Bible icon Business icon Communication icon Education icon Languages icon Fine arts icon History icon International studies icon Nursing icon Social sciences icon Biology & environmental science icon Chemistry icon Criminal justice icon Engineering icon Exercise science icon Forensics icon Bachelor's to master's icon Math & computer science icon Professional preparation icon Undergraduate minors icon Email icon Facebook icon Twitter icon LinkedIn icon Apple icon Calendar icon Diploma icon Piggy bank icon Students icon

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
Unit-poster.jpg

The Grand Canyon: How Did Something So Massive Come About?

Bobby, Maura
  • Unit
  • 3-5
  • English/Language Arts, Geography, Science and Technology
  • Pennsylvania State
  • Climate, Habitat, Landform, Map, National Park, Research, Tourism
Primary Source Set Picture

The Great Awakening and the American Revolution

Johnson, Betty
  • Primary Source Set
  • Any Grade
  • History
  • Awakening, Church, City, Colony, Missionary , New York, Protestant, Reform, Religion
Primary Source Set Picture

The Impact of the Automobile on the Environment

Eyer, Patricia
  • Primary Source Set
  • Any Grade
  • History
  • Auto, Automobile, Car, Environment, Polution, Transportation, Travel
Primary Source Set Picture

The Johnstown Flood

Kline, Stevie ; Mason, Joyce
  • Primary Source Set
  • Any Grade
  • History
  • Catastrophe, Dam, Disaster, Flood, Great Flood, Johnstown, Reservoir, River, South Fork, Tragedy
PDPlans-primerofteachertraining-BLUE-light.jpg

The Music of World War I

Walker, Ann
  • PD Plan
  • 6-8, 9-12
  • Arts and Music, History
  • AASL, ISTE
  • American, Change, Lyrics, Music, Over There, Purpose, Song, World War I, WWI
PDPlans-primerofteachertraining-BLUE-light.jpg

The New Deal and Its Legacies in West Virginia

James, Elizabeth
  • PD Plan
  • 9-12, Higher Ed
  • Civics and Government, History
  • ISTE
  • Federal Programs, Stereotypes, The New Deal, West Virginia
Activities--SnakeGame.jpg

The Power of the Poster

University of the Arts
  • External link
  • Activity
  • Any Grade
  • Arts and Music, History
  • Common Core
  • Career, Culture, Health, Imagery, WPA
Primary Source Set Picture

The Role of Political Cartoons in Challenging Propaganda and Highlighting Controversial Issues

Domingues-Murphy, Debbie
  • Primary Source Set
  • Any Grade
  • History
  • Cartoon, Controversy, Political, Politics, Propoganda
Primary Source Set Picture

The Titanic

Ferrier, Cassandra
  • Primary Source Set
  • Any Grade
  • History
  • 1800s, Catastrophy, Economic Status, Iceberg, Shipwreck, Wealth
PDPlans-primerofteachertraining-BLUE-light.jpg

Think Aloud with Photographs, Cartoons and Literary Texts

Waff, Diane
  • PD Plan
  • 6-8
  • English/Language Arts, History
  • ISTE
  • Dust Bowl, Grapes of Wrath, Great Depression, Photographs, Political Cartoons, Think-aloud
Curriculum map

Thinkport Social Studies Inquiry

Maryland Humanities
  • External link
  • Curriculum
  • 6-8
  • History
  • Inquiry Kit, Social Studies
Activities--SnakeGame.jpg

This Day in History: Idea Book for Educators

A&E, HISTORY, et al
  • Activity
  • Any Grade
  • Cultural Studies, Economics, History
  • Addiction, Biography, Health, Intervention, Monument
Book Backdrop Default Image

This Is The Feast

Chojnicki, Karyn
  • Activity
  • Pre K-2
  • English/Language Arts, History
  • Common Core
  • Colonists, Europe, Feast, History, Indians, Mayflower, Native Americans, Pilgrims, Thanksgiving
Activities--SnakeGame.jpg

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
BookBackdropImage--WizardofOz.jpg

Three Golden Rivers

Ashburn, Ellen
  • Activity
  • 6-8
  • Geography, History
  • Carnegie, Compare, Contrast, Local History, Pittsburgh, River, Transportation
LessonPlan--ABCs.jpg

Titanic - A Mathematical Voyage

Keruskin, Kelly
  • Lesson Plan
  • 3-5
  • English/Language Arts, History, Math
  • Common Core
  • Communication, Newspaper, Technology, Titanic
Book Backdrop Default Image

To Kill A Mockingbird

TPS
  • Activity
  • 9-12
  • English/Language Arts, History
  • Common Core
  • Civil Rights, Equality, Gender, Liberties, Mockingbird, Prejudice, Race
PDPlans-primerofteachertraining-BLUE-light.jpg

TPS Professional Development

Silva, Darshell
  • PD Plan
  • 3-5
  • History
  • Common Core
  • Analysis, Conservation, Muir, Natural Resources, Roosevelt
Book Backdrop Default Image

Train to Somewhere

Lubich, Deborah
  • Activity
  • 6-8
  • English/Language Arts, History
  • 19th Century, Migration, Orphan, Railroad, Trains, Transportation
Book Backdrop Default Image

Train to Somewhere

Blankley, Wendy
  • Activity
  • 3-5
  • English/Language Arts, History
  • Common Core
  • Children, New York, Orphan Train, Poverty, Transportation
LessonPlan--ABCs.jpg

Travelogue: Back to the Future

Nestor
  • Lesson Plan
  • 9-12
  • Bilingual/ESL, Economics, History
  • Common Core
  • Questions, Technology, Transportation, Travelogue, World Trade Commission
Unit-poster.jpg

True Story of Jamestown

Benson, Danielle; Burt, Carly; Salazar, Bonka
  • Unit
  • 9-12
  • Geography, History
  • Common Core, PA State
  • Colony, Europeans, Jamestown, Virginia
Unit-poster.jpg

Twenties Style

Dean, Asha; Thornton, Amy
  • Unit
  • 6-8
  • Cultural Studies, History
  • PA State
  • Charleston, Clothing, Culture, Dance, Fashion, Flapper, Roaring Twenties, Style
Book Backdrop Default Image

Twenty-One Elephants

Petri, Gail
  • Activity
  • 6-8
  • English/Language Arts, History
  • Common Core
  • Barnum, Brooklyn Bridge, Circus, Elephants, Jumbo

Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program
does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.

Citations for TPS Eastern Region Publications