Ford's Theatre

Ford's Theatre Society along with partners at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, President Lincoln's Cottage, the National Mall and Memorial Parks, and Tudor Place Historic House and Garden will continue implementation and evaluation of its two summer teacher institutes focusing on the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination. Educators have limited leverage to connect student learning with resources outside the classroom and are frequently limited in their ability to take their classes out of the school building. Among the best ways for historic sites to make themselves relevant to teachers' daily work is to expose them to the Site's programs, practices, and educational philosophy. Project activities will include participant selection, program planning, summer program implementation, school year follow on learning, evaluation data collection, and monthly online check-ins with participating teachers. This work will result in both a professional learning community of educators who are dedicated to teaching history and English language arts using place-based strategies as well as a solid consortium of museums and historic site institutions that work together to provide high quality professional development for teachers.