Northern Lights
Third Edition Updates

The Third Edition of the popular Northern Lights Minnesota Studies curriculum is currently in development. The suite of Third Edition products will continue to include both print books and eBook options. All components are slated for a summer 2026 launch, in advance of the 2026-27 school year. 

A primary driver in the creation of the Northern Lights Third Edition is the revision of the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards for Social Studies. The 2021 social studies standards were formally approved and adopted into law March 11, 2024, and are required to be implemented in the 2026-27 school year. The Northern Lights Third Edition will address all required benchmarks for history, civics, geography, economics, and  ethnic studies. Updates are also being made to reflect feedback from educators and a variety of content experts, as well as changes in scholarship and interpretation since the release of the Revised Second Edition in 2013.

Much of the organization and features of the Northern Lights curriculum will remain, based on positive feedback from teachers across the state. The narrative non-fiction storytelling style, coverage of multiple perspectives, and highlighting of primary sources will continue to be hallmarks of Northern Lights. Minnesota Studies sidebars will continue to clearly call out content connections across the five social studies disciplines. The Annotated Teacher’s Edition and Workbook will continue to offer teacher supports and hands-on, student-centered activities to engage students with meaningful learning. The Interactive eBook will continue to provide the same content found in the print book, but enriched with diverse audio narration, short videos, and more.

DRAFT Northern Lights Third Edition Standards Alignment Spreadsheets
Because the Northern Lights curriculum is customized to address current required sixth-grade academic benchmarks, a draft version of the standards alignment spreadsheets is now available (and subject to change) for the 2021 standards that will be addressed in the Third Edition.

DRAFT Northern Lights Third Edition Chapter and Investigation Summaries
This document provides a summary of the changes between the previous Revised Second Edition of the Northern Lights textbook (2013) and the upcoming Third Edition (2026). Each chapter features a small overview of the changes and a general percentage range that reflects the number of changes each section has undergone.