Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is a familiar name amongst public school publishers. These full-year course options provide a rich text for the student full of color photos and graphics, as well as targeted guidance for the teacher/parent with answers to text questions. Many titles also offer a consumable workbook with answer key. ONLINE CONTENT IS NOT INCLUDED. All courses promote a secular worldview, though you may see samples of the Bible and the Quran in some world history courses as your student learns about world religions as they pertain to historical events. While you will see information about online content, know that is a school-only option and not included.
Student Text Lessons have a logical sequence. Reading is punctuated with colorful photos and margin notes with captions. Vocabulary words are clearly highlighted. Questions at the end of each lesson serve as a formative assessment or as an assignment. Questions ask students to compare ideas, write a sentence for key terms, draw conclusions, and synthesize answers to big questions relating topics from past lessons to the current one. Answers to text questions are in the Teacher Guide.
Teacher Guide (Bundle) There could be one Teacher Guide per course or a set of 5 or 6 guides. Reduced student pages are surrounded by teacher notes in the margins. These include talking points and questions, possible writing assignments, reading comprehension checks, enrichment options, and answers to the end of lesson assessments. You will see “online assessments” that are not available to you, however, you do have the tests/answers printed in your teacher guide(s).
Guided Reading Workbook and Answer Key (Some courses call this an Interactive Reader and Study Guide and a Teacher Management System Answer Key – different names, same function.) Designed with a struggling reader in mind, the workbook presents a summary of each lesson with a couple of simple comprehension questions to answer. Key terms and people are presented up front with points to consider before you read and as you read. Visual organizers are formatted for the student to complete and include the main points of the lesson. The charts/organizers vary by lesson, providing alternatives to a traditional Q&A format. Some courses offer this component in a Spanish/English version.
