School Group Visits
School Programs on the American Revolution and Colonial Life
with the Lexington Historical Society
The Lexington Historical Society has partnered with a team of teachers from the Lexington schools to develop a rich selection of School Programs in American revolutionary and colonial history suitable for elementary and middle school students.
Using the Society’s extensive collection of original objects and archival material, students can be “history detectives.” They learn about the famous Battle on the Green and the “First Shot” of the Revolution and gain hands-on knowledge about the people and life in Colonial America, with Lexington as our example, at a crucial time in our history leading up to and during the first 24 hours of the American Revolution.
Programs are approximately two hours long and include two sections: an original, hands-on, curriculum-based exercise run by Society staff for groups of 28 or fewer students; plus an exercise-appropriate guided tour of at least one or two of our historic house museums and sites: Buckman Tavern, the Hancock-Clarke House, Munroe Tavern, the historic Battle Green, and the Old Burying Ground.
Using the Society’s extensive collection of original objects and archival material, students can be “history detectives.” They learn about the famous Battle on the Green and the “First Shot” of the Revolution and gain hands-on knowledge about the people and life in Colonial America, with Lexington as our example, at a crucial time in our history leading up to and during the first 24 hours of the American Revolution.
Programs are approximately two hours long and include two sections: an original, hands-on, curriculum-based exercise run by Society staff for groups of 28 or fewer students; plus an exercise-appropriate guided tour of at least one or two of our historic house museums and sites: Buckman Tavern, the Hancock-Clarke House, Munroe Tavern, the historic Battle Green, and the Old Burying Ground.
School programs can be scheduled for any time of year. November through March are prime months because the historic houses aren’t yet open to the general public. However, school groups are welcome to request school programs during our open season, April through October, as well.
There are many schedule options available to accommodate larger groups of students.
School programs cost $7.50/student, with no charge to any teachers or adult chaperones, for the 2011 season. Reservations and more information can be obtained by contacting the Manager of Interpretation and Public Programs at 781–862–0295.
All the Society’s School Programs meet both National Standards and the Massachusetts Frameworks.
There are many schedule options available to accommodate larger groups of students.
School programs cost $7.50/student, with no charge to any teachers or adult chaperones, for the 2011 season. Reservations and more information can be obtained by contacting the Manager of Interpretation and Public Programs at 781–862–0295.
All the Society’s School Programs meet both National Standards and the Massachusetts Frameworks.
List of Academic Exercises
The Lexington Historical Society is pleased to present new programs for school groups at the lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school grade levels. All programs include a themed academic exercise facilitated in small groups and a tour of one of Lexington’s historic house museums. Programs may also include tours of the Battle Green and/or Old Burying Ground.
Below is a selection of our programs.
Below is a selection of our programs.
LOWER ELEMENTARY LEVEL
The Lexington Historical Society continues to develop new programs for school groups at the 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade levels. All programs include a themed academic exercise facilitated in small groups and a tour of one of Lexington’s historic house museums. (Note: Programs may also include tours of the Battle Green and/or Old Burying Ground.)
Artifact Program
Common three-dimensional objects from the 18th century can tell us a lot about the ordinary citizen’s life and times and help bring history alive. Lexington was a poor farming community in the 18th century, yet it played a pivotal role in April 1775 when the first blood of the American Revolution was drawn on its town common. In a hands-on exercise, students will examine and discuss nine actual or reproduction artifacts that would have been in common use in Lexington during the Colonial period. They will use reasoning and observation skills to guess, and then conclude, each object’s purpose and use to obtain a clearer sense of actual 18th century everyday life. Some objects were used more by men, and some more by women. Examples of objects include: chamber pot, clay pipe, foot warmer, lady’s cap, niddy noddy, notice of a stolen horse, sugar loaf, tankard, and toaster.
What did Reverend Clarke Eat?
Probate inventories provide a list of personal property and land an individual owned at the time of his death. Reverend Jonas Clarke was Lexington’s town minister during the Revolution and was one of Lexington’s most influential residents. Students will examine edited selections from Reverend Clarke’s probate inventory for his kitchen and barn, plus entries from his diary at different times of year. They will discuss what we can learn about what Reverend Clarke and his family might have had for food based on the evidence in these documents. They will be asked to figure out where the Clarkes’ food came from and how it was prepared and discuss any differences from our food sources and meal preparation today. Students will then be able to create a typical menu for Reverend Clarke and his family.
Problem-Solving Vignettes—What Should I do?
This activity takes students through an organized decision-making process using true stories of ordinary Lexington citizens at the time of the Revolution. History happens to ordinary people, not just the rich and famous. Students will read short scenarios describing difficult, sometimes life threatening, decisions Lexington residents had to make on the day of the Battle on the Green. They will be asked to consider the alternative choices available to these people at the time, to decide which is the best decision and why, and to support their selection. At the end of the exercise, students will learn what actually happened to these real Lexington residents.
Interpreting the Battle—Who Fired the First Shot?
The first shot of the American Revolution rang out on Lexington’s town common near dawn and caused the famous Battle on the Green. For generations there was much debate about which side fired that shot that started the American Revolution: the British Redcoats or the Lexington colonials. Students will discuss why this question was so important and if we can ever really know for sure. Students will study two artists’ depictions of the Battle on the Green: one prepared in 1775 only a few months after the Battle by an artist who talked with eye witnesses to the event, and the other painted over 100 years later in 1886. They will observe their differences and similarities. They will discuss the questions, “Does artwork help the historian, and can it be an accurate representation of historical events?”
Create an Epitaph
Students will study edited excerpts from a variety of archival documents, both primary and secondary sources, about the life of Levi Harrington. Levi, whose childhood home was on the edge of the town’s common (Green), was a witness to the Battle on the Green when he was 14 years old. Students will discuss what sort of information survived about Levi. They will discuss if there is missing information we wish we had to be able to create a more complete picture of his life. Students will be able to construct a simple biographical sketch of his life in a timeline and use this information to create an epitaph for him.
UPPER ELEMENTARY LEVEL
Artifact Program
In a hands-on exercise, students will examine and discuss up to a dozen actual or reproduction artifacts and documents that would have been in common use in Lexington during the Colonial period. All objects have implications concerning the beginning of the American Revolution and the Battle on the Lexington Green. Some are household objects, and some are items taken into battle. Students will use reasoning and observation skills to guess, and then conclude, what each object’s purpose and use are. They will obtain a clearer sense of 18th century politics and how it affected everyday life against the backdrop of sewing the seeds of revolution. Examples of objects include: cocked hat, Dr. Fisk’s bill to the Province of Massachusetts, drum, flax tow, flint, niddy noddy, powder horn, two Revere prints (Boston Massacre and closing of Boston Harbor), sugar cone, tea pot, and a copy of the White Pine Act.
Study of Probate Inventories
Probate inventories provide a list of personal property and land an individual owned at the time of his death. Depending on how extensive each of these records of material culture is, we can sometimes tell much about an individual: how he lived, what business he was in, how wealthy he was etc. (Probate inventories were only taken for men during this period and not usually for women.) Students will examine edited excerpts from probate inventories on four different Lexington Colonials and answer questions on each, comparing and contrasting what we can tell about how each lived, what each owned, and their relative social stature in town.
Problem-Solving
Students will examine true stories of several ordinary Lexington citizens who had to make sometimes life-threatening decisions on the day of the Battle on the Green. They will understand that history happens to ordinary people, not just the rich and famous. Using an organized decision-making process, they will be asked to consider the alternative choices available to these people at the time, to decide which is the best decision and why, and to support their selection. Subgroups of students will read a different short scenario each and, at the end of the exercise, will come together to compare their scenarios, share their choices for the best decisions, and learn what actually happened to these real Lexington Colonials.
Interpreting the Battle: Who Fired the First Shot?
Students will study a variety of records of the Battle on Lexington Green, some primary and some secondary sources. For example, they will read both American and English newspaper accounts from the time, and examine depositions (sworn statements) made by both Colonial and British eyewitnesses. Using a “town meeting” type of format, including some role-playing, they will discuss and determine whether the first shot of the American Revolution was by the Lexington Colonials or the British Redcoats and learn why this question was so important at the time. They will also discuss which types of sources are the most reliable and why.
Create a Biography
Students will study edited excerpts from a variety of document sources on several different Colonials living in Lexington at the time of the Revolution (for instance vital records, probate inventories, bills for services rendered etc.). Some of these residents were men and some women. Some were wealthy and some poor. Students will discuss what these documents reveal to us about these Colonials and their lives, and will be asked to create a biographical sketch on each individual given just the information that has survived. In the process, they will talk about what other information they would have liked to have in addition to help fill out these biographical stories. They will be able to compare and contrast the type and amount of information available for each type of person, and will gain a better understanding of what it is like to be an historian working with just the information that is available.
MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL
Probate Inventory Study
Probate inventories are legal documents detailing the appraised personal property and real estate in a person’s possession at the time of death. Students will study probate inventories taken for three different men who lived in Lexington in the Colonial period. They will be asked to compare and contrast the lives, occupations, and relative socio-economic status of these three men based on the information in these documents. Students will learn what a probate inventory is, why and how they were created, and will experience what an important and rich source of information these documents provide the historian and researcher about Colonial life.
Interpreting the Battle of Lexington
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After a brief review of the circumstances that led the British regular soldiers to travel through Lexington and on to Concord in April of 1775, students will be asked to read and analyze a variety of sources—newspaper accounts and sworn statements (depositions)—concerning who fired the first shot of the American Revolution at the Battle on Lexington’s Green. They will discuss the distinction between primary and secondary sources and the relative merits and drawbacks of each as documentation for historic fact. Based on their study of these sources, they will be asked to analyze whether it appeared the intention of either side was to fight, if we can ever know who fired first, and to support their analysis by choosing their most credible sources. From this exercise, students will gain a much deeper understanding of how and why the American Revolution began, how things got so out of hand on the Lexington Green, and why the question of who fired first became so important. As an additional exercise, students may be asked to compare and contrast four artists’ depictions of the Battle on the Lexington Green, each rendered at a different time in our history, to learn how an artist’s interpretation of the “First Shot” could reflect the political times he/she lived in.
Lexington Slavery at the time of the Revolution
This lesson explores slavery in Lexington, and African American participation in the Revolutionary War, through study of documents that survive regarding several Lexington slaves. New England slaves were able to earn their freedom by serving in the Continental Army, sometimes as a replacement for their master. Prince Estabrook, a participant in several engagements, seems to have followed that route to freedom. (He participated in the only integrated United States army until modern times and the Korean War.) Through examining slavery in Lexington with special emphasis on Prince Estabrook, students will learn about slavery in New England at the time of the Revolution and will be able to discuss comparisons to slavery in the southern colonies. They will be asked to discuss how the rhetoric of freedom invoked throughout the Revolutionary era seemed incompatible with slavery.
Piecing Lives Together and Writing a Biography
Students will study primary sources on several Lexington residents from the 18th century and will be asked to simulate the process of writing history. They will create a one or two paragraph biography based on the assorted information found in these sources. In doing so, they will learn to make reasonable inferences based on the factual information, and will learn that the story of a person’s life is limited by the sources extant. They will see, for instance, that material on the wealthy or notable is usually more likely to survive, making their biography more complete. This exercise will also teach them about life in Colonial Lexington.
