Supporting Learning & Innovation
Overview
View an up-to-date listing of useful resource links that have become our "go to" resources to support learning and innovation with primary sources in the K-12 classroom.
Featured Resources
- Primary Source Sets at the LOC.gov
- Native American Heritage Month Resources
- FREE Civic Interactive Apps for K-12 Classrooms!
- Resources for learning about US Presidents
- Teaching Strategies from the Teaching with the Library of Congress Blog
- Join the TPS Teachers Network for teaching ideas and sources from other teachers & librarians!
Getting Started with the Library of Congress
What are primary sources & why use them?
- Getting Started with Primary Sources
- Primary Sources and Standards
- Copyright & Fair Use with Primary Sources
- Citing Primary Source Use- MLA, APA, Chicago Style
How can we use primary sources in our classroom?
- Teacher Resources Page Find teaching ideas, search tips, and resources on using the Library of Congress’ digital collections of primary sources in their classroom.
- Classroom Materials- Download free, high-quality primary source sets, lessons, and interactives by theme and topic.
- Teacher Guides- Guides to assist students to analyze various formats: photographs and prints, motion pictures, sound recordings, oral histories, sheet music and song sheets, maps, political cartoons, books and printed texts, and manuscripts (unpublished writing).
- Observe, Reflect, & Question Teacher Guides- Use these guides to help students record their thinking: what they observe, infer, and wonder about a particular type of a source. This format can be downloaded and printed.
- Observe, Reflect, & Question Tool- Use this PDF fillable analysis tool to help students record their thinking: what they observe, infer, and wonder about a source. This format can be downloaded and printed.
- Teaching with the Library of Congress Blog is managed by the Educational staff at the Library of Congress. They share primary sources, digital collections, strategies, tools, research, and content related to timely teaching topics.
- Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium Journal is a peer-reviewed, online publication created by members of the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Consortium. This journal offers primary source-based suggestions, strategies, reflections, and findings relating to timely topics from some of the country’s most engaged educational thinkers and practitioners.
- Teaching Strategies is a search listing of teaching strategies published on the Teaching with the Library of Congress Blog.
- Exhibitions at the Library of Congress are digitized and made available online showcasing curated sources on a wide variety of topics related to the K-12 classroom. It’s a great resource for a virtual museum visit, teaching students how to curate, and digitally access compelling primary sources.
- Regional Grant Opportunities for Schools/Districts/Colleges
Links Outside the Library of Congress
- Historical Thinking Chart from Digital Inquiry Group
- Beyond the Bubble - Beyond the Bubble uses the digital archive of the Library of Congress to create History Assessments of Thinking (HATs).
