Apotheosis of Washington
The primary documents in this activity depict the apotheosis of Washington through visual and text-based primary sources. Students analyze and compare different types of primary sources to understand the ways in which Washington was characterized after his death. Reflective practice on a historical figure’s legacy provides context and periodization for historical practice.
Be Washington: Genet Affair
This lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Genet Affair crisis in 1794 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
Be Washington: Newburgh Conspiracy
This lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to General George Washington during the Newburgh Conspiracy crisis in 1783 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
Be Washington: Second Trenton
This lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Battle of Second Trenton in 1777 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
Be Washington: Whiskey Rebellion
This lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion crisis in 1794 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
Bullet Journaling with Washington
This activity connects students to George Washington's meticulous record keeping by equating it with modern day bullet journaling. Students will look at a 1793 Farm Report that was made by one of Washington's overseers and sent to Washington while he was President. Students will then keep a bullet journal for a week to experiment recording their own information. By reflecting on their experience, they will be able to get a better understanding of Washington.
Farewell Address: Giving Advice and Leaving a Legacy
This lesson examines George Washington's advice in his Farewell Address in order to understand the context and rationale for it. Students are asked to create their own farewell address that offers advice to students in next year's class, specifically referencing a growth mindset. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Joanne Howard.
Flat George Washington
A cut-and-color activity sheet that encourages students to find George Washington in their school or community.
Following in the Footsteps of their Fathers
This DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary and secondary sources to evaluate if the Southern secession movement in the 19th century was an extension of the ideals of the American Revolution. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.
George Washington's Foreign Policy
A lesson that asks students to connect George Washington’s Farewell Address to later presidential foreign policy messages. As a group, the class will discuss the influence Washington’s message had on the nation and posterity. Working in groups, students investigate excerpts from later presidential foreign policy messages and compare and contrast these with Washington’s Farewell Address.
George Washington's Tweets
This activity has students summarizing entries from George Washington's 1754 Journal in the form of a tweet. Students will be divided into groups to analyze one of the entries from The Journal of Major George Washington, which was written after Washington's expedition to the Ohio territory before the French and Indian War. They will them summarize that information by transforming it into a tweet and then presenting that to their fellow classmates.
The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association: The Possibilities and Debates in a Civil Society
Just like Ann Pamela Cunningham, the founder of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and defender of George Washington’s legacy, students can use persuasive language to motivate others to care about an important civic challenge they hope to address. Through the analysis of a primary source and a civics activity, this learning resource empowers students to see themselves as citizens whose voices matter and who have the agency to collaboratively confront problems in our world today.
Washington and Mount Vernon as National Symbols of Liberty and Enslavement
This learning resource connects the concept of informed civic agency to George Washington’s significance as a national symbol in rhetoric. Two leading 19th-century African-American orators provide different perspectives on George Washington’s legacy in the century after his death. Through the analysis of primary sources and a creative civics activity, this learning resource empowers students to see themselves as citizens whose voices matter and who have agency to collaboratively confront problems in our world today.
Integrating Women's History in the Founding Era
This set of five lesson plans use Martha Washington as a case study to integrate women's history into the events of the American Revolution and the New Nation historical eras. This lesson was created by 2017-2018 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Bonnie Belshe.
Life After Slavery: A Receipt for Wages to George Smith
This activity sheet is designed to get students to look closely at a primary source document so that they can extract and analyze the information with in it. Students will use the source to learn about what happened to the enslaved people at Mount Vernon after George Washington's death.
Rules of Civility: "The Little Spark of Celestial Fire"
A lesson plan that uses rules from the Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior to establish a context for behavior and social expectations in George Washington’s time and creates best behavior practices for present-day classrooms and communities.
Make Your Own Exhibition
In this activity students will use objects from the Lives Bound Together exhibition to create their own exhibit. Students will learn to use primary sources as evidence to convey a message.
"Meet the Press" - American Presidents
A lesson that uses the weekly news show “Meet the Press” as a model for engaging students using primary sources. Students portray George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the current President of the United States in a television interview. Students will develop answers to the host’s questions through primary sources research and current news articles.
Oliver Evans' Patent
This activity exemplifies George Washington's appreciation for innovation and ingenuity. Students will examine Oliver Evans' Mill Patent, which Washington adopted in his own Gristmill, and analyze how those represent both Washington's and America's values at the time.
Snuff Box and Hogshead
This activity compares two containers of tobacco- one on the production side and the other on the consumption side to show how tobacco was made and sold in the Colonies and in England. Students will analyze a snuff box and hogshead as well as British advertisements for tobacco and snuff to understand the importance of tobacco to the 18th century. It also shines a light on how slavery was the foundation of Colonial and English economy, government, and lifestyle.
The Truth About the Cherry Tree
This lesson explores George Washington's legacy through a growth mindset by allowing students time to research and know George Washington by analyzing myths about him and exploring why those myths were created. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Joanne Howard.
Two Accounts
This activity explores two accounts of a meeting between the Iroquois Nation and the French before the French and Indian War. Students will analyze the sources of the two accounts and evaluate how truthful or biased they are to reconstruct what actually happened during that meeting. Students will consequently learn the difficulties historians have in interpreting history and increase their media literacy skills.
Washington's 1799 Will and Testament Concerning National Education
A primary source worksheet for students focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to read and analyze a section of George Washington's 1799 Will and Testament concerning the creation of a national university. This resource was created by 2015-2016 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Marcia Motter.
Who Are We?
A lesson plan to help students gain an understanding of the lives of the enslaved people on Mount Vernon. The students will use a primary source document, entitled the French’s Slave Census 1799, to research an enslaved individual in order to answer questions and write an introduction about the person. This lesson was created by 2017-2018 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Donella Smither.
Washington's Library
A post- distance learning program activity for your classroom that uses Washington's library collection to understand his personal research and interest. Students will identify different subjects within his collection and compare them to the subjects studied within their own classrooms today.
The Founding of the U.S. Government Infographic
This infographic covers the basics of the formation of the U.S. Government through visuals, graphics, and primary sources. It reads at an upper-elementary level, perfect for struggling readers, emerging English speakers, visual learners, or the average student.
Created by LifeGuard Teacher Fellows Emily Finch and Tamera Johnson.
The Founding of the U.S. Government Activity Sheets
These activity sheets provide grab-and-go activity ideas about the foundation of the U.S. Constitution, government, and presidency. With different options for Elementary, Middle, and High School students, these activity suggestion sheets have something for every grade level. These sheets were created by 2024 LifeGuard Teacher Fellows Emily Finch and Tamera Johnson.