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 Power of Propaganda
Students analyze several examples of Nazi propaganda and consider how the Nazis used media to influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of individual Germans.
![An issue of the antisemitic propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer (The Attacker) is posted on the sidewalk in Worms, Germany, in 1935. The headline above the case says, ""The Jews Are Our Misfortune.""](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_NaziPropagandaNewspaper_FH229452.jpg?h=fb0bd1b2&itok=WOgfci3M)
Expanding Democracy
Students reflect on the revolutionary changes that occurred because of the landmark legislation and amendments passed during the Reconstruction era.
![A studio portrait shows African American members of the General Assembly from 1887 to 1888](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1887_Members_of_the_Virginia_GA_FH21416.jpg?h=4b21dcd5&itok=ZtAL-w-Y)
Accountability, Justice, and Healing after Derek Chauvin's Trial
Help students reflect on the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial while exploring the complicated concepts of justice, accountability, and healing.
![Temporary Memorial for George Floyd.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/GeorgeFloydSquare_FH2153760.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=1ceaiIyC)
Reexamining History: How Can We Engage with the Stories We’re Told?
This lesson prepares young people to be critical consumers of stories they are told about the UK’s past and encourages them to consider how unpicking historical narratives can be an act of justice and a catalyst for action.
![Coins of Queen Victoria, King Edward and East India company.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/shutterstock_1157950465_Medium_res.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=NCwl8oO9)
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)
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)
"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)