Authentic stories. Real engagement.
Scaffolded for Grades 3–11 · Complete Lesson Plans · Primary Source Documents · DBQs · Vocabulary · Assessments
Ibn Battuta Journey
Matthew Henson Journey
Lewis & Clark Journey
Inuit Journey
Hatshepsut Journey
3D Map Games
How We Help
No sales pressure. Just 20 minutes to transform how your students learn.
Portrait of a Graduate
Building the skills today's graduates need.
Critical Thinker
Students analyze primary sources, interrogate evidence, and form arguments grounded in historical fact — not opinion.Global Citizen
Every journey crosses cultures, centuries, and continents. Students see the world through the eyes of those who shaped it.Effective Communicator
DBQs, webinar Q&As, and collaborative simulations build the listening, writing, and speaking skills that matter.
Creative Innovator
Multiplayer simulations require students to negotiate, adapt, and solve problems in ways no textbook exercise can replicate.Reflective & Future-Focused
Guided by world-famous explorers who made meaning from history, students learn to connect the past to the world they’re entering.Academically Prepared
Aligned to state learning standards across Social Studies, Literacy, and WIDA. Real-time reporting gives every teacher the evidence they need.
Denis Belliveau with Meriwether Lewis’ pipe tomahawk — 3D scanned for our Lewis & Clark Journey
Our Founder
Denis Belliveau
Denis Belliveau is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and award-winning author best known for retracing the complete overland and return sea route of Marco Polo. Together with a fellow explorer, they became the first people in modern history to do so. His epic journey became the subject of the acclaimed PBS documentary In the Footsteps of Marco Polo, earning him international recognition as an explorer, storyteller, and historian.
For over fifteen years he has served as an Explorer-in-Residence in schools worldwide, bringing primary sources, real artifacts, and firsthand testimony into the classroom making history tangible, unforgettable, and alive. That work is the foundation everything In The Footsteps of History is built on.
Meet a few of our explorers
World-famous explorers. Real stories. Real people.
Lewis & Clark Journey
Clay Jenkinson
Renowned humanities scholar, author, and the foremost living interpreter of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition. Clay has spent decades retracing the Corps of Discovery’s route and bringing Jefferson’s America to life.
- Humanities Scholar · Lewis & Clark Historian
The Inuit Journey
The Inuit Elders
Students hear directly from Indigenous Inuit voices, living descendants who carry the knowledge, language, and cultural memory of the Arctic world their ancestors built.
- Living Descendants · Cultural Custodians
Ibn Battuta Journey
Alice Hunter Morrison
Brings the Islamic world of Ibn Battuta to life through cultural fluency and a lifetime of travel and study across the civilizations and Gold/Salt Routes of Africa.
- Adventurer · BBC Presenter · Author
The right solution for every stakeholder.
Curriculum & Instruction
For C&I Directors
- Fully aligned to Social Studies (including C3), ELA, and WIDA standards
- Real-time reporting dashboard across all three standard sets
- DBQs, assessments, and quizzes built in, no additional prep required
- Bilingual, English and Spanish, across all seven journeys
Student Wellbeing
For District Leaders
- Develops empathy, collaboration, and authenticity, Portrait of a Graduate competencies
- Re-engages chronically absent and disengaged students through immersive storytelling
- Builds global awareness and cross-cultural understanding in every lesson
- Gives students a reason to show up and something real to connect with
Classroom
For Teachers
- Complete lesson plans, readings, quizzes, and assessments, ready to use
- Rated 5/5 for ease of use by every educator in our pilots
- Chromebook-native, no installs, no IT tickets, runs on day one
- Live Q&A webinars with world-famous explorers included in every journey
Trusted by school & district leaders
What leaders are saying.
“An exceptional model for modern, engagement-driven Social Studies instruction… academically rigorous, student-centered, and technologically motivating content built around primary source authenticity.”
Joe Leavy
District Social Studies Chairperson 7–12, Huntington UFSD
“This program does something no other platform currently does. It positions students within history rather than outside of it, transforming passive readers into active historians while giving teachers the actionable evidence of learning they’ve always needed.”
Tomika Courtney-McClinton
District Content Specialist, Savannah-Chatham Public School System
“This immersive platform transforms how students engage with complex texts and ideas, building the literacy skills we’re fighting for every day: reading for meaning, constructing arguments, applying vocabulary in context. It’s the kind of cross-curricular partnership ELA teachers rarely get to see.”
Love Foy
Director of ELA, Half Hollow Hills Central School District
“In the Footsteps is more than just a game. I highly recommend it to any educator looking to transform their social studies instruction with meaningful, memorable, and authentic learning.”
Ed Finney
District Technology Integration Specialist & NYSCATE 2024 Teacher of the Year
Schodack Central School District
See it in action
Watch what happens when history comes alive.
From the classroom
What the data shows. In their own words.
“I was skeptical they had learned anything because they were having so much fun, but I was shocked at how much they could tell me. Things we had definitely NOT talked about.”
Rebecca Hall Barrett
4th Grade Teacher
“I’ve been teaching Lewis and Clark for twelve years and I’ve never seen rapid learning like this. I even learned new things! So great, I convinced the district to purchase it again for next year.”
Matt Arleth
8th Grade Teacher
“My students came away with a much better understanding of The Silk Roads. Undeniably the highlight of the school year.”
Steven Hardy
10th Grade World History Teacher
“ITF fully covered all of our learning requirements for this unit. I was impressed with the game and the primary documents.”
Dakota Smith
7th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Built for accountability
Everything teachers need. Everything leaders expect.
Primary Source Readings
Rich, scaffolded bilingual texts building vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension across grades 3 to 11.
Reading Quizzes
Auto-graded comprehension quizzes providing immediate feedback to students and teachers after every reading.
Documentary-Quality Films
Directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers whose works have appeared on National Geographic, PBS, BBC, Discovery Channel, and more. Gripping, colorful, and built for the classroom.
Real-Time Reporting
Instant visibility into student progress across Social Studies, Literacy, and WIDA standards, all in one dashboard.
End-of-Unit Assessments
Measuring content knowledge, critical thinking, and literacy skills at the close of every journey.
3D Map Games
Expeditionary scavenger hunts weaving map skills, literacy, and real museum artifacts into a single unforgettable learning experience.
3D Simulations
Single and multiplayer higher-order thinking games building collaboration, negotiation, and communication skills.
Live Explorer Webinars
Live, unforgettable encounters where students ask the questions that matter most about history, about life, and about where their own journeys might take them.
Available journeys
Seven complete journeys. More on the way.
Purchasing & funding
Use funding you already have.
Title I & Arts Grants
Eligible for Title I supplemental enrichment funds and state humanities & arts grants.
Title II-A (Supporting Effective Instruction)
Qualifies under Title II-A as a high-quality professional development resource that supports educator effectiveness and student achievement.
Title IV-A Eligible
Qualifies as a Student Support & Academic Enrichment program under ESSA Title IV-A.
BOCES Cooperative
Nassau BOCES Cooperative Purchasing Agreement available for cross-contract including signed Data Security & Privacy Standards Agreement.
| License Type | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Single or Multiple Grades | All teachers & students in one or more grades |
| Single school | All teachers & students at one building |
| District license | All schools district-wide |
Contact us for pricing.
School-Ready
- Data Privacy Agreement
- LMS Integration
- Required IT Configurations
- Sole Source Provider Letter
Book your demo
Complimentary. 20 minutes.
No long presentations. No sales pressure. Just 20 minutes to transform the way your students experience history and literacy.
- Live walkthrough of a complete student journey with a world-famous explorer
- How it aligns to your specific state ELA, Social Studies, and WIDA standards
- Live demo of real-time reporting, quizzes, and assessments
- How other schools fund through BOCES, Title IV-A, Title II-A, Title I, and arts & humanities grants
- Flexible licensing options that fit your budget