What is the Teaching with Primary Sources Mountain/Plains program?

The innovative Teaching with Primary Sources Mountain Plains (TPS-Mountain/Plains) program provides professional development to access and use the over 11 million digitized primary sources and vast collections of material from the Library of Congress. TPS-Mountain/Plains is part of the larger national Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program. Professional development classes are available for in-service and pre-service teachers, college faculty, librarians, media specialists and other educational support personnel.  The goal of the TPS-Mountain/Plains project is to develop a professional development network that reaches out to regional educators to support the use of Library of Congress primary source-based instruction in the classroom. The Library of Congress' Teaching with Primary Sources Mountain Plains Regional Program serves the following states:

Teaching with Primary Sources offers four levels of participation.

Level 1 - Primary Source Foundations: introduces the breadth and organization of the Library of Congress’ digital primary sources, demonstrates the value of primary sources in instruction, and provides examples of primary source-based learning experiences.

Level 2 - Advanced Primary Sources: examines strategies for evaluating, creating, and teaching subject-specific, standards-based learning experiences that integrate primary sources from the Library of Congress and exemplify best instructional practices.  

Level 3 - Teaching with Primary Sources Ambassador - State: builds a network of experienced statewide educators who advocate the use of primary sources and widely disseminate the ideas, methods, and products of theTeaching with Primary Sources program.

Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Fellowship: develops a network of national fellows who travel to Washington, D.C. for one week to network and conduct research for their self-designed primary source related projects to be implemented in their home districts.  The Library of Congress funds a limited number of LOC TPS fellows each summer.  Only TPS-Colorado Ambassadors are eligible to apply and compete for this opportunity.

The TPS-Mountain Plains program seeks to create partnerships with existing educational institutions which have the ability to reach and support K-16 educators.  Prospective partners will be asked to complete a proposal prior to becoming eligible for up to $10,000 in funding to implement the program. 

TPS Mountain Plains will begin accepting proposals beginning January 2008.

For additional information, please contact the TPS-Mountain Plains Regional Center at the Metropolitan State College of Denver:

E-mail: mscd-tpscolorado@mscd.edu
phone: (303)352-4945

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