Teachers Hub | American Yawp MS

American Yawp MS was drafted with AI assistance and has not yet been fully vetted by teachers and historians. Before we share it widely, we need educators to read, review, and improve it. This page is your starting point.

Every correction, suggestion, and revision makes this textbook more trustworthy and more useful. Whether you catch a factual error, think a paragraph is unclear for middle schoolers, or want to rewrite a section entirely, your input matters.

How to Give Feedback

Quick Feedback Form

Found an error? Have a suggestion? Use this form. No account needed, takes two minutes. Good for typos, factual corrections, unclear passages, and quick suggestions.

Open Feedback Form →

GitHub Discussions

For longer conversations, teaching ideas, and back-and-forth discussion. Requires a free GitHub account. This is where ongoing collaboration happens.

Join the Discussion →

File a Specific Issue

Found a clear problem you want tracked? GitHub Issues are the best way to report bugs, broken links, or specific content errors that need to be fixed.

Open an Issue →

Full Chapter Review

Want to do a thorough review of an entire chapter? Use our structured review template. This is the most impactful thing a reviewer can do.

Start a Chapter Review →

Chapter Review Status

Each chapter must be reviewed by at least three people before we consider it ready for classroom use. Here's where things stand:

Ch.	Title	Status	Reviewers
1	Indigenous America	Draft	0 / 3
2	Colliding Cultures	Draft	0 / 3
3	British North America	Draft	0 / 3
4	Colonial Society	Draft	0 / 3
5	The American Revolution	Draft	0 / 3
6	A New Nation	Draft	0 / 3
7	The Early Republic	Draft	0 / 3
8	The Market Revolution	Draft	0 / 3
9	Democracy in America	Draft	0 / 3
10	Religion and Reform	Draft	0 / 3
11	The Cotton Revolution	Draft	0 / 3
12	Manifest Destiny	Draft	0 / 3
13	The Sectional Crisis	Draft	0 / 3
14	The Civil War	Draft	0 / 3
15	Reconstruction	Draft	0 / 3

Status key: Draft = AI-generated, not yet reviewed. Under Review = Being actively reviewed. Approved = Reviewed by 3+ people and cleared for classroom use.

What Reviewers Look For

When reviewing a chapter, here's what matters most:

Factual accuracy — Are the dates, names, events, and claims correct? Are there any errors of omission that distort the picture?
Age appropriateness — Is the language right for grades 6-8? Is difficult content (violence, slavery, injustice) handled honestly but sensitively?
Clarity — Can a middle school student follow the narrative? Are unfamiliar concepts explained?
Engagement — Is the writing compelling? Does it tell stories, not just list facts? Would a 12-year-old keep reading?
Diverse perspectives — Are multiple viewpoints represented? Are marginalized voices included meaningfully, not as tokens?
Pedagogical value — Do the vocab boxes, primary sources, and discussion prompts work? Are they useful in a real classroom?
Alignment with scholarship — Does the chapter reflect current historical understanding, not outdated interpretations?

How to Do a Full Chapter Review

1
Pick a chapter from the status table above. Choose one marked "Draft" that you feel qualified to review.
2
Read it carefully. Read the whole chapter as if you were assigning it to your students. Note anything that feels wrong, unclear, or weak.
3
Submit your review. Use the Chapter Review template on GitHub, or fill out the feedback form and note "Full Chapter Review" in the feedback type.
4
Be specific. "Section III has a problem" is less helpful than "In Section III, paragraph 2 says the Stamp Act was passed in 1764, but it was 1765."

A Note on AI-Generated Content

This textbook was drafted using Claude (an AI assistant) and has not yet been fully vetted by human experts. While the AI draws on extensive historical knowledge and the source material of the original American Yawp, AI-generated text can contain errors, oversimplifications, or subtle inaccuracies. That's exactly why this review process exists. We are committed to transparency: no chapter will be presented as "ready" until real teachers and historians have signed off on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a GitHub account?
Not for quick feedback — use the Google Form. For discussions and chapter reviews, a free GitHub account helps us track and respond to your input.

Can I edit the text directly?
Yes! If you're comfortable with GitHub, you can fork the repository, edit a chapter's HTML, and submit a pull request. If that's unfamiliar, just describe the change you'd make and we'll implement it.

How do I know if someone already reported an issue?
Check the open issues on GitHub. Duplicates are fine, though — they help us see which problems people notice most.

What happens after I submit a review?
We read every piece of feedback. Factual corrections get fixed quickly. Bigger suggestions (rewrites, structural changes) get discussed in GitHub Discussions and implemented when there's consensus.

Is my feedback credited?
Yes. Reviewers who complete a full chapter review are listed on the Contributors page (with your permission).