Lesson Plans

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 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 DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary source objects from Mount Vernon’s collection to explore the concept of ownership and what it can tell them about enslaved people in the 18th century. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.

A primary source worksheet for students focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to read and analyze an obituary for Martha Washington printed in the Augusta Herald on June 9, 1802. This resource was created by 2015-2016 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Marcia Motter.

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.

Four seasonal magazines use inquiry, cross-curricular connections, and coloring pages to explore color through the landscape George Washington loved, the home he built, the army he led, and more. Students learn how Washington’s world encompassed the full spectrum of colors by examining 18th-century life and material culture. This resource was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Lynn Miller.

A lesson that asks students to examine document-based evidence related to George Washington and slavery. Students are asked to use evidence to write an essay that answers the essential question: What were George Washington’s views on slavery?

This lesson shows how recipes are one way women documented their lives in the 18th century. Students will closely examine a recipe for hoecakes and focus on the people involved in that recipe. They will then hypothesize on the lives and interactions of those people based on the recipe. 

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.

A primary source worksheet for students focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to read and analyze George Washington's diary entry from April 16, 1789, the day he left Mount Vernon for his inauguration in New York City. This resource was created by 2015-2016 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Marcia Motter.

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. 

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. 

A primary source worksheet for students focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to use historical thinking skills to source a map of George Washington's five farms. This resource was created by 2015-2016 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Marcia Motter.

This activity has students examine Martha Washington's Bible as a primary source and then recreate Martha's family tree from clues like those in the bible. Students will learn to use fragmented information to create a larger picture, as well as use math to calculate birth and death dates. 

This activity gives students a chance to write their own interpretation labels for a primary source object. Students will be receive information on one of five aspects of Martha Washington's garnets and use that information to interpret the object. The class will then come together to discuss all aspects of Martha's garnets to show how many different stories can be told using one object. 

A lesson that challenges students to use non-text-based sources to consider the essential question: What did George and Martha Washington want to convey to their guests in the New Room? After close examination and analysis of the architecture, paintings, and objects in Mount Vernon's New Room students debate whether George Washington created an autobiography through his home. 

A primary source worksheet for students focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to rank ten modern rules of civility alone and in small groups before completing a short activity sourcing and rephrasing George Washington's version of the Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior. This resource was created by 2015-2016 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Marcia Motter.

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. 

A primary source worksheet for students focused on using place as a primary source. Students will explore Samuel Vaughan's 1787 map of Mount Vernon to gain a better understanding of George Washington and the 18th-century world in which he lived. 

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 DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary and secondary sources to evaluate the statement: George Washington was a stern and unknowable man, always in complete control, with little tolerance for sentimentality or familiarity. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.

This activity sheet uses a primary source document to introduce students to critical thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of Washington becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Students will learn about Washington's deliberation about taking on this leadership role, while extracting information from a primary source. 

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.

In this post- distance learning program activity, students will use primary source objects, places, and documents to investigate different ways members of the enslaved community took agency over their lives while living in bondage. Students will learn about enslaved life at Mount Vernon, explore multiple perspectives, and contextualize history within a larger narrative. 

Did you know George Washington loved hoecakes for breakfast? Work together to cook a historic recipe in your kitchen. Here are other recipes you can try at home.

George Washington wrote out the Rules of Civility to practice his penmanship and learn how to be a proper gentleman. Hornbooks were used to help children memorize important things, such as the alphabet or sayings that they needed to remember! You can make your own hornbook.

Artists painted George Washington’s portrait many times during his lifetime and after. Some portraits show scenes from Washington’s life. Explore your creativity by downloading these templates to create your own portrait, along with your own dollar bill, Mount Vernon postcard, horse puppet, quilt block, and fan.