Lesson Plans

This activity is designed to question students' assumptions on how labor was divided at Mount Vernon. Students will look at an artifact (the grub hoe) and then analyze primary and secondary sources to reinterpret that artifact. They will learn that enslaved women primary worked in the fields, while enslaved men usually did "skilled" tasks. This is an activity that will illustrate how gender binaries are constructed and have changed throughout history. It also reinforces students' STEM skills, such as percentages and ratios. 

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.  

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 allows students to analyze a primary source and convey that information in the form of an infographic. Students will examine George Washington's List of Enslaved People, 1799 and create their own infographic to visually represent that data to convey a message. This will increase their media literary skills by analyzing the sources of infographics, while also learning more about the enslaved population at Mount Vernon in 1799.

A lesson that draws a connection between the innovative steps that George Washington took as “first farmer” and the wave of changes that comprised the American Industrial Revolution. Students will explore information from sources such as text, video, and drawings. Students will make interdisciplinary connections between history and science/engineering. This resource was created by 2013-2014 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Hannah Markwardt. 

A lesson that uses George Washington’s list of enslaved people from 1799 to understand enslavement at Mount Vernon. Students will explore information related to the institution of slavery in the 18th century.

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.

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

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

A post-distance learning program activity where students will explore three different Washington-owned chairs to explore different ways technology was used to solve problems in the 18th century. Students will explore simple designs, analyze the technology used, and compare them to modern inventions that make life easier today.