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.
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)
Staging the Compelling Question
Students explore the compelling question, “How can we make real the ideals of democracy and freedom?”
![Student and teacher in a classroom](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/Community_Teach_In_FH2185452.jpeg?h=ddfec3f4&itok=gg3IvWas)
Supporting Question 1: Defining Freedom
Students explore the supporting question, “What can freedom mean in the United States?”
![Norman Rockwell, The Saturday Evening Post March 13, 1943](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Freedom_from_fear.png?h=8f326fd3&itok=hJMGduZU)
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_)
"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)