Click here for new Summer PL opportunities!

JCPS Social Studies

Living Democracy

United States History

1877 to Present

Welcome to High School United States History!

Start Here... Video Tutorials!

Instructions: Our tutorial videos provide a "big picture" overview of the Living Democracy Curriculum. For new teachers, this is a great place to start. For veteran teachers, this is a good reminder.

1. What is inquiry based learning?

2. How do I deconstruct and bundle standards?

3. How are inquiry units structured?

4. How are inquiry lessons structured?

High School United States History: Teacher Resources

Curriculum Framework

A curriculum framework is a snapshot of the year aligned to priority standards. It serves as an outward facing guidebook for teachers, parents, and students to check to know what is coming in the course.

Yearly Planning Tool

A yearly planning tool is used to map out the year with units and inquiry lessons. It serves as a place to account for every school day's instruction.

Yearly Planning Tool with Grade-Level Examples [Google Sheets] or [Docs]
Pacing Calendar Template & Living Civics Pacing Example

JCPS Disclaimer & Best Practices

High School Standards At a Glance

9-11th Language of the Standards

Standards Deconstruction and Bundling Tool

Walk-Through Tool

High School United States History: Living Democracy CUrriculum

Living Democracy Curriculum

A curriculum is a comprehensive academic content that progresses through a series of learning goals connected to grade-level standards.

Instructions: Teachers and students choose one or more compelling questions for each unit to create the yearly plan. Note: The curriculum resources may be modified by teachers.

Unit 0: Building Democratic Classrooms

Building Democratic Classrooms

Unit 1: The Gilded Age (1877-1910)

Teacher Ready (w/Slides)

CQ: Why did Reconstruction fail to create more equality for Black Americans?

Teacher Ready

CQ: How did racism shape attitudes and policies toward immigration near the turn of the century?

Future Inquiry

CQ: Can you force peace?

Teacher Ready

CQ: Is greed good? (C3 Teachers)

Unit 2: The Progressive Era (1890-1920)

Teacher Ready (w/ Slides)

CQ: How did people respond to the problems resulting from rapid urbanization around the turn of the century?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did African Americans demonstrate agency in the face of white supremacy?

Teacher Ready (w/Slides)

CQ: How did women gain voting rights?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did big business lead to progress and decline in America?

Unit 3: American Expansion (1890-1920)

Teacher Ready (w/Slides)

CQ: How did the US become a ‘World Power’?

Teacher Ready

CQ: How should we remember Emilio Aguinaldo? (C3 Teachers)

Teacher Ready (w/Slides)

CQ: How does perspective shape the significance of The Great War?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How was the Great War a turning point in history?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What were the causes and effects of American Expansion?

Teacher Ready

CQ: Was American Expansion Abroad Justified? (C3 Teachers)

Unit 4: America in the early 20th Century (1900-1929)

Teacher Ready (w/Slides)

CQ: How did the Great Migration demonstrate Black agency?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How are racism and violence interrelated?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How has the 1st Amendment been challenged?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What is the significance of Black emotionality in the 1920s?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did discrimination challenge American principles?

Future Inquiry

CQ: Why is understanding division important in United States history?

Unit 5: The Great Depression (1929-1939)

Teacher Ready (w/Slides)

CQ: How was the Great Depression a turning point?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did the Great Depression impact people over time?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What were the effects of the New Deal?

Teacher Ready

CQ: “Was the Dust Bowl a Perfect Storm?” (C3 Teachers)

Unit 6: World War II (1939-1945)

Teacher Ready

CQ: How much did America change and stay the same during World War II?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What perspectives shape the homefront?

Teacher Ready

CQ: Is total war justified? (C3 Teachers)

Future Inquiry

CQ: How should World War II be remembered?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What are the effects of World War II?

Teacher Ready

CQ: Who’s to Blame for the Cold War? (C3 Teachers)

Teacher Ready

CQ: Why Was the Korean War “Forgotten”? (C3 Teachers)

Unit 7: Civil Rights (1945-1975)

Teacher Ready

CQ: Is it ever too late for justice? (C3 Teachers)

Teacher Ready

CQ: How did the Civil Rights Movement represent Black agency, resistance, and perseverance?

Teacher Ready

CQ: What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective during the Civil Rights Movement? (C3 Teachers)

Teacher Ready

CQ: What is good trouble? (C3 Teachers)

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did Black Identities shape a movement?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did governmental policies change and stay the same over time during the Civil Rights era?

CQ: What makes civil rights similar and different?

(Future Inquiry)

Teacher Ready

CQ: What Gets Black Women Heard? (C3 Teachers)

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did gender equality progress and decline?

Future Inquiry

CQ: Why was the Stonewall Riot historically significant?

Unit 8: The Cold War (1960-1980)

Teacher Ready

CQ: What ideologies shaped the United States during the Cold War?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How was the Cuban Missile Crisis historically significant?

Future Inquiry

CQ: Why do wars begin?

Teacher Ready

CQ: Is protest patriotic? (C3 Teachers)

Future Inquiry

CQ: How does a war lose the support of its people?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How great was the Great Society?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What affects the credibility of a nation?

Teacher Ready

CQ: Can Music Cause Cultural Change? (C3 Teachers)

Unit 9: The Eighties & the Nineties (1980-1999)

Teacher Ready

CQ: What are the effects of economic policies?

Future Inquiry

CQ: Case Study: How should we remember the AIDS epidemic?

Future Inquiry

CQ: How did differing perspectives clash in the United States?

Unit 10: America and the 21st Century (2000-Present)

Future Inquiry

CQ: What makes something true?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What principles should influence America on human rights?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What were the causes and effects of America’s War on Terror?

Teacher Ready

CQ: What story does America’s economy tell?

Future Inquiry

CQ: What is America’s responsibility toward the environment?

Teacher Ready

CQ: What Makes a Movement Successful? (C3 Teachers)

Teacher Ready

CQ: Who is responsible to the land? (C3 Teachers)

Page updated

Report abuse