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.
Summative Performance Task & Taking Informed Action
Students culminate their arc of inquiry into the US founding by completing a C3-aligned Summative Performance Task and Taking Informed Action.
![Student works on notebook](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/SL_190522_0012.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=_BwxiZ4Q)
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)
Stranger at the Gate Viewing Guide
Bring the short documentary film Stranger at the Gate into your classroom with the streaming video and companion guide of discussion questions and activities.
![Stranger at the Gate press image Smartypants.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-04/Stranger-085.jpg?h=f54bfa0f&itok=6HJSEUAP)
Expressing Diversity in Jewish Identity: Blending In and Standing Out
This two-day lesson uses the story of Purim as a frame to examine how Jews have preserved and protected their identities and culture in dominant societies by choosing when to blend in and when to stand out.
![A Jewish family pictured in Yemen](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/GettyImages-607446350.jpg?h=eec5a94e&itok=ZTRvXmoY)
A Part and Apart: Inclusion and Exclusion in Our Jewish Communities
Students consider the benefits and challenges of identity labeling and their identity experiences within and outside their Jewish communities.
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)
Preparing to Journey to the Mississippi Delta
Consider the talk Mamie Till-Mobley had with her son Emmett before he traveled to Jim Crow-era Mississippi in 1955 and the dangers that prompted her concern.
![Southbound Illinois Central Railroad "Seminole" passenger train crosses main line of West Point Route at station in Opelika, Alabama in August 1955. Absence of interlocker required crew member to flag crossing.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/Lamb_Passenger_train.jpg?h=c30f0a0d&itok=68xyDm2T)
Contextualizing Emmett Till’s Murder
Students explore the importance of context and learn about Emmett Till’s murder in Jim Crow-era Mississippi.
![July 1939: An African-American man drinking at a segregated drinking fountain in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/Getty-3428944.jpg?h=8222eea2&itok=zXOp_aoz)
Supporting Question 1: The History of the Angel Island Immigration Station
Students explore the supporting question “How did the Angel Island Immigration Station both reflect and enforce borders within American society?”
![Captain examines passengers aboard the The Shimyo Maru vessel.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-01/Examining_Passengers_Among_The_Shimyo_Maru_1931_FH2186864.jpg?h=d71efc7d&itok=qdqQhkml)