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.
Mandela's Strategic Decision
Examine Nelson Mandela’s emotional rejection of a 1985 offer by the South African government to free him if he renounced violence and abstained from politics.
!["A young Nelson Mandela poses for a photograph in Umtata shortly before moving to Fort Beaufort to attend Healdtown Comprehensive School. "](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Nelson_Mandela_Medium_res.jpg?h=623540e1&itok=0V950_BY)
As You Were
Bethany Morrow's short story, "As You Were," tells the tale of a harrowing night for one young marching band member.
![Two female students engage in classroom discussion.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/LosAngeles_Classroom_2019_FH2109001.jpg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=JuO9VB0P)
Posters from the Freedom Struggle in the 1980s
Look at a selection of anti-apartheid posters that show the diverse range of messages and issues covered within the movement.
![The Durban strikes of 1973, and the subsequent formation of new trade unions, were instrumental in causing the first seams of apartheid to break apart.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1973_DurbanStrikes_FH282023.jpg?h=ae1281eb&itok=_wD8vdVT)
Introducing Agency
Students use this reading to learn about the concept of individual and collective agency.
![Students write at a table.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101326.jpg?h=2e5cdddf&itok=FdA96TZN)
Selling Progress: A South African Filmstrip for American Students
Read the transcript of a video the South African government sent to American students as a way to convince the international community of the benefits of apartheid.
![Group of people waving South African flags in back lit.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2018_SouthAfricaConfrontingApartheidBannerunedited_FH282249.jpg?h=40d6a7d7&itok=gii2H08Z)
Chinese Immigrants Write to President Grant
Chinese leaders in California write to President Ulysses S. Grant in 1876 about the discrimination their communities face from a rising anti-Chinese movement.
![President Ulysses S. Grant, half-length portrait, seated, facing right](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Ulysses_Grant_1869_FH21412.jpg?h=4b9455f5&itok=BuGykV5F)
The “Immigration Problem”
Learn about the restrictive immigration measures established in the United States throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Analysis & Reflection
Enhance your students’ understanding of our readings on civic participation with these follow-up questions and prompts.
![Agosin Tapestries of Hope, Threads of Love Pg. 76](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/HHB_Chapter_12_Medium_res.jpg?h=0704619c&itok=WsQTWf0G)
Steve Biko Calls for Black Consciousness
Activist Steve Biko’s speech links white racism to the Black Consciousness movement, calling on black South Africans to create their own power to fight oppression.
![Steve Biko spearheaded the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) in South Africa from the mid 1960s until his death while in police custody in 1977.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2018_SteveBiko_FH282029.jpg?h=39c2980c&itok=RY4sYtvP)
What Is Ethical?: The Case of Polaroid
Consider the case study of Polaroid, in which opposing sides (Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement and Polaroid) voice their reasoning of whether or not to divest from South Africa.
![Caroline Hunter wears a “No Bullshit, Boycott Polaroid” campaign button.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2018_CarolineHunterBoycottPolaroid_FH282021.jpg?h=7784dd4d&itok=AQ66r1aS)
T.S.A. and Cinnamon Buns
In this personal narrative, a young adult shares their experience of going through security at the airport.
![Two students concentrate at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101623.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=HV6pCaZ1)