Discover Tennessee History will offer a seven-part webinar series for the 2022-2023 school year. Each month one of our partner organizations will offer a one-hour session exploring topics in Tennessee history with related primary sources and educational resources that can be used with your students. Recordings of this series and last year's are available and PD credit can be earned for each session. If you wish to receive PD credit, please complete this survey after each watched session. Certificates are sent out weekly.
To register for the 2022-2023 webinars, please complete this form.
Past webinars are available via the TPS-MTSU YouTube channel.
Session 1 - September 13, 2022
Discover Tennessee History Day
Presenting Organization: Tennessee History Day/Tennessee Historical Society
National History Day is a curriculum framework and competition for grades 6-12. The content is determined by the educators and students. The methodology depends upon primary sources and critical analysis, resulting in creative project-based learning. Learn how to incorporate History Day into the classroom and what resources are available for documentaries, exhibits, performances, websites, and papers.
Primary Audience: Educators in grade 6-12
Curriculum Standards: Relative to the content being taught. Social Studies Practices (6th through 12th grades): SSP.01, SSP.02, SSP.03, SSP.04, SSP.05, SSP.06
Session 2 - October 11, 2022
Singing Through the War: Sheet Music as a Primary Source for Studying Civil War Tennessee
Presenting Organization: The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum
Key battles and skirmishes in the nation's Civil War took place in Tennessee, and these events took hold of the nation's imagination. In this session, ALLM staff will explore artwork and songs pulled from the ALLM's extensive sheet music collection to explore how key Civil War events in Tennessee were discussed and understood both inside and outside of the state both during and after the war.
Primary Audience: Educators in grades 4 and up.
Curriculum Standards: Content standards related to the American Civil War and Reconstruction.
Session 3 - November 8, 2021
Tennessee's First Peoples
Presenting Organization: Tennessee State Museum
We will focus on the prehistoric cultures that were the first to call Tennessee home.
Primary Audience: Educators
Curriculum Standards: 3rd Grade Standards
Session 4 - December 13, 2022
Who are These Tennessee Trailblazers?
Presenting Organization: Tennessee State Library and Archives
In this session, teachers will explore Tennessee Trailblazers by using primary sources from the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Come along and play a guessing game that will help students visualize history! This activity will incorporate documents and photographs that explore the bigger picture of why these people are Trailblazing Tennesseans. We will examine Tennessee history topics from the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and High School American History curriculum standards for social studies.
Primary Audience: Educators Grades 4-12
Curriculum Standard: TBD
Session 5 - January 10, 2023
Power of Place Based Experiences
Presenting Organization: East Tennessee Historical Society
Learn more about exploring historic sites, museums, and your local community in order to draw your students into broader topics. We will consider artifacts, stories, landscapes from the ETHS Museum of East Tennessee History and other examples.
Primary Audience: Any grade
Curriculum Standards: Social studies practices and content will vary.
Session 6 - February 14, 2023
Accessing Tennessee’s History Through State Parks
Presenting Organization: Tennessee State Parks
This session will introduce the new Tennessee State Parks educational program request process, including how educators can apply for funding to cover field trip expenses, and provide examples of how state parks are the place to explore Tennessee's role in local, national, and international history.
Primary Audience: Educators
Curriculum Standards: Will vary
Session 7 - March 14, 2023
Using Primary Sources to Explore the Richness of Tennessee History
Presenting Organization: Teaching with Primary Sources-MTSU
Our state has been the epicenter of some very critical moments in our nation's history from the Civil War to World War II to the Civil Rights Movement. In this session, TPS-MTSU staff will explore some of our favorite primary sources and educational resources that can be used to show the richness of our state's history and the important role we have played in the nation's history.
Primary Audience: Educators in grades 4 and up.
Curriculum Standards: Content related to Civil War, WWII, and Civil Rights.