toolkit. The bundle has no unit on those topics, so plan them as separate blocks.
- Assess with the included rubricsClose each period with a source task or creative writing piece and grade it with the bundle's rubrics. Keep the scored work as evidence of the historical thinking your course is meant to build.
What to buy
XXL bundle or a smaller history set
The XXL History Teaching Bundle ($249.90) suits a teacher who needs world history across all major periods, with editable files and rubrics. If your course is Grades 6–8 world history and you want a sequence built around historical thinking, World History Complete – Middle School starts at $149.90 with 190+ resources, or $189.90 with Teach-Life-Balance. The World History Complete Curriculum Bundle ($249.90, 1000+ pages) adds workbooks, project tasks and country studies for Grades 6–10. For single topics such as the Black Death, Pompeii or industrialization, the Middle School History Units Bundle costs $74.99 instead of $123.91 for its nine parts.
Honest limits
What the bundle leaves to you
This bundle was not written for Pennsylvania and contains no Pennsylvania history, no U.S. history units and no standards codes. Its contemporary era centers on WWII, the Cold War and European integration, so a course focused on the United States will use only part of it. Check every unit against the state's social studies standards and your district's sequence before you plan the year. The license covers your own classes; message Teach Lessons before sharing it with a department. If it is not a fit, exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value, not cash.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does this bundle meet Pennsylvania's social studies standards?
No such claim is made. The XXL History Teaching Bundle is not aligned to, endorsed by or approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education or any district, and it has no standards codes. Compare its units with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards in History, Civics and Government, Geography and Economics, and with your district's course description, then decide which parts you use.
Which grade in Pennsylvania studies world history?
The state does not publish a grade-by-grade social studies sequence for the middle grades, so the answer comes from your district. Some courses put ancient history first and the modern world later; others mix world and U.S. history. Check your district's scope and sequence, then match it to the bundle's five periods, which run from ancient Greece and Rome to the contemporary era.
My course is mostly U.S. history. Is this still useful?
Partly. The early modern units on exploration, the modern units on industrialization, labor movements and democracy, and the WWII and Cold War units can give a U.S.-focused course world context. There are no units on the founding, the Civil War or other core U.S. topics, so you would still need a main U.S. history resource. In that case a smaller set may be the better buy.
Can I change the worksheets?
Yes. The bundle includes editable files, so you can shorten tasks, adjust wording for readers who need support, or add an example from your county. Answer keys and assessment rubrics come with each unit, which helps if you change a task and still want consistent grading across your sections.
Is it really enough for a whole year?
The bundle covers all major periods, from ancient civilizations to the contemporary era, which is enough material for a full year of world history. How much of it one Pennsylvania course uses depends on your district's sequence. A course that covers only ancient and medieval history, for example, will use the first two periods in depth and keep the rest for enrichment.
How do I get it, and can my department share it?
It is a digital download, available right after purchase from the email link and from Orders in your customer account. Print the pages or use them in a digital classroom. The license is for your own teaching. If two or more teachers in your department want to use it, send Teach Lessons a short message before buying so the license fits.
Plan the world history part of your year
Open the product page, compare the five periods with your district's sequence, and decide which units you will teach first.
Open the XXL history bundle