Professional Development Workshops
Join fellow teachers for interactive workshops, engaging discussions, and content-rich presentations exploring the American Revolution in both historical and contemporary contexts. You’ll leave with new ideas and new information about how you can incorporate the Revolution into your classrooms and student interactions.
Upcoming Free Workshops
The Museum is pleased to offer a rotating series of free workshops for educators to support their work in the classroom. Participants must register in advance using the link associated with the specified workshop.
Women’s Lives in Revolutionary America: A Teaching Exploration with Historian Karin Wulf
Workshop Date: March 11, 2021 from 7-8:30 p.m.Join the Museum as it welcomes author and historian Dr. Karin Wulf to discuss the lives of everyday women in Revolutionary America. In particular, she’ll explore the ways in which 18th-century women’s stories may deviate from our common perceptions of them as wives and mothers in practice or “in training.” Bring your questions, and leave with new stories and ideas for incorporating the diversity and complexity of women’s lives into your classroom. This program is presented in conjunction with the new in-museum and online virtual exhibit, When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story, 1776-1807.
Learn more about Dr. Karin Wulf and this free teacher workshop. Check back for future When Women Lost the Vote workshops.
Bank of America and Comcast NBC Universal are presenting sponsors of When Women Lost the Vote, with additional support provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
Making the Revolution Relevant
Workshop Date: March 23, 2021 from 7-8:30 p.m.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 to their lives today? Using the Museum’s Virtual Museum Tour as a core resource, and drawing on current events, participants in this workshop will examine real and replica artifacts and images, analyze primary sources, and engage in discussion with their peers and Museum staff to come up with classroom-focused ideas for meaningfully tying the Revolution to the present day.
Next in the Museum Essentials workshop series: April 14, 2021.
Signs and Symbols of the American Revolution
Workshop Date: April 14, 2021 from 7-8:30 p.m.Students encounter 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.
Check back for future Museum Essentials workshops.
Stand-Alone Workshops
The following workshops can be scheduled for your school or district, and can take place on-site at the Museum or at your location. In-museum workshops include access to the core exhibit. Virtual workshops are also available.
Signs and Symbols of the American Revolution
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.
African Americans in the American Revolution
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.
Making the Revolution Relevant
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.
Customize Your Workshop
With adequate time, we can work with you to design a new workshop that best meets your educators’ needs. For more information, email education@amrevmuseum.org.
Learn More
Teacher Resource Guides
Mini Lesson Plans
