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.
What Is “Normal”?
Through quote and poetry analysis, students will consider the ways in which our desire to fit in can impact our identities and the choices we make.
![A student writes on a piece of paper in a classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Chicago_PhotoShoot_2019_FH2101686.jpg?h=c11c9c1d&itok=Uq9yiZlO)
How Do Others See Me?
Students will define key concepts and discuss the impact that labels, assumptions, and stereotypes have on their identity development.
![3 students at table](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-10/FHAO_2019_Summit_060.jpg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=iSw_ewUp)
Feeling Seen: A Matter of Perspective
Students will engage in perspective-taking activities to consider what it means to belong and how experiences and interactions with others can shape our identities.
![Two students working together and looking at classwork](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101643.jpg?h=c11c9c1d&itok=jYPbg96b)
Finding Belonging in the World
“Students create “pearls of wisdom” and consider the value of forming relationships that help us feel seen and secure in our sense of belonging.
![Two female students, one with a hijab, sit in classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-10/Los_Angeles_Classroom_2019_FH2109022.jpg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=jx8afuzO)
Making Myself Proud
Students will read and analyze a poem that focuses on what it means to practice celebrating identity, both by loving who you are and by imagining who you can be.
![Engaged uniformed male student engages in classroom discussion.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/United_Kingdom_Classroom_2015_FH137564.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=nDB-eMLS)
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)
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 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)