Have Historic Alexandria come to you! Our educators and activities travel to schools, out-of-school-time programs, libraries and community centers, neighborhood groups, and other educational venues in our area. Programs are free for Alexandria City Public Schools. 

Classroom Programs: 

• Length: 30-45 minutes, depending on program
• Maximum bookings: 5 programs per day and location
• Cost: $125 + travel cost; Each additional program booked on the same day is $100 depending on the lesson; Free for ACPS. 
• Travel costs: Please note travel costs are based on the round trip mileage from 301 King Street to the program location. Cost is 55 cents per mile. 

Program Options

• Pre-K through 3rd grade 
  Getting a Feel for Long Ago: Hands-On History (Lyceum)
  Length: 45 minutes
  Up to 60 students per program, divided into two groups
• 4th through 6th grade 
  Ship Science (Archaeology)
  Length: 45 minutes
  Up to 30 students per program 
• 2nd through 4th grade 
  How Sweet Was It? (Archaeology)
  Length: 45 minutes
  Up to 30 students per program

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are accepting field trip reservations no more than three months in advance of a preferred date of visit. Visits may be adjusted or cancelled as we strive to follow COVID-19 protocols.

Incorporate a visit to an Alexandria historic site or museum to bring your lessons to life and connect your students to the community they live in. Many sites offer free admission to classes from Alexandria City Public Schools, and some also offer free programs to other public and private school groups.   

Please call individual museums at least two weeks in advance to arrange a program or a tour.

Scheduling an Education Program with Historic Alexandria

• Scheduling a program at one site 
• Scheduling a multi-site program 
• Motorcoach and school bus parking

Homeschool Families 
Homeschool families and groups may choose from a variety of programs, including School and Scout programs and group tours. Please contact the individual site(s) you are interested in visiting in advance for a complete list of options. Please note that many special programs require a minimum of two weeks advance registration and are subject to availability. The Office of Historic Alexandria is also proud to host an annual Homeschool Day, where participating sites offer additional hands-on activities for visiting families.

Camp and Daycare Tours 
Whether it’s a history camp or a daycare field trip, the City of Alexandria has a lot to offer Daycares and Camps. Choose a site to visit for your group ages 4 and up, but be sure to contact each site you would like to visit at least two weeks in advance.

The Office of Historic Alexandria is a leading member of the team that coordinates and hosts the Virginia District Five National History Day competition. Participating in the National History Day contest encourages students grades 6 through 12 to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice, engage in critical thinking and analysis, and present their findings in creative ways.

Schools in Virginia District Five can start here:.

Virginia History Day provides extensive resources for both teachers and students.

For the current year’s competition theme and updated Rules Book, visit National History Day. 

• Transportation History of Alexandria (grade 2)
  Learn how technological changes in transportation have affected Alexandria since the city was founded in 1749. Lesson includes a short video and supplemental online materials. 
• Photographs as Primary Sources (grades 4-6)

  Historians use primary sources to learn about the past. Photographs are one of many kinds of primary sources that exist. By creating your own photographic record and looking at historic photographs, students will practice analyzing primary sources. The website has everything a student needs to walk through the lesson on their own or guided by a teacher. 

• “A Loathsome Prison:” Slave Trading in Antebellum Alexandria.
  This lesson plan, developed through funding from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, examines the inter-state slave trade through the lens of 1315 Duke Street, currently known as the Freedom House Museum. Lesson includes reading/viewing and analysis of primary sources.
• America’s First Sit-Down Strike: the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In 

  This lesson plan, developed through funding from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, places this early Civil Rights action within its broader context and the Civil Rights movement. 

• For Us the Living
  For Us the Living is a series of five interactive modules that encourage high school students to explore American history through the stories found in the Alexandria National Cemetery. Each module uses primary and secondary sources and outlines the NCSS C3 History Framework skills address by each. 

Historic Alexandria offers printable activity sheets (below) covering a wide range of topics and ages. From preschool to high school, crafts to physical activities, there is something for everyone. 

Historic Alexandria offers printable activity sheets covering a wide range of topics and ages. From preschool to high school, crafts to physical activities, there is something for everyone. 

The activity sheets are among the educational resources offered by Historic Alexandria, to learn more about Alexandria’s history, from the Colonial period through Civil Rights. Learning is a lifelong pursuit, so whether it is online or on-site all ages can find more information about special programming, teaching resources, or ways to explore on your own. 

• Journaling Activity: What people in the past wrote about their life helps historians today. Students can document their experience to create a primary source. Then, they can read documents from Nicholas Cresswell to compare life in Alexandria just prior to the Revolutionary War to life today.
• Patriotic Civil War Stationery: Explore patriotic symbols while creating a patriotic envelope based on objects in Fort Ward’s collection.
• Create an exhibit from items in your home to tell a story of your choosing. Practice categorizing and writing labels.
• Chamber Pot Puzzle: Archaeologists sometime put objects that they find back together to learn more about the object and people who used it. What can you learn from the pieces others leave behind?
• Cockade Ribbon: Throughout history, special emblems, symbols, and colors have been used to show support for a cause or country. Create a cockade ribbon, an example from the Civil War of an item worn to show support.
• Cardboard Columns: Columns are a basic structural element in buildings, but they are often hidden from site. Be an engineer and test this structural element and explore historic architectural styles that use columns.

• Map Skills: Maps can show more than just where towns and cities are. Examine this map from 1751 to learn more about early Virginia. See the original map in the Library of Congress’ collection. 

Learn more about Alexandria’s history through online resources. The following Historic Alexandria compilation has a number of online resources to help you learn more about topics of your choice within Alexandria’s History.

• Learn More about Alexandria’s History
  Students and teachers can use this hub to discover secondary and primary sources created by the Office of Historic Alexandria. Covers the full breadth of Alexandria History.
• Oral History
  Oral History is when one person interviews, or talks to, another person about their life experience. Oral histories offer a more individual and community-based way of understanding history. Read transcriptions, or written documents of what was said, of interviews of long-time City residents to learn more about 20th and 21st-century history. [I know this is also on the Learning about Alexandria’s History page, but it’s often specifically requested]

Story Time with Young Historians is presented by the Alexandria Black History Museum, part of the Office of Historic Alexandria. Each video features a picture book that introduces history and promotes diversity for young readers. A Museum Educator provides historical context and local community connections.

Bring history to life through hands-on kits. A nominal fee is charged to rent the kits for teachers outside of Alexandria City Public Schools.

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum

Topics covered: Colonial and Early American Daily Life and Urban Life, Urban Slavery, including newspaper and travelers’ quotes activities and 18th century clothing

Want to bring objects, primary source documents, and images into your classroom?  The Tavern in a Trunk is designed to bring all of this and more directly to the students.  Use the lessons and objects to augment your studies of 18th-century America and bring the text book to life for your students! Working from primary sources, including maps, diary entries and early newspaper ads, students discover what life was like in the 18th century and explore the important role a tavern played in society. The hands-on clothing, objects, and games work well in the classroom and for Colonial Days.

Rental Information

• Grade range: 1st through 8th grade
• Rental fee: $30 (free to Alexandria City Public Schools)
• Length of rental: 3 weeks
• Shipping: Shipping to the school is covered by the rental fee. Schools are responsible for returning the trunk, either by shipping or dropping off at the museum. 
• Reserving the trunk: Reservations are accepted on a first-come, first served basis. In order to request a reservation for use of the trunk, contact the Curator of Education at 703.746.4242 or through Alex311.

All lesson plans are based on primary sources and the reproduction objects included in the kit.  The teacher only needs to supply materials for the craft activities. All of the worksheets are reproducible and student-ready. 

Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site   

Topics Covered: Life of a Common Soldier; Local Civil War History; Civilian Experience; Women of the Civil War; African American Soldiers

Fort Ward offers a comprehensive educational kit called Life During the Civil War, designed for use by teachers in elementary through high school grades. This varied program contains a wide selection of materials to be explored by students in visual, tactile and audio form. A Teacher’s Guide Notebook contains lessons and exercises to be selected by the teacher for use in the classroom on themes such as the common soldier, photography during the Civil War, civilian response to military occupation, music during the war, and the role of women and African American soldiers.

The rich array of teaching resources includes primary source documents such as letters and soldiers’ narratives, photographs, slides which portray life in camp, and a music cassette tape of Civil War songs. Hands-on reproduction objects in the soldier’s haversack and lady’s purse are also featured. Through Life During the Civil War, students learn about the experiences and views of soldiers and civilians in both the North and South. The different sections of the program feature exercises, games, suggested reading lists and follow-up activities.

Rental Information

• Grade range: 4th through 11th grade
• Rental fee: $15 for two weeks, $20 for three weeks (free to Alexandria City Public Schools)
• Length of rental: two to three weeks
• Shipping: Arrange time to pick up and return kit from Fort Ward Museum.
• Reserving the trunk: Call 703.746.4848 or submit a request through Alex311. 

Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum   

Topics Covered: Colonial and Early American Daily Life and Urban Life, including map reading and census activities

A classroom resource that complements the Walking Tour or can be used on its own.  The kit contains a teacher’s guide with lesson plans, replica objects and primary documents about life in early Alexandria.

Rental Information

• Grade Range: 4th through 8th grade
• Rental Fee (call for information)
• Length of Rental (call for information)
• Shipping (call for information)
• Reserving the kit: Call 703.746.4994 or submit a request through Alex311.