I don't know if any other history teachers make their students do theme notes but I figured it might be useful if I posted mine and see what kind of a response it got. Anyway here's Chapter 1:)

American Diversity
2000 languages by 1492

American Identity
In more settled agricultural groups, women tended the crops while men hunted
Native Americans had matrilineal cultures
Columbus was so sure he found the Indies he called the people Indians

Culture
Native Americans (Mayas/Aztecs) make Ritual sacrifices

Demographic Changes
Moved from Siberia to the far tip of South America (15,000 miles)
54 million in the Americas in 1492
Corn changed nomadic tribes into agricultural villagers
25000+ for the Cahokia tribe in E. St. Louis
Smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria decimate Native American pop.

Economic Transformations
Cultivation of maize
New World offered precious metals and its soil for the cultivation of sugar cane
Beans, tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes revolutionized the international economy

Environment
225 million years ago the super continent began to divide and create the Americas
Application Mts. Formed 350 million years ago
The Rockies, the Cascades, and the Sierra Nevada formed 135-25 million years ago
Ice Age ended in North America about 10,000 years ago
35000 Ice Age revealed land bridge between North America and Eurasia

Globalization
October 12, 1492 Columbus sighted an island in the Bahamas

Politics and Citizenship
Spanish brought their laws into the lands they settled

Reform

Religion
Spanish established Christianity/Catholicism as religion, tried converting Indians

Slavery and Its Legacies in North America
Separated tribes and send slaves as far from home as possible
Africa supplied the labor for the New World

War and Diplomacy