Archive for the ‘Classroom Resources’ Category

The Phoebe Apperson Hearst Learning Center for Teachers opened in the spring of 2007, and since then our Education Center Manager, Diana Cordray, has worked hard to acquire every resource available for teaching about George Washington and the Revolutionary Era. The Learning Center for Teachers is open daily and is a place for teachers to review curriculum kits, books, and DVDs before purchasing, use the scholarly version of the Digital Papers of George Washington for free, and create a Resource Packet of teaching materials about George Washington and Mount Vernon to take back to the classroom. Each month, Diana will review a new teaching resource in order to introduce teachers to the many wonderful materials that can bring Mount Vernon to the classroom. And now for Diana’s review….

The Phoebe Apperson Hearst Learning Center for Teachers is fortunate to have educational materials from Teacher Created Materials. One item that is exceptionally beneficial to classrooms is the Primary Source Readers kit. Winner of the 2005 Golden Lamp Award from the Association of Educational Publishers, each kit contains: 6 copies of 16 content rich 24 page readers; lesson plans for each reader; teacher resource CD; and, 16 overheads. Continue reading Resource of the Month: “Primary Source Readers” »

As you may have heard, Mount Vernon’s recent initiative to “bring George Washington back to school” has proven a resounding success! To date, about 2,000 schools have received (and about 4,000 schools have requested) our free, framed reproductions of Rembrandt Peale’s Porthole Portrait of George Washington. All portraits are accompanied by a “George Washington Celebration Kit” of teaching resources and an American flag that has been flown over Mount Vernon (courtesy of a small army of energetic Mount Vernon volunteers!). Recipients have shared gracious letters of thanks praising the portrait’s potential to inspire students and other members of the school community.

We’re grateful that schools have so enthusiastically responded to this effort to restore the first president’s portrait to our nation’s K-12 educational institutions. We also appreciate the kind patience of schools currently on our waiting list. Finally, enormous thanks are due to the many generous private donors responsible for funding this ongoing project. (Mount Vernon does not receive government funding of any kind.) We will continue to provide portraits for as long as we’re able!

View answers to common questions about our portrait program!

Enjoy our online jigsaw puzzle version of the portrait!

Members of Mount Vernon’s Education Department have fielded repeated questions about our opinion of the portrayal of Washington in HBO’s popular John Adams miniseries. We’d like to use this opportunity to raise what we think is a more compelling question: How can and should historic sites and classroom teachers capitalize on the interest Hollywood increasingly generates in historical events, places, and people?

As it happens, this very question was the topic of one of our recent distance learning programs, History Meets Hollywood, available for FREE to educators in DVD format while supplies last!

Continue reading Washington, Adams, Hollywood, and Free DVDs! »