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.
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.
What Is Belonging? | Introductory Lesson
This lesson introduces students to the concept of belonging and the many factors that can shape one’s sense of belonging in the world.
How Do Borders Shape Belonging? | Introductory Lesson
In this lesson, students will expand their understanding of borders and consider the ways in which borders can impact how individuals and groups experience belonging in the world.
What Does It Mean to Come of Age? | Introductory Lesson
Students build a schema for the resources they’ll encounter in the Coming of Age collection by exploring what it means to “come of age” in the world today.
Expressing Diversity in Jewish Identity: Blending In and Standing Out
This two-day lesson uses the story of Purim as a frame to examine how Jews have preserved and protected their identities and culture in dominant societies by choosing when to blend in and when to stand out.
Exploring Identity and Belonging through Poetry
Students prepare a choral reading of a poem about the costs and benefits of fitting in versus standing out in order to introduce the unit’s central topic of belonging.
Identifying and Affirming Core Values
This values-affirmation exercise helps students identify their core values and reflect on how these values impact their sense of belonging.
Fitting In Versus Belonging
Students examine the difference between belonging and fitting in and the ways in which we may sacrifice our values in order to seek acceptance from others.
Group Membership and Belonging
Students examine the human need to belong and how it impacts the behaviors and decisions people make when seeking group membership.
The Dangers of Being an Outsider
Students analyze a clip of poet Ada Limón on The Slowdown podcast and a poem by Hazem Fahmy to consider what’s at stake when someone is perceived as an outsider.
Navigating Social Hierarchies
Students analyze a short story by Misa Sugiura to consider the invisible barriers that divide “in” and “out” groups and how our efforts to seek belonging can conflict with our values.
Negotiating Belonging in Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime
Students analyze a chapter from Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime to consider how cultural, linguistic, and racial borders influence one’s sense of belonging.