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.
Contracting
In this classroom video, a middle school teacher leads his class through the contracting process during the first week of school and students discuss expectations and norms of how class members will treat each other.
![](/sites/default/files/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_1474.jpg)
My Part of the Story: Exploring Identity in the United States
Get the print or PDF version of our unit designed to launch a course on US history, literature, or civics through an investigation of identity.
![Cover of "My Part of the Story."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/MyPartoftheStory_cvr.png?h=0a704eec&itok=6Rmy52as)
Taking School Online With a Student-Centered Approach
Login Required
The resources in this packet are designed to help teachers approach online learning with a focus on sustaining community, supporting students, and creating engaging, meaningful learning experiences.
Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy
Login Required
This resource guides students through a deep exploration of the pivotal era of American history when a nation divided by slavery and war was challenged to rebuild.
The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy
This resource guides students through a deep exploration of the pivotal era of American history when a nation divided by slavery and war was challenged to rebuild.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Free and Fair Elections
This Explainer describes the standards that governments need to meet before, during, and after an election to ensure that the election is "free and fair."
![A line of U.S. voters submitting their ballots behind privacy screens.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Midterm_Elections_high-res_AP_17307716664453__Medium_res.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=qQHpMtyK)
How the Parkland Students Pulled off a Massive National Protest in Only 5 Weeks
Learn about the movement to end gun violence launched by Parkland students after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
![Millbrook High School students demonstrate against gun violence outside their school in Frederick County, Va., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, following a school shooting in which over a dozen people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., one week ago. (Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star via AP)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2018_StudentProtestAfterParkland_FH289815.jpg?h=ffeece36&itok=XUEFh1qx)
"More in Common Than We Thought" – Chicago, Parkland Youth Stand in Solidarity
Read about the meeting of student activists committed to ending gun violence from Parkland and Chicago.
![Organizers Cameron Kasky, left, and Jackie Corin, student survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School address fellow students before boarding buses in Parkland, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018, to rally outside the state capitol. The students plan to hold a rally Wednesday in hopes that it will put pressure on the state's Republican-controlled Legislature to consider a sweeping package of gun-control laws, something some GOP lawmakers said Monday they would consider.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2018_ParklandGunControlRally_FH158108.jpg?h=c8c4bcd6&itok=tgHv9vT1)
Why MLK Encouraged 225,000 Chicago Kids to Cut Class in 1963
Learn about the 1963 Chicago Public School Boycott, when students demanded better schools for black neighborhoods and equal opportunity for all.
![Crowd fills LaSalle Street between City Hall and building housing Board of Education as hundreds of demonstrators marched in Chicago on Oct. 22, 1963 following a one-day boycott of public schools.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1963_AfricanAmericanIntegrationAntiSchoolBoycott1963IL_FH2169828.jpg?h=12de4a96&itok=CAfhRaQg)
We Wanted to Be Treated as Men
Elmore Nickleberry and Taylor Rogers, two former sanitation workers from Memphis, share their memories of the events leading up to the 1968 sanitation strike, as well as their participation in the strike itself.
![Photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. marching arm in arm with a crowd of men participating in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Worker's Strike.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/8885_1preview.jpg?h=2dd09070&itok=h0YSS1ZO)
Political Polarization in the United States
This Explainer defines the term political polarization and provides information on how it impacts US politics and society.
![Abstract red, white, and blue painting with thick brush strokes.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/PoliticalPolarization_full-res.jpg?h=5eef411c&itok=dyNgzenB)