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

Rosa's Bus

Bucks, Robert

Activity
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Civil Disobedience, Civil Rights, Equality, Jim Crow Laws, Martin Luther King, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks, Segregation

Rose's Journal

Beckstrom, Kim

Activity
3-5
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Child Labor, Children, Great Depression, Journal, Labor, Mill, Rose

Rudy Rides The Rails A Depression Era Story

Scumaci, Mary Beth

Activity
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Children, Dreams, Family, Great Depression, Migrant, Migrate, Riding the Rails, Rudy, Survival

Scavenger Hunt Activity

TPS

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Resource Manual, Inquiry, Poster, Analyze, Scavenger Hunt

Scavenging For Information

Daquila, Michael

PD Plan
6-8
Arts and Music, English/Language Arts, History
ISTE Standards
Direct Learning, Johnstown, North America, Scavenger, Scavenging, Washington D.C.

Scene Investigation: The New Boy, January 1, 1905

TPS

Activity
9-12
History
Common Core, NCSS
Magazine, Nankivell, New Year, PSSA, Puck

Scene Investigation: A Slave Auction at the South

TPS

Activity
9-12
History
NCSS, Common Core
Auction, Civil War, Davis, Drawing, Harper's Weekly, New York, PSSA, Slavery

Scene Investigation: The New Boy, January 1, 1905

Wilson, Zachary

Lesson Plan
9-12
History
NCSS
Civil War, Culture, Economy, Election, Geography, Lincoln, North, Political Cartoon, Slavery, South, States Rights

Science Primary Source Lessons - New Focus

Governors State University

External link
Curriculum
Any Grade
History, Science and Technology
Lessons, Primary Source, Science

Scott's Great Snake and Beyond

TPS

Activity
9-12
History
NCSS
Abolition, Civil War, Freedom, Lincoln, Point of View, PSSA, Scott, Slavery

Secret Signs: Along the Underground Railroad

Simatic, Sandy

Activity
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Abolition, Civil War, Harriet Tubman, Quilts, Signs, Slavery, Underground Railroad

See, Think, and Wonder: Engaging Young Children in Primary Source Inquiry with the KidCitizen Interactive Webinar

Berson, Ilene; Berson, Michael; Snow, Bert; TPS Eastern Region

External link
Activity
Any Grade
Civics and Government, History
Civic engagement, Congress, KidCitizen, Webinar

Segregation and Education

Mitchell, Lakisha

Lesson Plan
6-8
Civics and Government, English/Language Arts, History
MD State
Civil Disobedience, Civil Rights, Integration, School, Segregation

Setting the Stage: Using Visual Literacy and Primary Sources as a Backdrop for Literature

Sabra, Jodi

PD Plan
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
21st Century Learner
African American, Context, Inquiry, Literacy, Segregation, Sharecropper, South, Stripling, Visual

She's Wearing a Dead Bird on her Head

Thistle, Gay

Activity
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Audobon, Bird, Enviornment, Fashion, Migratory, Women's Suffrage

Shh! We're Writing the Constitution

TPS

Activity
3-5
English/Language Arts
Common Core
Constitution, Federalist, Franklin, Government, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Philadelphia, Washington

Shine Man: A Christmas Story

Rooker, Sarah

Activity
6-8
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Boxcar, Breadline, Christmas, Great Depression, Hobo, Hooverville, Poverty, Travel

Silver at Night

Thistle, Gay

Activity
Pre K-2
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Children, Coal, Ellis Island, Immigrants, Night, Pennsylvania, Silver

Sinking of the Lusitania: Is There a Justifiable Reason to Go to War?

Deal, Larry

Lesson Plan
9-12
History
Common Core, NCSS
Archduke, Assassination, Justify, Lusitania, U-Boats, War, World War I, WWI

Slave Resistance

Oigarga, James

Lesson Plan
6-8
History
Common Core
Abolitionist, Freedom, Underground Railroad, Resistance, Slavery

Soldier's Heart

Mason, Joyce

Activity
9-12
English/Language Arts, History
Common Core
Bull Run, Civil War, Conflict, Conscience, Gettysburg, Heart, Soldier, Union, Volunteer

Starved Rock as an important landmark in Illinois

May, George

Primary Source Set
Any Grade
History
Colonial, French, La Salle, Illinois, Indian, Landmark, Legend, Native, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Tribe

Statue of Liberty

Kienholz, Shakila; Watt, Brianna; Watts, Renee

Unit
Pre K-2
Cultural Studies, English/Language Arts, History
Common Core, PA State
Ellis Island, France, Freedom, Immigrant, Immigration, Statue of Liberty, Symbol

STEMtastic Resources for Inquiry

Taylor, Kellie

PD Plan
3-5
Math, Science and Technology
21st Century Learner
Claim, Evidence, Inquiry, STEM

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Citations for TPS Eastern Region Publications