Lesson Plans

The “20 Questions” series of worksheets from George Washington’s Mount Vernon are designed to guide students through a structured exploration of primary sources. Each set of questions move from concrete observations to analyses of people that lived in the past. The last questions ask students to make larger conclusions about the culture of the time in order to inform a final writing prompt. Included with each worksheet are primary sources from George Washington’s world.

Plan a birthday party for George Washington in your classroom. Students join either a Birthday Party Planning Committee or a Parade Committee to plan a celebration to honor George Washington's birthday. 

This lesson highlights the global economy of the 18th century by tracing one of Washington's ale glasses through production to consumption. Students will create a story on all the different people that they think would have touched the ale glass throughout this process. This activity will make them realize the many hidden hands behind a common object.  

A fill-in-the-blank activity for students featuring eight key events of the American Revolution. Questions ask students to identify events from the Boston Tea Party to the Crossing of the Delaware to the Victory at Yorktown.

This activity sheet focuses students' attention on historical artifacts in the Archaeology collection to learn more about the enslaved population's lives at Mount Vernon. Students will learn how to use artifacts as a primary source, which is especially important in such cases where artifacts are some of the only primary sources left from enslaved communities. 

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.

This activity recreates the distribution of Washington's swords between his five nephews after his death. In groups of five, students will learn about five of George Washington's swords, after which they work together to choose which sword they would pick. They will consequently learn about how swords were used in the 18th century to represent a person's rank and identity, as well as the situation they are in. Students will also realize how artifacts are not static and their lives continue beyond their original use. 

This lesson helps students understand the confusion and difficulties of the Constitutional Convention. Students will be separated into groups where they have to create a new form of government for their classroom that is more "democratic" than its current "monarchy" where the teacher as at its head. They will then reflect on how easy or hard it was to create a new form of government and convince others of their opinions. 

Explore with your students how George Washington’s first presidential cabinet was created and how its members’ varying political views and compromises affected their decision-making. Through analysis of primary source excerpts and small groups, this resource illustrates the value and productivity that came from civic friendship and civil disagreement in the past, and invites them to reflect on their responsibilities today.

A cut-and-color activity sheet that encourages students to find George Washington in their school or community. 

A set of coloring pages about George Washington and the American Revolution. These coloring pages can be interactive (and colored digitally), or downloaded. 

A lesson asking students to investigate and analyze the historical context of the Revolutionary War song, Yankee Doodle. As a culminating activity, students are asked to create their own additional verses about George Washington to the tune of the song.

Two activity sheets with information and short activities introduce young students to President George Washington. Students learn about George Washington's election as President and his journey from Mount Vernon to New York City for his inauguration, as well as what happens during a presidential inauguration. 

This integrated lesson connects the concept of informed civic agency to the life of George Washington as he changed from serving the British military in the French and Indian War to fighting against them in the Revolutionary War.  It allows students to see themselves as citizens that have the agency to solve problems in our world today.

Let your students take a look at the leadership qualities of George Washington and the establishment of the first cabinet. By sorting and categorizing primary source excerpts in group-generated categories, students are offered an opportunity to associate character, virtues, and values with traits of good citizens and leaders today.

Washington has been a symbol of the United States since the moment of its founding. Students explore the value of civic conversations about historic symbols in monuments of George Washington in our world today. 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 participate in civic conversations.

This infographic tells the stories of three different women who lived at Mount Vernon in the eighteenth century 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 Kate Van Haren and Pam Stafford.

An infograph created by the staff at the Washington Library that visually represents colonial imports and exports between 1768-1772.

A printable board game that follows George Washington's journey from Mount Vernon to New York City for his inauguration in April 1789. The board game prints best on 11x17 paper.

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. 

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. 

An infograph created by the staff at the Washington Library that visually represents loyalists in America during the Revolutionary War, and where they migrated to following the war.  

A lesson that explores the creation of the Purple Heart military decoration, known during the American Revolution as the Badge of Military Merit. Students explore the historical and modern significance of this award created by George Washington.

A worksheet encouraging students to read and source a newspaper article reporting on a celebration of George Washington's birthday from the Massachusetts Gazette from 1787. 

This activity uses the Slave Quarters at Mount Vernon to better understand the lives of the enslaved population who lived and worked on Mansion House Farm. Students will learn how to use place to examine American values and culture in the late 18th century. 

An infograph created by the staff at the Washington Library that visually represents information from George Washington's List of Enslaved People, 1799. 

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. 

This activity highlights the global economy that Mount Vernon was a part of in the 18th century. Students will use primary and secondary source to follow the process of how fish from Mount Vernon could become Solomon Gundy, a fish paste that was traditional in Jamaica. It also shows how George Washington was an active member of the slave trade and profiting off of the institution of slavery independent of him owning enslaved people. 

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.

This activity explores how music was one of the main forms of communication on the battlefield. Students will work together to create musical signals that convey marching directions. They will then show how they work as a team to give and follow those commands as a well-organized military unit.