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

Investigating Slavery

Dillow, Zachary

Lesson Plan
6-8
History
PA State
Plantation, Slave Trade, Slavery

Inventions Throughout History

Kumer, Laken; Wagner, Emily; Wyllie, Jordan

Unit
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, History, Science and Technology
PA State
Airplane, Automobile, Brothers, Inventions, Telephone, Wright

Inventions and Transportation

Joll, Eileen

Lesson Plan
6-8
History, Science and Technology
Next Generation Science
Invention, Knowledge, Resources, Science, Technology, Transportation

Introduction to Westward Expansion

Joshua Olive

Unit
6-8
History
PA State
Battle, Expedition, Jackson, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Louisiana Purchase, Madison, Manifest Destiny, Monroe, National Bank, National Treasury, New Orleans, Panic of 1837, Van Buren, War of 1812

Introduction to Primary Sources

Domingues-Murphy, Deborah

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner, Common Core
American Progress, Chicago, Inquiry, Stripling, Zapata

Introduction to Primary and Secondary Sources

Queen, Jedda

PD Plan
3-5
Arts and Music, English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner
Inquiry, Primary , Secondary, Source

Introducing Primary Source Resources - A Scavenger Hunt

Pokalo, Kathryn

PD Plan
9-12
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Birthdate, Hometown, Inquiry, Primary Source, Scavenger

Intro to Primary Sources and the LOC Analysis Tool

Brawley, Anna

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Analysis, Inquiry, Primary Sources

How is doing history different than knowing history?

Manfra, Meghan

PD Plan
9-12, Higher Ed
Civics and Government, History
21st Century Learner, ISTE, Learning Forward
Analyze, Change, Conceptual Skills, Corroborate, Discipline, Evidence, Historical Thinking, History, Interdisciplinary, Metacognition, Photography, Skill, Time

Instructional Change Through Inquiry and Primary Source Content

Kramer, Mariah

PD Plan
Higher Ed, Any Grade
Civics and Government, English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner
Girl Scouts, Google, Inquiry, QR Code, Stripling

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Haddix, Michelle

PD Plan
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Inquire, Inquiry, Minds, Primary Sources

Industrial Revolution - Child Labor Conditions

Sammler, B.

Lesson Plan
6-8
History
NCSS
Breaker Boyes, Child Labor , Employment, Industrial Revolution, Work

Incorporating Inquiry Into Instruction: Topic - Slavery in Georgia

Oatts, Ashleigh

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner, ISTE
Abolition, Civil War, Freedom, Georgia, Inquiry, Plantation, Primary Source, Slavery

Immigration: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Davis, T.R.

Lesson Plan
6-8
Cultural Studies, History
Common Core
Ellis Island, Emigrate, Immigration, Inquiry, Pull Factors, Push Factors

Immigration: Past and Present

Kerr, Amy

PD Plan
9-12
History
Common Core
Ellis Island, Europe, Immigrant, Immigration, Inquiry, Pull Factors, Push Factors, Statue of Liberty

Immigration to the United States

Neumann, Kathleen

PD Plan
6-8
History
Common Core
Ellis Island, Europe, Immigrant, Immigration, Pull Factors, Push Factors, Stature of Liberty

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

Thomas Jefferson's Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence

TPS

Activity
9-12
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core, NCSS
1776, Adams, Declaration of Independence, Draft, England, Franklin, Jefferson, Philadelphia, Revolution, Revolutionary War

Maps Tell Stories: The American Revolution

LeBlanc, Michelle

PD Plan
6-8
Geography, History
21st Century Learner
American Revolution, Boston, Colonist, England, Geography, Maps, Washington

I Am An American: Learning About Primary Sources Through the Lens of Immigration

Taylor, Courtenay

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner, VA State
American, Angel Island, Ellis Island, Immigrant, Immigration, Lens, Primary Source, Statue of Liberty

Human Migrations (Push and Pull Factors)

Crawford, Elizabeth

Lesson Plan
3-5
Cultural Studies, History
NC State
Immigration, Primary Sources, Push Factors, Pull Factors, Human Migration

How Well Do Our Parties Represent Us?

Solomon, Paige

Lesson Plan
9-12
Civics and Government, History
VA State
C3, Democrat, IDM, Inquiry, Political Parties, Republican, Third Party

How Welcoming Have We Been to Immigrants?

Davison, Meghan; Rooker, Sarah

Lesson Plan
6-8
Cultural Studies, History
NY State
Claim, Culture, Evidence, Immigration, Inquiry, Nativism

How to Teach with Primary Sources in the Elementary Grades

Knight, Bailey

PD Plan
3-5
English/Language Arts, History, Science and Technology
ISTE
Elementary, Primary Source, Inquiry, Historical Context, South Carolina

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