Ideas, Activities, and Plans

Lesson Plans, Units, PD Plans, Activities, and Book Backdrops to engage and empower your students.
This vetted searchable database of teacher-created resources is your source of inspiration for primary source driven teaching across the curriculum. Find just the right resource and then let us know how you used it:
Classroom Implementation Report
PD Activity Report

TPS Files

On Our Way to the American Revolution

Kemp, Cassandra

Unit
3-5
English/Language Arts, Geography, History
PA State
American , Boston , Braddock, Colonist, Concord, Continental, Declaration, Duquesne, Fort, French and Indian War, Independence, Lexington, Massacre, Native, Necessity, Pitt, Proclamation Line of 1763, Quartering Act, Revere, Revolution, Stamp Act, Tea Party, Townshend Acts, Treaty of Paris, Washington

Only Passing Through The Story of Sojourner Truth

Resser, Megan

Book Backdrop
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Abolitionist, Auction, Emancipation, Plantation, Slavery, Sojourner Truth

Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth

Resser, Megan

Activity
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Abolitionist, Auction, Emancipation, Plantation, Slavery, Sojourner Truth

Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth

Thistle, Gay

Activity
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Abolitionist, Auction, Emancipation, Plantation, Slavery, Sojourner Truth

Origin of Video

Laramie, Tina

Lesson Plan
9-12
Cultural Studies, History, Science and Technology
Common Core, NY State
Broadcasting, Edison, Film, Industry, Journalism, Storyboard, Technology, Video

Orphan Train Immigration During the Late 1800s

Blankley, Wendy

Lesson Plan
3-5
History
NCSS
Illinois, Immigration, Maps, New York, Orphan, Train

Orphaned on the Oregon Trail

Weber, April

Activity
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Indians, Literature, Louisiana Purchase, Native Americans, Oregon, Trail, Westward Expansion

Out of the Dust

Goodman, Jeanne

Activity
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Bank Failures, Dust Bowl, Farmer, FERA, Great Depression, Migration, Okies

Out of the Dust

Morrison, Caitriona

Activity
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, Debt, Dust, Farmer, FDR, Great Depression, Migrant, New Deal, Relief, Roosevelt

Out of the Dust and Life in the Dust Bowl - Analyzing Primary Sources

Smith, Stephanie

Lesson Plan
6-8
Geography, History
PA State
Dust Bowl, Farmer, Great Depression, Migration, Okies

Out with HIV/AIDS

History UnErased

Unit
9-12
Civics and Government, Cultural Studies, History
AIDS, Constitution, Disease, HIV, LGBTQ, Policy

Overview of American Expansion Westward

Schaefer, Kameron

Unit
9-12
Geography, History
PA State
Alamo, France, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Louisiana Purchase, Napoleon, Northwest, Ordinance, Oregon Trail, Texas Annexation, United States, Westward Expansion

Past and Present: Homes Then and Now

Haugen, Alicia

Unit
Pre K-2
Geography, History, Science and Technology
WV State
Chronology, Community, Family, Local History, Model, Past and Present, Timeline, Unit

Picnic in October

Goldsmith, Jill

Activity
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Ellis Island, Immigration, Migrate, October, Picnic, Statue of Liberty

Picnic in October

McCready, Cheryl

Activity
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Ellis Island, Immigration, Migrate, October, Picnic, Statue of Liberty

Pictures Worth Reading

University of the Arts

External link
Activity
Any Grade
Arts and Music
Common Core
Gender, Melting Pot, Neighborhood, Perspective, Rural, Urban

Pittsburgh Analyzing Change Over Time

Thistle, Gay

Lesson Plan
3-5
History, Science and Technology
PA State
Change, Dragon Tour, Pittsburgh

Placing Primary Sources: Using Story Maps to Connect Space, Place, and Time Webinar

Bunin, Chris; Hribar, Georgeanne; TPS Eastern Region; Webinar

External link
Activity
Any Grade
Geography, History
Maps, Space, Time, Webinar

Point of View in Statues of Lincoln: Three Looks at a Leader

TPS

Activity
9-12
Civics and Government, Cultural Studies, History
Common Core, NCSS
Artist, Civil War, Lincoln, Lincoln Memorial, Lincoln Park, Monument, National Mall, Sculpture, Statues, Tribute

Political and Economic Motives of the Civil War

Nordstrom, Mitch

Unit
6-8
Civics and Government, Economics, Geography
PA State
Battle of Fort Sumter, Bell, Civil War, Confederacy, Douglas, Jefferson Davis, Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses Grant

Political Cartoons as Representations of the United States Political Party System

Bakhtiari, Rosemary

Activity
9-12
Civics and Government, Cultural Studies, History
VA State
Election, Government, Political Cartoons, Political Parties, United States

Presidential Elections of 1916 to 2016 Has Media Coverage Changed

Stephenson, Taylor

PD Plan
9-12
Civics and Government, History
21st Century Learner, Common Core
Coverage, Election, Media, Political Cartoons, President, Voting

Presidential Personalities and Campaign Issues Past, Present, and Future: Who will win my vote?

Canning, Ann

Primary Source Set
Any Grade
Civics and Government, History
American History, Campaign, Presidential Personalities, Voting

Primary Source Evidence of Japanese American Internment During WWII

Newell, Laurian

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner, ISTE Standards
Japanese, Internment, Korematsu, United States, World War II, Espionage, Executive Order, Franklin Roosevelt, Homefront, Inquiry

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Citations for TPS Eastern Region Publications