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.
The South African Constitution
Review the preamble and bill of rights of South Africa’s 1996 Constitution, a collaborative document that contains considerable protections on civil rights.
![The signing of the Republic of South Africa's Constitution in May 1996.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1996_SigningoftheSouthAfricanConstitution_FH281937.jpg?h=c4482f5d&itok=pkPRL5nQ)
South Africa's First Nonracial Democratic Election
South African poet and activist Mazisi Kunene reflects on his experience voting in South Africa’s first non-racial democratic election in 1994.
![Mazisi Kunene (1930-2006), a South African poet.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2018_MazisiKunene_FH281933.jpg?h=63ec7df1&itok=w1QGoxBz)
The TRC: A Need for a Moral Bottom Line
Bishop Frank Retief shares his concern about the ineffectiveness of the TRC in achieving justice for victims of apartheid and reconciling South Africa in a 1998 interview.
![A child pushes a trolley cart through burnt debris.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2008_AftermathoftheRamaphosaRiots_FH281928.jpg?h=a5f2f23a&itok=L3gio3La)
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Read excerpts from the testimonies of Nomonde Calata, widow of political leader Fort Calata, and Johan van Zyl, the officer who oversaw Calata’s murder, during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
![Nomonde Calata reads the newspaper.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1997_NomondeCalataReadsNewspaper_FH281934.jpg?h=ad518777&itok=ZP4SrHg4)
Big Paper Examples
This handout contains images for a Big Paper activity where students explore examples of people promoting belonging and safety.
![High school students writing in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-08/_O5A1295_0.jpg?h=b69e0e0e&itok=FK45gLAF)
Student Activities: Decorum and Sanctioning Representatives Jones, Pearson, and Zephyr
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These student-facing slides help students understand recent events in the Tennessee and Montana state legislatures and consider the implications of using rules of decorum to sanction state representatives.
![Expelled State Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, delivers remarks outside the state Capitol, in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, April 10, 2023. Pearson was sworn in, a week after he and state Rep. Justin Jones were banished for a gun control protest on the floor of the House, in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-05/Pictures_of_the_Week_North_America_Photo_Gallery_23103817958784.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=QhGMyfDr)
Introduction: Before Apartheid
Understand the origins of racial and ethnic division and discrimination between native South African tribes, the first European settlers, and later European colonizers in the South African region.
![A caravan of covered wagons and oxen with men, women, and children loading supplies onto a wagon](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/The_Great_Trek.jpg?h=f2a85351&itok=rbYSjV4U)
Sanctions Against Representatives Pearson, Jones, and Zephyr
This reading contains information about the state representatives in Tennessee and Montana who were excluded from their legislatures.
![Expelled State Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, delivers remarks outside the state Capitol, in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, April 10, 2023. Pearson was sworn in, a week after he and state Rep. Justin Jones were banished for a gun control protest on the floor of the House, in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-05/Pictures_of_the_Week_North_America_Photo_Gallery_23103817958784.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=QhGMyfDr)
Introduction: Early Apartheid: 1948-1970
Study the National Party’s implementation of strict racial laws, the forms of defiance by black South Africans and other minority groups, and the government’s harsh reaction to this defiance.
![A group of resisters proudly pose after their release from prison in Durban during the Defiance Campaign Against Unjust Laws, 1952.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1952_TheDefianceCampaign_FH281822.jpg?h=56feb499&itok=2LnEBZM4)
Introduction: Growing Resistance Meets Growing Repression
Learn about the figures and events of the 1970s and 80s anti-apartheid movement that succeeded in bringing the National Party to the negotiating table with resistance leaders.
![Group of black South African schoolboys running frantically](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Soweto_Youth_Uprising.jpg?h=278a64c5&itok=mnoF6QBw)
Introduction: Transition to Democracy
Explore the moments of challenge and hope during South Africa’s transition to democracy, as well as the country’s social, economic, and political issues in the aftermath of apartheid.
![Long line of hundreds of South Africans along a busy highway.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/1994_Election_Voting_Lines_Medium_res.jpg?h=673d5a02&itok=r-7pi3J5)