Collections in the Classroom
Collections in the Classroom
These thematic resource kits are designed to help students analyze and interpret primary source material from our collections. They contain context, guiding questions, and digitized primary source material to provide an avenue for integrating museum collections into the classroom. The majority of the kits are designed for grades 4 and above, though individual sources, objects, and themes within the packets are scaleable for younger grades.
Story of Virginia Sampler | Grades 4 - 7
This packet is designed to help familiarize students in grades 4 - 7 with a variety of VMHC's primary source materials that span thousands of years of Virginia history and reflect a variety of people and experiences.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.1-VS.10), US History I (USI.1-USI.9), US History II (USII.1-USII.4, USII.6)
Story of Virginia Sampler | Grades 9 - 12
This packet is designed to help familiarize high school grade levels with a variety of VMHC's primary source materials that span thousands of years of Virginia history and reflect a variety of people and experiences.
SOLs Covered: Virginia and US History (VUS.1-VUS.2, VUS.6-VUS.8, VUS.11, VUS.13)
Creating A New Nation | Grades 4 & Up
These primary sources are chosen to introduce students to significant events, figures, and documents that influenced the founding of the United States of America.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.6), US History I USI.6, USI.7), Civics and Economics (CE.2b), Virginia and US History (VUS.4, VUS.5), Virginia and US Government (GOVT.2ef)
Determined: The 400 Struggle for Black Equality | Grades 4 - 12
This packet will explore the black experience in Virginia from 1619 to the present day, the pivotal role black Americans have played in shaping America’s national identity and culture, and some key events that have defined the meaning of American democracy, equality, and justice.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.4, VS.5, VS.7, VS.9), US History I (USI.5, USI.6, USI.9), US History II (USII.3, USII.7, USII.9), Civics and Economics (CE.5, CE.10), Virginia and US History (VUS.3, VUS.7, VUS.8, VUS.11, VUS.13), Virginia and US Government (GOVT.6, GOVT.9, GOVT.10, GOVT.11)
American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith | Grades 4 - 12
American Democracy is a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Museum of American History, supplemented with materials from the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. It examines our government's founding and the continuing story of America's bold experiment to be a government "of, by, and for the people."
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.3, VS.5, VS.6, VS.8, VS.9), US History I (USI.5, USI.6, USI.7), US History II (USII.3, USII.4), Civics and Economics (CE.3, CE.5), Virginia and US History (VUS.3, VUS.4, VUS.5, VUS.7), Virginia and US Government (GOVT.2, GOVT.6, GOVT.9)
Agents of Change: Female Activism in Virginia from Women's Suffrage to Today | Grades 4 - 12
The passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 radically re-defined the meaning of American democracy by banning gender-based restrictions on voting and heralded a new age of female participation in American civic life. This packet will help you and your students understand the broader impact of women’s activism in the 20th century.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.9), US History II (USII.7, USII.8, USII.9), Civics and Economics (CE.5, CE.10), Virginia and US History (VUS.10, VUS.11, VUS.14), Virginia and US Government (GOVT.6, GOVT.9)
Hat Tip: [Ad]dressing the Past through Millinery | Grades 4 - 12
This packet analyzes over a century of women’s hats and headwear to better understand women’s changing roles in Virginian and American society. From business owners to college students, Hat Tip uses primary sources such as photographs and objects to [ad]dress the past.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.9), US History II (USII.6, USII.9), Virginia and US History (VUS.8, VUS.13, VUS.14)
Teaching with Photographs | Grades 4 - 12
Teaching with Photographs includes images from the VMHC collection that can be used to address themes in post–1865 Virginia and American history including education, industrialization, urbanization, transportation, the changing roles of women, the development of Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.6, VS.8, VS.9), US History II (USII.2, USII.4, USII.6, USII.9), Virginia and US History (VUS.8, VUS.13)
Linking to Our Past | Grades 4 - 12
Linking to Our Past is designed to help students analyze and explore specific items related to African American history from the VMHC collections. Students will explore themes of identity, freedom, education, community, resistance, justice, and triumph.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.4, VS.5, VS.7, VS.9), US History I (USI.5, USI.6, USI.9), US History II (USII.3, USII.7, USII.9), Civics and Economics (CE.5, CE.10), Virginia and US History (VUS.3, VUS.7, VUS.8, VUS.11, VUS.13), Virginia and US Government (GOVT.6, GOVT.9, GOVT.10, GOVT.11)
Partners in History: VHMC & BHMVA | Grades 4 - 12
This packet explores items from the VMHC and Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia in order to understand ideas of community and how two organizations can work together to offer a more complete understanding of our past as a source of inspiration for the future.
SOLs Covered: Virginia Studies (VS.9), US History II (USII.6, USII.9), Virginia and US History (VUS.10, VUS.11, VUS.13)