Enduring Understandings - important ideas that students should carry with them years beyond the instruction received this year.

• Cause and effect relationships explain connections among people and events.
• Societies are diverse and change over time.
• Human migration impacts cultural development of societies.
• Political power has been used throughout history.
• Religious and philosophical ideas have been powerful forces.
• Physical and human characteristics define regions.

Essential Questions - most important “big picture” questions students should be able to answer after completing learning activities.

• What are the significant events of the Civil Rights movement?
• How can events from the Civil Rights era be viewed from multiple perspectives?
• How were minority cultures integrated into U.S. society? What actions occurred to facilitate change within society?

Standards and Benchmarks
Standard  H2: Students know how to use the proce

sses and resources of historical inquiry.
Benchmark A: Students know how to formulate questions and hypotheses regarding what happened in the past and how to obtain and analyze historical data to answer questions and test hypotheses.
Benchmark B: Students know how to interpret and evaluate primary and secondary sources of historical information.
Benchmark C: Students apply knowledge of the past to analyze present day issues and events from multiple, historically objective perspectives.
Standard H3: Students understand that societies are diverse and change over time.
Benchmark A: Students know how various societies were affected by contracts and exchanges among diverse peoples.
Benchmark B: Students understand the history of social organization in various societies. 
Benchmark C: Students know how political power has been acquired, maintained, used, and/or lost throughout history.
Benchmark D: Students know the history of relationships among different political powers and the development of international relations.
Standard H6: Students know that religious and philosophical ideas have been powerful forces throughout history.
Benchmark B: Students know how societies have been affected by religions and philosophies.
Benchmark C: Students know how various forms of expression reflect religious beliefs and philosophical ideas.
Standard G4: Students understand the economic, political, cultural, and social processes interact to shape patterns of human populations, interdependence, cooperation and conflict.

D-11 Social Studies Indicators 
History
Historical Inquiry: Utilizing multiple perspectives, analyze and question historical data from primary and secondary sources during major historical eras.
Diverse and Changing Societies: Evaluate the impact of interactions and contributions of diverse peoples and cultures on past and current societies.
Political Institutions and Theories: Analyze how political power has been acquired, maintained, used and/or lost among various cultures throughout history.
Religious and Philosophical Ideas: Determine how societies have been affected by religious and philosophical ideas.

District 11 Diamond Units/Lessons Overview - includes information about the purpose, goals and structure of these sample instructional units:

The Civil Rights Documentation Project demonstrates that Congress is capable of converting big ideas into powerful law, that citizen engagement is essential to that process, and that public policies produced forty years ago continue to influence our lives today. The project includes interactive Web-based presentation with links to more than 100 digitized primary source and historical documents and other civil rights laws created by museums, historical societies and government agencies.
 

Parent Resources

As your high school student explores the content in this class, it will open up opportunities to share and discuss your political beliefs, opinions, and personal experiences. Student  will be guided to a deeper understanding of history by identifying the underlying philosophies and beliefs that led to historic events. Notice the Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions listed for each unit. They provide opportunities for discussion with your young adult.