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

Found Poetry

Pohodich, Amy

Lesson Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core, PA State
American History, Poetry, Primary Sources

First Thanksgiving

Brockman, Jen; Fox, Katie; Fox, Missy

Unit
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
PA State
America, Mayflower, Native, Pilgrim, Thanksgiving

First Thanksgiving

Faust, Brittany; Shultz, Chelsey

Unit
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, Geography, History
PA State
Colony, Indian, Mayflower, Native American, Pilgrim, Thanksgiving

Finding Daddy: A Story of the Great Depression

Haines, Mary Ann

Activity
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Daddy, Dust Bowl, Farm, Great Depression, Migrant

Facts in Fiction: Using Library of Congress Primary Sources to Enhance Book Discussions

Buckley, Linda

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts
ISTE
Book , Discussion, Fact, Fiction

Exploring the World With Maps

Guthrie, Kim

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core, ISTE, SC State
Analysis, Europe, Exploration, Exploring, Geography, Inquiry, Maps, New World, North America, World

Exploring the African American Civil Rights Movement in America Through Primary Sources

Hunter, Samantha

PD Plan
6-8
African American, Civil Rights Movement, NAACP, Print

Exploring Maps of Africa in Study of Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Youngs, Charles

Lesson Plan
9-12
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Africa, Colonial Period, Conrad, European Imperialism, Geography, Heart of Darkness, Maps, Scramble for Africa

Experience of African Americans

Areford, Alyssa; Post, Jaimee; Uram, Paige

Unit
3-5
Civics and Government, English/Language Arts, History
Common Core, PA State
Civil Rights, Feelings, March, Perspective, Segregation

Esperanza Rising: Using Literature as a Backdrop for Inquiry Based Learning in Social Studies

Anderson, Tasha

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Learning Forward
Class Divisions, Esperanza Rising, Farmers, Human Rights, Migrant Workers, Prejudice

Esperanza Rising

Franchino, Cathi

Activity
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Class Divisions, Esperanza Rising, Farmers, Human Rights, Migrant Workers, Prejudice

Erie Last Summer of Peace 1941

Henning, Greg

PD Plan
9-12
History
21st Century Learner
Erie, Farm Security Administration, Franklin Roosevelt, General Electric, Peace, Summer, World War II

Episodes of Misinformation, Sensationalism and Fake News in History - Yellow Journalism

Feldman, Michael

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner
Fake News, Literacy, Misinformation, News, Sensationalism, Yellow Journalism

Enhancing Historical Thinking Strategies Using Primary Sources

Carter, Julie

PD Plan
6-8
Arts and Music, English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner
Analyze, Contextualize, Historical, Jim Crow, Primary Sources, Reconstruction, Segregation, Soldier, South, Thinking, Troop

Engaging Young Learners Using Inquiry Based Learning and Primary Sources

Beazell, Makalah

PD Plan
3-5
Arts and Music, Bilingual/ESL, English/Language Arts
ISTE
Analysis, Inquiry, Primary Sources, US Mail

Engaging Students With Primary Sources

Darland, Ashley

PD Plan
6-8
History
21st Century Learner
Primary Sources, South Carolina Historical Society

Emancipation: Effects on Individuals

Smith, Jennifer; Thornton, Amy

Lesson Plan
6-8
History
MD State
Civil War, Emancipation, Emancipation Procolamation, Individuals, Lincoln, Reconstruction, Slavery

Ellis Island Christmas

Mohler, Rebecca

Activity
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Christmas, Diversity, Ellis Island, Immigrant, Immigrate, New York, Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island - Who Came and How did the Think/Feel?

Mohler, Rebecca

Lesson Plan
Pre K-2
Cultural Studies, English/Language Arts, History
PA State
Ellis Island, Experience, Immigrant, Immigration, Pull Factors, Push Factors, Statue of Liberty

Effects of Human Interaction on the Environment

Thistle, Gay

Lesson Plan
9-12
Geography, History, Science and Technology
PA State
Chronology, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Human Interaction

Easy, Peasy Lesson Plans and Your School Library

Weisser, Shawn

PD Plan
3-5
Arts and Music, English/Language Arts, History
Common Core, 21st Century Learner
Book, Library, Literacy, Past, Present, Primary Source, Words

Early America - Thirteen Colonies

Hubsch, Steve

Unit
6-8
History
PA State
Age of Exploration, Chesapeake Bay, Colonies, Colonization, Europeans, Middle, New England, New World, Southern

Dust Bowl: What Do You See and What Do You Hear?

Creamer, Deborah

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner
Audio, Drought, Dust Bowl, Farmer, Great Depression, Migrant, Music, Recording, Roosevelt, Song

Discovering Primary Sources

Klein, Miriam

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Advanced, Civil War, Gettysburg Address, Google, Inquiry, Lincoln, Primary Source

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