Professional Development Workshops

Students encounters signs and symbols hundreds of times a day; visual imagery is constantly used to communicate ideas, create in-groups and sell products. The same was true in the Revolutionary Era. Through analysis of the images and objects of this time, students can see signs, symbols and other imagery as a language that can be read to understand mid-to-late 18th-century America, while practicing close looking skills, making inferences, substantiating arguments and evaluating multiple perspectives. In this session, educators will encounter specific examples of 18th century imagery and consider how signs and symbols can be used both as a pathway to historical content and a bridge to the contemporary era.

On the eve of the American Revolution, one-fifth of British North America’s residents were people of African descent. What did their lives look like during the Revolutionary Era, how were they impacted by the Revolution, and how did they themselves shape how the new nation came into being? Teachers will leave this session with both an overview of African American lives during the Revolutionary Era as well as specific resources for incorporating these stories into their classrooms.

We can all agree that the American Revolution is important for students to learn about, but how do we make the events and ideas of two centuries ago feel relevant in the modern world? Participants in this workshop will engage in targeted exploration of museum galleries or replica artifacts and images, analysis of primary sources and discussion with their peers and museum staff to come up with classroom-focused ideas for meaningfully tying the revolution to the present day.