Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
![A group of high school students sit at desks in conversation.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_480/public/2023-10/AdobeStock_254378868.jpg?itok=f6YAphey)
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Voice and Choice in Literature
Students analyze the voices and choices in a text in order to identify the perspectives that are represented.
![Female students raises her hand.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-10/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101532.jpg?h=2e5cdddf&itok=XcIu0If_)
Supporting Question 4: Memory of the Founding
Students explore the supporting question "How should we remember the nation’s founding?"
![Washington DC, Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Building Southwest Pavilion. The Library has had an ongoing exhibition entitled "Thomas Jefferson's Library", which presents the Library's efforts to completely recreate Thomas Jefferson's personal library. The exhibit is located on the Building's second floor in the Southwest Pavilion, called the Pavilion of the Discoverers due to the paintings and bas-reliefs that adorn the space.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/2F36F1J.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=uc3dLkqF)
Toolbox for Care
This teaching strategy invites students to think about the “tools” they have access to that can help them take care of themselves and their community in the wake of traumatic news.
![A student in a grey sweatshirt looks down at a paper with a pencil in hand.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/LA_ClassroomImage_2018_FH287141.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=N4wCjNyS)
Connecting the Past to the Present Using Oral History
This strategy helps students engage with oral histories in order to deepen their understanding of how past events impacted individuals and communities, and to gain new perspectives on the present.
![Student speaking](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/SL_190522_0675.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=3-vI66f_)
Staging the Compelling Question
Students are introduced to the themes of the compelling question by responding to a quote from James Baldwin that sparks their thinking about the complexities and contradictions within US history.
![Photo of student listening to student-led teaching session](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/SL_190522_0700%20%281%29.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=glf-JB3p)
Supporting Question 1: The Nation’s Founding Ideals
Students explore the supporting question "What does the Declaration of Independence state about the nation’s founding ideals?"
![United States Declaration of Independence](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/master-rbc-rbc0001-2004-2004pe76546-001%20%281%29.jpg?h=4ec2df74&itok=6j3UL0rd)
Supporting Question 2: Founding Ideals Versus Realities
Students explore the supporting question "What contradictions existed between the ideals and the reality of the founding of the United States?"
![Photo shows a group of African American slaves posed around a horse-drawn cart, with a building in the background, at the Cassina Point plantation of James Hopkinson on Edisto Island, South Carolina.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/service-pnp-ppmsca-39500-39590v.jpg?h=fd5c1401&itok=K1ckwjtu)
Learning to Infer
Educators will Introduce students to the concept of inferencing and then help them develop their inferencing skills.
![A student reads a handout in the classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/UK_ClassroomImage_2019_FH2117918.jpg?h=79583b4d&itok=p7P8_T0w)
Pronouncing Names
Students examine the importance of pronouncing names correctly through this class activity.
![Uniformed students in classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Classroom_2019_FH2101434.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=9W7VIrQu)
Supporting Question 2: Defining Democracy
Students explore the supporting question, “What can democracy mean in the United States?”
![Definition of Democracy](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/iStock-531943280.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=juTZbmTu)
Supporting Question 3: Using Democratic Tools to Pursue Freedom
Students explore the supporting question, “How have people used the tools of democracy to fight for their freedoms in the United States?”
![Supporters of the Grape Boycott demonstrate in Toronto, Ontario, December, 1968. Jessica Govea is in the center, front row (wearing poncho).](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/UnitedFarmworkers.jpg?h=deb88887&itok=22kEDdQ_)