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.
10 Questions for the Future: Student Action Project
Students create a plan for enacting change on an issue that they are most passionate about using the 10 Questions Framework.
![Person holding a sign at a Global climate change strike](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2019_FightTodayforaBetterTomorrow_FH2172888.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=4kvosPLx)
10 Questions for the Past: The 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott
Students explore the strategies, risks, and historical significance of the 1963 Chicago school boycott, while also considering bigger-picture questions about social progress.
![Crowd fills LaSalle Street between City Hall and building housing Board of Education as hundreds of demonstrators marched in Chicago on Oct. 22, 1963 following a one-day boycott of public schools.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1963_AfricanAmericanIntegrationAntiSchoolBoycott1963IL_FH2169828.jpg?h=12de4a96&itok=CAfhRaQg)
10 Questions for the Present: Parkland Student Activism
Students identify strategies and tools that Parkland students have used to influence Americans to take action to reduce gun violence.
![Millbrook High School students demonstrate against gun violence outside their school in Frederick County, Va., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, following a school shooting in which over a dozen people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., one week ago. (Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star via AP)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2018_StudentProtestAfterParkland_FH289815.jpg?h=ffeece36&itok=XUEFh1qx)
Authoring My Identity
Students explore the costs and benefits of sharing aspects of their identities, discuss an informational text about “narrative identity,” and apply these concepts to their own lives in an original poem.
Getting to Know the 10 Questions
Students begin thinking about civic engagement in terms of their own passions and identities as they are introduced to the 10 Questions Framework.
![High school students participate in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2017_DrewBirdVisualStoryteller_FH152738.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=WOzD1gqb)
Dismantling Democracy
Students examine the steps the Nazis took to replace democracy with dictatorship and draw conclusions about the values and institutions that make democracy possible.
![Germans look on as the Reichstag building burns on February 27, 1933.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1933_ReichstagFire_%20FH229429.jpg?h=40d6a7d7&itok=PBcAxqXk)
Do You Take the Oath?
Students consider the choices and reasoning of individual Germans who stayed quiet or spoke up during the first few years of Nazi rule.
![German military recruits swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_SwearingAllegianceToHitler_FH229433.jpg?h=827069f2&itok=8JL6O5JQ)
European Jewish Life before World War II
Students analyze images and film that convey the richness of Jewish life across Europe at the time of the Nazis’ ascension to power.
![Shabbtai (Shepske) Sonenson takes one of the shtetl's Hebrew teachers for a ride on his new motorcycle.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1941_ShabbtaiSonensonOnMotorcycle_FH2115443.jpg?h=d392e916&itok=DmuRlDw6)
Exploring Identity
Students identify the social and cultural factors that help shape our identities by analyzing firsthand reflections and creating personal identity charts.
![Hands raised in the air by group of people](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_GroupBelonging_FH229369.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=O6H7UmzG)
The Holocaust: Bearing Witness
Students are introduced to the enormity of the crimes committed during the Holocaust and look closely at stories of a few individuals who were targeted by Nazi brutality.
![A crowd of women and children, some with Stars of David patches on their clothing.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch09_Image02.jpg?h=991b0af6&itok=WRPl5J8e)
How Should We Remember?
Students both respond to and design Holocaust memorials as they consider the impact that memorials and monuments have on the way we think about history.
![In Kassel, Germany, artist Horst Hoheisel created a “counter-memorial” marking the site where a majestic fountain built by a Jewish citizen once stood; it had been destroyed by Nazis in 1939.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Ch11_image15_Medium_res.jpg?h=c6d0d1c4&itok=Gb3MH30L)
The Union As It Was
Students examine documents that shed light on life in the South under the policies of Presidential Reconstruction in 1865 and 1866.
![Photo shows a group of six African American men and women posed picking cotton in a field.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_Picking_Cotton_Savannah_1867_FH2177912.jpg?h=2b78d577&itok=DpnqiD0k)
Introducing The Unit
Students develop a contract establishing a reflective classroom community in preparation for their exploration of this unit's historical case study.
![Student writing in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/2017_5-1-17FacH08212_FH256618.png?h=2992ba0a&itok=c30_X9rN)
Radical Reconstruction and the Birth of Civil Rights
Students learn about the responses to Johnson’s policies by Republicans in Congress and examine the fourteenth amendment that overturned Presidential Reconstruction.
![Photo of page 1 of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1868_14th_Amendment_of_the_United_States_Constitution_%20FH21203.jpg?h=4359e9ca&itok=4j99BHvV)
The Holocaust: The Range of Responses
Students deepen their examination of human behavior during the Holocaust by analyzing and discussing the range of choices available to individuals, groups, and nations.
![Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst in June 1942.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_WhiteRoseResistanceGroup_FH229473.jpg?h=dfc3751c&itok=BjXT-amv)
Kristallnacht
Students learn about the violent pogroms of Kristallnacht by watching a short documentary and then reflecting on eyewitness testimonies.
![Image showing the destruction resulting from Kristallnacht.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Test223817_Original_Medium_res.jpg?h=c8d479ee&itok=g317b1wn)
What is Power?
Students define power and then analyze five perspectives about power in order to understand its many sources and the different ways it can be experienced.
![Two male students write at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Cleveland_Classroom_2019_FH2100139.jpg?h=78aab1d8&itok=eGCF5ua2)
Laws and the National Community
Students are introduced to the Nazis’ idea of a “national community” and examine how the Nazis used the Nuremberg Laws to define who belonged.
![In 1933, Jewish businessman Oskar Danker and his girlfriend, a Christian woman, were forced to carry signs discouraging Jewish-German integration. Intimate relationships between “true Germans” and Jews were outlawed by 1935.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_DiscouragingGermanJewishIntegration_FH229441.jpg?h=ad1846e1&itok=dfgQyzmm)
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 StĂĽrmer (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)
Responding to a Refugee Crisis
Students think about the responsibilities of governments as they consider how countries around the world responded to the European Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany.
![refugees on a large boat](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1939_RefugeesAboardtheStLouis_FH229460.jpg?h=8911ddd7&itok=lJSR65Z-)
The Rise of the Nazi Party
Students examine how choices made by individuals and groups contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1920s and 1930s.
![The Parade of the Political Administrators in Nuremberg, Germany.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/HHB_Chapter_6_Medium_res.jpg?h=193b5c49&itok=W7_63aer)
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)
The Roots and Impact of Antisemitism
Students explore the long history of discrimination against Jews and come to understand how anti-Judaism was transformed into antisemitism in the nineteenth century.
![Woodcut of a group of men in a pit being set on fire.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Ch02_Image01_Medium_res.jpg?h=a61f7ba7&itok=xDw1MDcG)
Universe of Obligation
Students learn a new concept, "universe of obligation," and use it to analyze the ways that their society designates who is deserving of respect and caring.
![A chalkboard with a hand-drawn Universe of Obligation diagram of concentric circles on it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/IMG_8783.jpg?h=1f7c1d57&itok=ENXxhHAU)
The Weimar Republic
Students reflect on the idea of democracy as they analyze the politics, economics, and culture of Germany during the period of the Weimar Republic.
![A crowd of women standing in line at a polling station in the Weimar Republic in 1919, the first year women were allowed to vote.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Ch04_Image12_Medium_res.jpg?h=7627bb82&itok=YljeUuli)
Youth and the National Community
Students learn about the experiences of people in Nazi Germany through a variety of firsthand accounts and identify the range of choices that they faced.
![A group of boys in Hitler Youth uniforms walk through a field](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Hitler_Youth_Hiking_FH229449.jpg?h=827069f2&itok=WJHEgqaR)
World War I and Its Aftermath in Germany
Students begin the unit's historical case study by exploring the brutal realities of World War I and the impact of the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles.
![photo of WWII soldiers walking on beach](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/HumanRights_1914_Germaninfantryonthebattlefield_FH249299.jpg?h=1fe31e6b&itok=AuQVRbED)
Introducing Agency
Students explore the concept of agency, both in literature and in life, and examine the societal forces that play a role in an individual’s agency.
![Two Volta Elementary School students work at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_%20FH2101627.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=Pd3sRqZO)
Agency, Choice, and Action
Students apply their thinking about power and agency to an analysis of four personal narrative essays written by young people.
![Uniformed students work together in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101464.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=eqY000u8)
Understanding and Assessing the UK’s Democracy
Use this lesson to deepen students’ understanding of the concept of democracy, provide a framework for assessing a democracy’s health, and explore the strengths and weaknesses of the UK’s parliamentary democracy.
![A birds eye view of London, United Kingdom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/paul-silvan-Nv1-l_xZnV4-unsplash_banner.jpg?h=79aa1f20&itok=EZyyAjHN)
Connecting to the Past
Students read personal essays that illuminate how the choices made by our families and previous generations influence who we are today.
![One student talks while others listen.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/SL_190523_0544.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=sAQTnjrF)
Finding Your Voice
Students reflect on what "American" means to them and are introduced to the idea that the United States is the product of many individual voices and stories.
![The “Flag of Faces” exhibit at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum features a mosaic of individual portraits.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Flag_of_Faces_Medium_res.jpg?h=7fb2964e&itok=NLw_pw22)
Identity and Choices
Students consider their own agency in creating their identities through choices made about who we are and how we present ourselves.
![Bayeté Ross Smith’s 2010 series "Our Kind of People" examines how clothing, ethnicity, and gender influence our ideas about identity, personality, and character.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2010_OurKindofPeoplecombined_FH2170284.jpg?h=52649bae&itok=_jsHfuii)
Identity and Labels
Students analyze a cartoon and a short video that prompt reflection on the ways we use labels, stereotypes, and assumptions to identify each other.
![A man and woman warm up for a run on an outdoor trail.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2022_WhatKindofAsianAreYou_FH2170285.jpg?h=ae1281eb&itok=Bd0IyTwf)
Identity and Names
Students begin to explore the concept of identity by considering how our names represent who we are and reflect our relationship to society.
![Students writing on a paper.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/SL_190523_0789.jpg?h=c11c9c1d&itok=u07iF1Je)
Many Voices, One National Identity
Students look at evidence of the changing demographics of the United States and analyze what it suggests about the complexity of the country’s national identity.
![Image of @embracelifeadam sitting and smiling.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Facing-History_SJLA_287.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=F-in-dry)
The Power of Belonging
Students discuss the first half of Bethany Morrow’s short story “As You Were” and create character maps as a way of exploring the character of Ebony’s identity and sense of belonging in her school community.
![A student and teacher are in discussion.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_%20FH2101408.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=lIhPr3AR)
The Struggle over Women’s Rights
Students learn about the debate within the women’s rights movement over the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
![Five black women officers sitting for a portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/5_female_Negro_officers_Womens_League_Newport_RI_Public_Domain.jpeg?h=1e888344&itok=0nc29UPK)
Finding One's Voice
Through continued reflection on the short story “As You Were,” students consider the factors that impact power and agency in moments of decision-making and explore the possibilities and limitations of justice and reconciliation.
![Students engage in discussion in a San Francisco classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/San_Francisco_Classroom_2017_FH152714.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=dM3u491J)
Act One Review
Students consider the lessons we can learn from Act One of the play, before adopting the perspectives of characters in both drama tasks and written tasks.
![Act One Review](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/phantom-opera-theater.jpg?h=4fa07180&itok=Kn_2C0bS)
Analysing Gerald’s Character
Students develop their understanding of the character Gerald, exploring the differences between his treatment of Eva/Daisy and Sheila, whilst reflecting on Edwardian gender expectations.
![Gold diamond ring.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Gold_Diamond_Ring_FH2182326.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=DYI_Ti6z)
Bearing Witness to Eva Smith
Students reflect on Priestley’s portrayal of Eva Smith and consider the symbolism of having a character who only appears in the narrative second-hand.
![Woman educator of color reads to the classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/London_School_Classroom_Educator_%20of_Color_2019_FH2117924.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=JbFgqzT_)
Building a Classroom Community
Students work together to create a contract with the aim of developing a reflective classroom community, which is conducive to learning and sharing.
![Uniformed high school students write at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-04/DSC08346_for_Web_or_Office_Use_0.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=yDlh3Y7c)
Equality for All
Students explore some of the limitations of Reconstruction's transformation on US democracy and learn about groups who demanded that the promise of equality be made a reality.
![Seated portrait of women's voting rights advocate Susan B. Anthony.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Ch02_Image05.png?h=498cfac0&itok=w8RpswXr)
The Cost of Labour
Students explore the moral codes of the world of the play, before being introduced to the concept of a universe of obligation and participating in a debate on workers’ rights.
![A sketch by Boardman Robinson of the New York Tribune depicting a miner emerging out of the earth with a pick axe and head seeking the light above.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/graphic_the_miner_emerges_%20FH2169297_0.png?h=0a09c077&itok=8r-ofs5x)
Developing Character Inferences
Students are introduced to the concept of inferencing; they draw inferences from the opening scene of the play, and consider what messages Priestley sends through the language, character and setting.
![Male uniformed British students work on a classroom assignment.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/UK_Classroom_Male_Uniformed_Students_Sikh_2015_FH137600.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=OXt0jVSF)
Differing Perspectives and Conflict
Students begin Act Two of the play, reflecting on the differences in perception emerging between the characters and considering how conflict can arise from such differences.
![Boardman Robinson cartoon of Robert La Follette attacking newspaper press](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/411px-Boardman_Robinson_cartoon_of_Robert_La_Follette_attacking_newspaper_press.jpg?h=4666f868&itok=19Kmw8UP)