ABOUT US

Teaching with Primary Sources

Funded by a grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program at the University of California, Davis is a partnership between the Library of Congress and the California History-Social Science Project.

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.

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-12 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.

Teaching with Primary Sources to Deepen Content Knowledge, Develop Disciplinary Understanding, and Improve Student Literacy

The CHSSP seeks to harness the substantial resources of the Library of Congress to improve classroom instruction in California. Using the digital collection of primary sources from the Library as the basis of a series of presentations, the CHSSP offers a customized course of study for K-12 educators designed to enrich classroom instruction through the expanded use of primary sources, improved student understanding of the process of historical investigation, and enhanced student reading comprehension and writing ability. TPS-UC Davis professional development is free of charge.

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