Book Backdrops are teacher-curated primary source sets linked to books and accompanied by teaching ideas and/or teaching notes. They are continually added to the TPS Teachers Network using the album tool. A sampling of some great ones are listed below. All of the ones included here are accessible by anyone. But if you want to…
Primary sources are the perfect avenue to help explore and investigate the events of January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol as well as those that preceded it and those that followed it. Below we have compiled numerous resources to assist in deepening understanding of our past and present in the hopes that we can…
This unit plan and teaching guide was developed by Dr. John Bickford, Professor of Social Studies/History Education at Eastern Illinois University and Editor-in-Chief of The Councilor: A Journal of the Social Studies, in collaboration with Citizen U. It presents a lesson plan with teaching notes targeted to early and upper elementary students. TEACHER BACKGROUND Children—and…
This primary source set is targeted to elementary students and includes background information and thinking prompts. It was curated mainly by Dr. John Bickford, Professor of Social Studies/History Education at Eastern Illinois University and Editor-in-Chief of The Councilor: A Journal of the Social Studies, with the goal of helping students separate Thanksgiving myths from history. This…
Every year the United States celebrates Constitution Day on September 17. How much do you know about U.S. constitutional rights? Did you know that those rights are different in the context of public schools? School officials have significant leeway when instituting and enforcing rules to maintain a safe environment conducive to learning but, over the…
Citizen U lessons integrating science, technology and civics More lesson plans Primary source sets with teacher guides Guided primary source analysis activities Collection connections Teaching ideas & strategies Science & technology blog posts from Teaching with the Library More Library blog posts
The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, or the Attack on Greenwood, was, and remains, one of the bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence in U.S. history. The incident began with the arrest of a young black man on May 31, was incited by an inflammatory report in the May 31 edition of the Tulsa Tribune, and ended…
Primary Source Sets with Teacher Guides Guided Primary Source Analyses Inquiry Starter Sets Lesson Plans Collection Connections Welcome to Congress KidCitizen interactive episode for early elementary Primary Source Spotlight: Asian American Pacific Islanders History & Heritage
Analyzing Primary Sources: Learning from Video Recordings Teaching with the Library blog posts Adding Sound to the Silence: Students Build on Silent Films March 16, 2023 All-American News: Newsreels for African American Audiences February 7, 2019 Explore Library of Congress Professional Development Videos April 11, 2017 Exploring America’s Cinematic Heritage through the National Film Registry…
Overview By pairing primary sources with poetry, students consider the proverb, “Good fences make good neighbors” in the context of their own lives as well as in a local, national or global context. Lesson Steps Display the primary source image and analyze it together as a class using the Library of Congress Primary Source Analysis…
First draft vs final drafts This is a guest post from Alyssa Park, a fourth-grade teacher at Scarselli Elementary School in Nevada. Nevada map QFT lesson plan Alyssa’s Twitter thread showing student work from this lesson Related resources
The April 5, 2021 #sschat—a moderated Twitter chat using the #sschat hashtag—was chock full of innovative ideas to teach social studies skills from educators across the country. Here is how the group defines itself on the #sschat website. #sschat is more than a hashtag, it’s an open group of dedicated network of educators and enthusiasts…