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.
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_)
Summative Assessment & Taking Informed Action
Students culminate their arc of inquiry into the meaning of democracy and freedom by completing a C3-aligned Summative Performance Task and Taking Informed Action activities.
![Students write at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101328.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=jx_VbaVP)
Introducing Freedom Dreams: Culminating Lesson
Students create a definition for “freedom dreaming” and are introduced to the prompt for the “My Freedom Dream” capstone project.
![Langston Hughes](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-09/NPG_72_82_Hughes_resized.jpg?h=4d2e25f8&itok=cDk9z6sl)
Exploring the Freedom Dreams of Past Generations: Culminating Lesson
Students analyze how the people and groups they studied in US history pursued their freedom dreams.
![People marching from Selma to Montgomery](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-09/900px-Selma_to_Montgomery_Marches.jpg?h=d01a05a4&itok=AvjXCyS9)
Enacting Freedom Dreams: Culminating Lesson
In this culminating lesson, students explore how present-day people are enacting freedom dreams and consider what kind of civic actor they want to be.
![An educator stands at the head of a table filled with students in conversation.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/2017_classroomimage_FH256889_3200_1600_3.png?h=b7ec06ca&itok=R-YT_W1W)
“My Freedom Dream” Capstone Project
Students expand on the learning they have gained in their year-long study of US History to develop and share their own “freedom dream.”
![Students in class](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-09/SL_190522_0713.jpg?h=a49d782d&itok=GbpachDa)
"A Rallying Cry and a Cause"
Explore Mamie Till-Mobley’s courageous decision to show the public Emmett Till’s body through an open-casket funeral and photos in Jet magazine and consider why Emmett’s death generated widespread determination to pursue racial justice.
![A large crowd gathers outside the Roberts Temple Church of God In Christ in Chicago, Ill., Sept. 6, 1955 as pallbearers carry the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy who was slain while on a visit to Mississippi. Police estimate a crowd of about 2,000.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/AP_Domestic_News_Illinois_United_St_550906054.jpg?h=3a1350eb&itok=RygsP8FD)
The Anti-lynching Activism of Ida B. Wells
Students explore the life and choices of anti-lynching journalist Ida B. Wells and learn about the long tradition of Black resistance to racial terror and violence.
![Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was an African-American journalist and early civil rights activist.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/20170407_TreyClark_1979.jpg?h=35609fe0&itok=w5Yv43SB)
The Emmett Till Generation
Student’s explore how Emmett Till’s murder inspired a generation of young African American men and women to actively join in the civil rights movement. Student materials are available in English and Spanish.
![John Lewis at the Cairo demonstration.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/ART541179_cropped_72dpi.jpg?h=63ad9ec3&itok=HL78Aw90)
The Legacy of Emmett Till
Students identify continuities and changes between Emmett Till’s murder and today’s Black Lives Matter movement, and they reflect on the ways they can contribute to the movement for racial justice.
![George Floyd mural outside Cup Foods at Chicago Ave and E 38th St in Minneapolis, Minnesota](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/George_Floyd_Mural_Flickr.jpg?h=a1e1a043&itok=uzSVMaJ6)
Confronting Islamophobia
Students explore the roots of Islamophobia, reflect on its human cost and its impact on those who experience it, and start thinking about the importance of standing up against Islamophobia.
![Uniformed high school students read at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/high_school_student_FH139570.jpg?h=1116cd87&itok=-tavfaVd)