Visiting with Students
We no longer accept reservations for pre-scheduled, guided school tours. Instead, we offer an expanded roster of daily programs, self-guides, and pre-and post-visit materials. Depending on the day and time of your visit, students can get their hands on history at interactive carts featuring reproduction objects, or they can talk with gallery interpreters or Museum staff. From March 23 to August 16, 2009, students can "step back into time" with actors portraying characters from the past in live theater presentations. Small groups-on a first-come, first-served basis-can explore the process of invention in Spark!Lab or our interactive exhibition, Invention at Play. In addition, we offer a series of self-guides that enable students to explore selected artifacts on their own, as well as pre-and post-visit materials to enrich selected daily programs.

Download Before Your Visit
Self- Guides
Students can explore the Museum and answer questions about what they see by using these self-guides.

• Museum highlights for grades pre-K and K
  Meet some faces of American history.
  Families with Kids 0-5 guide (.pdf)
  
• Museum highlights for grades 4-6
  
  Why does the Museum collect? Different objects tell us different things about the past. After their visit, students can suggest via e-mail what they think the Museum should collect. Three versions of this guide make it possible for students to begin the tour together, explore related paths in smaller groups, and come back together at the final stop.
  
  Version A (.pdf)
  Version B (.pdf)
  Version C (.pdf)
  
• Museum highlights for grades 7-9
  
  Why does the Museum collect? Different objects tell us different things about the past. After their visit, students can suggest what they think the Museum should collect. Three versions of this guide make it possible for students to begin the tour together, explore related paths in smaller groups, and come back together at the final stop.
  
  Version A (.pdf)
  Version B (.pdf)
  Version C (.pdf)
  
• Latino Heritage for grades 4 and up
  
  Discover Latino heritage objects related to food, labor, celebration, music, religion, culture, and sports.
  
  Latino Heritage guide (.pdf)
  
• America on the Move exhibition
  
  How has transportation influenced the way we get what we eat, helped people immigrate and migrate, or affected American businesses? Find out using these self-guides that offer a game-like approach to exploring the America on the Move exhibition. Students develop skills of map reading, observation, and analysis of primary-source materials.
  
  Foods on the Move for grades 4-6
  People on the Move for grades 7-9
  Businesses on the Move for grades 7-9

Pre-visit and post-visit sheets for selected daily programs
Pre-visit materials for teachers—including background information, history standard correlations, and classroom activities-help you prepare your students for selected daily programs. Post-visit materials for students encourage them to think about their visit.

• Broad Stripes and Bright Stars for grades K-4
  Who made the Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired the National Anthem? Meet Mary Pickersgill! Help her assemble a portion of the huge flag and learn about the other people who helped her make it. Check the performance schedule for availability.
  
  Pre-visit sheet (.pdf)
  Post-visit sheet (.pdf)
  
• Join the Student Sit-ins for grades 5-12
  Would you have been brave enough to join the civil rights protest at the lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina? Meet a 1960 student activist and join a training session for protestors based on a 1960s manual. Check the performance schedule for availability.
  
  Pre-visit sheet (.pdf)
  Post-visit sheet (.pdf)

When You Arrive
Please register your class with Museum security so we can reach you in case of an emergency. Because daily programs are subject to change, please check at the Museum's 1st floor Information Desk or 2nd floor Welcome Center to confirm the day's schedule.
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