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.
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)
Socratic Seminar: Social Justice
In this classroom video, students participate in a Socratic seminar centered on the essential question, "How do our personal stories influence how we fight for justice?"
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Supporting a Culture of Inquiry in Your Classroom
In this classroom video, social studies teacher Tareeq Rasheed teaches the lesson “The Choices the Leaders Made (Part II)” from the Choices in Little Rock unit.
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Teaching about Segregation and Its Consequences: Examining Plessy v. Ferguson
In this classroom video, social studies teacher Jenna Forton teaches a lesson from the Choices in Little Rock unit
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Teaching Strategy: Found Poems
In this classroom video, a high school history teacher leads students in the construction of found poems based on their research about the eugenics movement in the early twentieth century in the United States.
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Understanding We and They
In this classroom video, students discuss the idea of “we and they.” They reflect on the snap judgements they make about others and consider how others might make quick calculations about them.
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Teaching Farewell to Manzanar
Use this guide to Jeanne Wakatsuki's memoir about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II to develop students' literacy skills and increase understanding of this history.
![Teaching Farewell To Manzanar graphic.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Manzanar_Large2.jpeg?h=01ac081b&itok=UHFGvzoO)
Teaching Red Scarf Girl
Use this guide to Ji-li Jiang’s engaging memoir set during the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution in China to help students explore themes of conformity, obedience, and prejudice.
![Book Cover of Red Scarf Girl.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-05/RedScarfGirl_cvr.png?h=f44212c3&itok=7tu3YQLb)
Teaching Mockingbird
Use this resource to transform how you teach Harper Lee’s novel by integrating historical context, documents, and sources that reflect the African American voices absent from Mockingbird's narration.
![Mockingbird Graphic.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/WebRedesign_Wrapper-card_Mockingbird.jpeg?h=24afd704&itok=qskeXCqD)
Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy
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This resource guides students through a deep exploration of the pivotal era of American history when a nation divided by slavery and war was challenged to rebuild.
Choices in Little Rock
This unit investigates the choices made by the Little Rock Nine and others in the Little Rock community during the civil rights movement during efforts to desegregate Central High School in 1957.
![Cropped Choices at Little Rock.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Cropped%20Choices%20at%20Little%20Rock.jpg?h=ebd685d1&itok=wjhHdNdc)