Teaching With Primary Sources
The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program at SUNY Geneseo is a unique collaboration that includes Livingston County Historical Society Museum and Ella Cline Shear School of Education at Geneseo to raise awareness of and promote use of Library of Congress digital primary resources in the elementary curriculum for grades K-6.
The program intends to inspire pre-service teachers to look to the Library of Congress website for resources, content learning and critical thinning skills. The project emphasized the positive impact that teaching with primary sources can have on student learning. This program reached out to over 120 pre-service teachers in the elementary social studies method’s courses and about 20 K-6 educators who participated in professional development workshops on teaching with primary sources.
We are proud to support the goals and mission of the national TPS program through workshops and presentations at no cost. TPS is brought to the SUNY Geneseo through a Library of Congress grant, thanks to the efforts of Dr. James Oigara, Assistant Professor in School of Education.
What is teaching with primary sources?
The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Founded in 1800, the library seeks to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, which bring to bear the world’s knowledge in almost all of the world’s languages and America’s private sector intellectual and cultural creativity in almost all formats. The library seeks to spark the public’s imagination and celebrate human achievement through its programs and exhibits.
In doing so, the library helps foster the informed and involved citizenry upon which American democracy depends. Today, the Library serves the public, scholars, Members of Congress and their staff all of whom seek information, understanding and inspiration. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s award-winning Web site www.loc.gov.
The mission of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program is to: build awareness of the library’s educational initiatives; provide content that promotes the effective educational use of the library’s resources; and offer access to and promote sustained use of the Library’s educational resources.
The library achieves this mission through collaborations between the Library and the K-6 educational community across the United States. The program contributes to the quality of education by helping teachers use the library’s digitized primary sources to engage students, develop their critical thinking skills and construct knowledge. Learn more about the Library’s TPS program and other resources available to teachers at www.loc.gov/teachers.
Members of the TPS Educational Consortium assist in the design of the TPS program and offer TPS professional development on an ongoing basis, year-round. Visit www.loc.gov/teachers/tps to view a list of current Consortium members and their respective states.
Theme Resources
The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program at SUNY Geneseo is active. We have worked alongside Livingston County Historical Society since October 1, 2024, and are proud of what we have accomplished to date. Together we raised awareness of and promoted use of Library of Congress resources and local museum primary sources in the classroom and the positive impact that teaching with primary sources can have on student learning.
Our program was successful because of amazing partner educators (pre-service and in-service) who participated in the project activities and professional development workshop events and contributed ideas and resources. You all shared your time and knowledge, and we are forever grateful.
The SUNY Geneseo TPS project will continue to actively support teachers, we also encourage you to visit the Library of Congress’ Teacher Page for classroom resources and current grant projects.
Library of Congress Site: https://www.loc.gov/
Thank you!
