Teaching Preservation
Why Teach Preservation? Read More
It's never too early to start teaching children about places that matter. From art to social studies, lessons that incorporate historic preservation topics go beyond typical textbook activities by teaching your students to recognize and appreciate the rich heritage that surrounds them. As you continue to seek fresh ideas and creative strategies for bringing your curriculum alive, please bookmark this website as a resource for bringing preservation into the classroom.
Students Saving Places
This Mural Matters
Students from Riverside Brookfield High School in Riverside, Illinois, painted a 2,000-square-foot mural to adorn an endangered building in their community. While planning the project, the students saw a National Trust “This Place Matters” sign in the building's window and decided it would be a perfect title for their work. Read More »
My Home Matters!
Teaching Preservation in Elementary School
Who says you can’t start teaching preservation early? Use this lesson plan developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and an enthusiastic second grade teacher from Carlisle, Massachusetts to broaden your students' understanding of the importance of learning about and preserving our shared heritage. Read More »
Featured Lesson
My Preservation Journal
A journal that encourages children to engage with their visual surroundings, enhances visual literacy, and provides a basic vocabulary so that children can understand the importance of historic preservation and its place in our shared social and political environment.
Read More » | See More Lessons »
Teaching Through Historic Sites More Sites
Visiting the Shadows
Each December, Shadows-on-the-Teche, a National Trust Historic Site located in New Iberia, Louisiana, invites local elementary school students to take a step back in time to explore how holiday celebrations – and many other facets of daily life in their community – have changed since the days of plantations in the early nineteenth century. Don’t live near Shadows-on-the-Teche? There are plenty of resources available to help you bring history into your classroom. Read More »
Stay tuned throughout the year as we continue to feature National Trust Historic Sites working to get your students out of the classroom and into historic preservation.
What began as a simple program to allow first graders to view the Shadows-on-the-Teche at Christmas has evolved into a dynamic effort with lessons and performance opportunities for students at many grade levels. Check out these photos to see how the students are learning about the history of the holidays.
In the Classroom
Preservation on a Shoestring
Interested in integrating preservation activities into your lesson plans, but feeling held back by budget constraints? While the current economic climate is affecting school funding in such a way that adding new programs feels nearly impossible, there are several low- or no-cost ways to bring hands-on preservation lessons into your classroom that will not only get your students active in history, but teach them valuable lessons about giving back to their community. Read More »
Out of the Classroom
Be a Backyard Detective
Calling all parents! Teaching preservation should not end when the school bell rings. There are lots of fun things that you can do at home to keep the conversation going. Use our Backyard Detective guide to get your kids out of the house to explore – with all of their senses – the many fascinating historic clues that are built into the homes, buildings, and streets that surround them. Read More »
