Democracy and Freedom: US History Capstone Project | Facing History & Ourselves

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Collection US History Curriculum Collection: Democracy & Freedom
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Mini-Unit

Democracy and Freedom: US History Capstone Project

This capstone project invites students to reflect on their own role in a democracy in light of what they’ve learned about freedom and democracy in US history.

Resources

4

Duration

Part of a full-year program

Subject

  • History
  • Social Studies

Grade

9–12

Language

English — US

Published

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About This Mini-Unit

This mini-unit is intended to bolster the central throughline of our US History Curriculum Collection: Democracy & Freedom, while also offering an opportunity for students to use the lessons they have learned in their US History course to reflect on their own role as a steward for democracy. It is tailored to fit the themes and sources from our US History materials, but is broad enough to be accessible to educators who have not taught our US History Curriculum Collection in full. 

The mini-unit includes two components:

  • Three lessons that help students revisit some of their key learnings from the US History Curriculum Collection and gather evidence that they will use in the capstone project.
  • A capstone project entitled “My Freedom Dream,” which includes a project handout/description, activities for introducing/implementing the project with students, and a project planning tool for teachers.

Essential Question

How can I make real the ideals of freedom and democracy?

Learning Objective

Develop the capacity for informed civic participation.

About This Mini-Unit

Teaching Notes

Before teaching this mini-unit, please review the following information to help guide your preparation process.

The lessons that students explore in this mini-unit are intended to serve as a capstone experience that builds students’ capacity for civic participation while also tying together key themes from Facing History’s US History Curriculum Collection, particularly our focus on Democracy and Freedom.

This mini-unit aligns with the themes and sources from our US History materials, but it is also designed to be broad enough so that most educators will be able to access it even if they have not taught our curriculum collection in full. We encourage you to select key sources from units and/or inquiries that you have taught from our curriculum collection (particularly in Lessons 1 and 2) to tie back to students’ learning throughout the year.

The three lessons in this mini-unit are designed to prepare students for a final civic participation project entitled “My Freedom Dream.” We have created activities to help students at all stages of the project, but teachers will likely need to spend additional time helping students to fully implement the project (the “act” component). This includes creating a rubric or other format for evaluating students’ performance and assisting with any logistical aspects of implementation. 

For more guidance on implementing the project in your classroom, explore this teacher-facing handout: Planning the “My Freedom Dream” Capstone Project.
The teacher-facing handout refers to strategies from the resource From Reflection to Action: A Choosing to Participate Toolkit. We encourage you to have the toolkit on hand for reference as you implement this project.

Some of the suggested activities for implementing the "My Freedom Dream" Capstone Project require students to have access to a computer to conduct online research. We recommend taking care of logistics prior to teaching these activities, for example, by reserving the computer lab or laptop carts for students.

Lesson Plans

This unit is made up of the following 3 lessons and a capstone project. Each lesson includes activities and student materials for 1-2 class periods.

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Related Facing History Resources & Learning Opportunities

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

Democracy and Freedom: US History Capstone Project

Up Next

Introducing Freedom Dreams: Culminating Lesson

Students create a definition for “freedom dreaming” and are introduced to the prompt for the “My Freedom Dream”  capstone project.
Lesson

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From Reflection to Action: A Choosing to Participate Toolkit

This guide contains a flexible collection of activities, readings, lessons, and strategies designed to help you develop a meaningful civic education experience in your classroom.
From Reflection to Action Toolkit cover page
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