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.
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)
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_)
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)
Antisemitic Conflation: What Is the Impact of Conflating All Jews with the Actions and Policies of the Israeli Government?
Students start with the universal and move to the particular to learn about conflation as a manifestation of antisemitism.
![A broken window is seen at the center of the Jewish community in Rostock, Northern Germany](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-02/AP090108014177.jpg?h=e012f517&itok=W-33MNGT)