TPS Journal
Strategies and resources for K-12 classrooms from the Library of Congress
Between 2008 and 2016, TPS Consortium members contributed their knowledge to 15 issues of the TPS Journal – a publication dedicated to support the use of Library of Congress digitized primary sources to teach a number of topics in the K-12 curriculum.
Each TPS Journal issue comes with sample elementary and secondary lesson plans as well as articles, research reports, Web sites, and white papers under a research and current thinking page. In addition, each highlights a teacher who uses primary sources in a way that relates to the theme of the issue.
The TPS Journal has been on hiatus since 2016, when the Library began a competitive, nationwide search for educational organizations to become members of the 2017-2019 TPS Consortium. Going forward, you can expect to see primary source-based suggestions, tips, reflections, and findings about a number of topics from some of the most engaged educational thinkers and practitioners in the country.
Past TPS Journal and Quarterly Issues
Accessibility
- TPS Quarterly — Accessibility: Vol. 2, No. 4, Fall 2009 PDF 564 KB
- Elementary Activity — Listen and Wonder (PDF, 157 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Picturing American Industrialization (PDF, 2.1 MB)
Assessing Historical Thinking Skills Using Library of Congress Primary Sources
- TPS Journal — Assessing Historical Thinking Skills Using Library of Congress Primary Sources: Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2013 PDF 871 KB
- Elementary Activity — Sourcing a Document: The First Thanksgiving (PDF, 491 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Historical Narrative: The Civil Rights Movement (PDF, 964 KB)
The Civil War Across Disciplines
- TPS Journal — The Civil War Across Disciplines: Vol. 5, No. 1, Winter 2012 PDF 839 KB
- Elementary Activity — Civil War Map Activity: Battle of Nashville (PDF, 730 KB)
- Secondary Activity — A House Divided: The Civil War Homefront (PDF, 3.54 MB)
Critical Thinking
- TPS Quarterly — Critical Thinking: Vol. 1, No. 2, Fall 2008 PDF 500 KB
- Elementary Activity — American Symbols (PDF, 185 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Political Cartoons (PDF, 62 KB)
Differentiated Instruction
- TPS Quarterly — Differentiated Instruction: Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter 2009 PDF 506 KB
- Elementary Activity — The Declaration of Independence (PDF, 186 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Slavery in the Antebellum South (PDF, 1.75 MB)
Elementary Learners
- TPS Quarterly — Elementary Learners: Vol. 3, No. 4, Fall 2010 PDF 596 KB
- Elementary Activity — Classrooms Then and Now (PDF, 122 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Every Picture Tells a Story (PDF, 238 KB)
English Language Learners
- TPS Quarterly — English Language Learners: Vol. 3, No. 3, Summer 2010 PDF 471 KB
- Elementary Activity — Transportation Now and in the Past (PDF, 122 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Limits to Freedom of Speech and the Press? (PDF, 238 KB)
Historical Thinking
- TPS Quarterly — Historical Thinking: Vol. 3, No. 1, Winter 2010 PDF 832 KB
- Elementary Activity — Historical Scene Investigation (PDF, 128 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Why did Congress Reject the League of Nations? (PDF, 105 KB)
Inquiry Learning
- TPS Quarterly — Inquiry Learning: Vol. 2, No. 3, Summer 2009 PDF 598 KB
- Elementary Activity — Voices from the Dustbowl (PDF, 97 KB)
- Secondary Activity — “Was Abraham Lincoln an Abolitionist?” (PDF, 64 KB)
Literacy Integration
- TPS Quarterly — Literacy Integration: Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer 2008 PDF 566 KB
- Elementary Activity — Taking a Closer Look at Slavery (PDF, 89 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Jackie Robinson: "This I Believe" (PDF, 41 KB)
Primary Sources and the Common Core State Standards
- TPS Journal — Primary Sources and the Common Core State Standards: Vol. 5, No. 2, Fall 2012 PDF 477 KB
- Elementary Activity — Determining Point of View: Paul Revere and the Boston Massacre (PDF, 390 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Teaching Speaking & Listening Skills with Primary Sources (PDF, 484 KB)
Primary Source Formats
- TPS Quarterly — Primary Source Formats: Vol. 4, No. 2, Fall 2011 PDF 957 KB
- Elementary Activity — Communicating Through Music (PDF, 206 KB)
- Secondary Activity — From the “Unsinkable” to the Unthinkable: Analyzing Historic News Coverage of the Titanic (PDF, 109 KB)
Project-Based Learning
- TPS Quarterly — Project-Based Learning: Vol. 3, No. 2, Spring 2010 PDF 483 KB
- Elementary Activity — Investigating Our Community’s (PDF, 1.58 MB)
- Secondary Activity — Understanding Immigration Through Popular Culture (PDF, 68 KB)
Science
- TPS Quarterly — Science: Vol. 4, No. 1, Winter 2011 PDF 489 KB
- Elementary Activity — Exploring the Scientific Method (PDF, 3.78 MB)
- Secondary Activity — Scientific Inquiry (PDF, 123 KB)
Teaching With Fine and Performing Arts
- TPS Journal — Teaching With Fine and Performing Arts: Vol. 7, No. 1, Fall 2014 PDF 1.18 MB
- Elementary Activity — Photo Analysis – Presenting the Statue of Liberty (PDF, 364 KB)
- Secondary Activity — Leadership and Alliances in the American Revolution (PDF, 457 KB)