Chicago Neighborhoods in History and Today | Facing History & Ourselves

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Guide

Chicago Neighborhoods in History and Today

An Inquiry Series of Identity, Community, and Belonging.

Duration

Multiple weeks

Subject

  • History
  • Social Studies

Grade

7–8

Language

English — US

Published

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About This Unit

This unit is designed as a series of three C3-style inquiries that guide students through an exploration of neighborhood development in Chicago. Throughout the unit, students explore the questions: How are neighborhoods shaped? How do our neighborhoods shape us? How do we shape our neighborhoods?

The unit will take approximately twenty-three 50-minute periods to complete in its entirety. Each inquiry includes a series of formative performance tasks, and each concludes with both a summative assessment and a “Taking Informed Action” activity. Students complete many of these tasks, as well as other research activities about a Chicago neighborhood they choose, in their “My Neighborhood, My Vision Portfolio,” where they share what they have learned and take steps to apply it to the real world.

Student materials are also available in Spanish.

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Chicago Neighborhoods: In History and Today

Date of Publication: July 2024

Chicago Neighborhoods: In History and Today – PDF

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Chicago Neighborhoods: In History and Today – Docs

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Unit Overview

This unit consists of three C3 Style inquiries

As you begin planning, start here for access to an overview and blueprint of the full unit, unit pacing guide, an explanation of the unit portfolio and possible alternatives for meeting different classroom and school community needs.  

Go to Unit at-a-Glance section of the unit

Before teaching this unit, review these sections for strategies and notes to support building a classroom of supportive relationships between educators and students and within the classroom community as a whole. 

Go to Fostering a Reflective Classroom Community and Teaching Emotionally Challenging Content sections of the unit

Students examine their culture, beliefs, and values as well as the influence of place on their identities. They will also choose a Chicago neighborhood that they will research over the course of the unit.

Go to Inquiry 1 of the unit 

Students study the histories of the Near West Side and Bronzeville neighborhoods. In studying the history of these two neighborhoods, students will explore how patterns of both belonging and exclusion have shaped the city’s development over time. Students will begin Inquiry 2 by considering how neighborhood services and institutions can serve as a foundation for building social identity, power, and agency in a community. Students will also study how national, state, and local policies entrenched segregation through Chicago housing and infrastructure development.

Go to Inquiry 2 of the unit

Students will use sources like the Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chicago Metropolitan Area Planning data, and historical Federal Housing Administration redlining maps to delve into the history of their neighborhoods. Lastly, students will set a vision for their neighborhoods and consider the ways in which they can contribute to their neighborhoods’ development.

Go to Inquiry 3 of the unit

Related Facing History Resources & Learning Opportunities

Deepen your understanding of this topic with these additional resources from Facing History & Ourselves.

Facing History & Ourselves was inspired to create this unit based on collaborative conversations between Facing History & Ourselves; the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP); and a number of local historians, and educators. 

We are grateful for the financial support of the following individuals, organizations, and foundations: Anonymous, Aon, Christopher Family Foundation, Sandra and William Farrow, GCM Grosvenor, Bruce and Vicki Heyman, Jackson National Community Fund, Judd and Linda Miner, Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, The Segal Family Foundation, The Spencer Foundation, and the Chicago Advisory Board.

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