Discover innovative ways to introduce students to the complexities of immigration throughout U.S. history. Walk the city streets, eat your way to cultural understanding, and investigate where the past meets the present as you gain content knowledge and strategies to enrich your classroom. All participants receive curricular materials.
Professional development workshops can include tours of 97 Orchard Street and of our gateway Lower East Side neighborhood. Each workshop is paired with a session exploring ways to incorporate primary sources, multiple perspectives, and narrative in the curriculum, as well as methods to use history to explore contemporary issues. As is true of all the Museum's educational programs, these workshops were developed in keeping with the goals of national and New York State learning standards.
The Museum offers full- and half-day professional development workshops for K-12 teachers. Individuals can register for full-day workshops held throughout the year. The Museum also offers workshops for private groups. Dates and times are flexible. A minimum of 10 educators and a maximum of 30 educators are allowed per workshop. For rates and availability, please contact our group services manager, Harrison Rivers, at hrivers@tenement.org.
The Tenement Museum's professional development workshops for teachers are made possible, in part, through a generous grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Hearst Foundation.
Architecture
Learn how to "read" the built environment. Teachers investigate 97 Orchard Street and the Lower
East Side neighborhood to uncover its layers of history. Find out how the streets got their names and
the mysteries that wallpaper holds during this hands-on architectural study. Discover tools to utilize
buildings as educational resources that reveal a community’s history and values.
Cultural Adaptation
What does it mean to be American? Participate in living history and "meet" Victoria Confino, a 14-
year-old girl who lived in 97 Orchard Street and negotiated her cultural heritage in a foreign land.
Explore the ways that immigrants preserve and adapt their traditions, as well as how they transform
American culture and what it means to be American.
Discrimination
Explore the connections between immigration, discrimination, and popular culture. Teachers examine
the stories of families that encountered ethnic and racial prejudice and consider the history and
impact of discrimination on individuals, communities, and the United States. Music and political
cartoons highlight the role that popular culture plays in advancing and negating stereotypes.
Industrialization
Learn about industrialization and its impact on immigrant communities. Teachers examine the jobs
immigrants often do and consider how the Industrial Revolution impacted employment opportunities
and empowered workers to take some control over their livelihood. Investigate the role of the Triangle
Shirtwaist Fire and explore multiple perspectives of this tragedy through primary sources.
Hamilton Grange Workshop
Monday, March 5th, 9 am-3 pm
FREE
The National Parks of New York Harbor and the Tenement Museum are happy to announce their next professional development workshop. The Hamilton Grange National Memorial (http://www.nps.gov/hagr/index.htm) will host this brand-new, FREE workshop for secondary school teachers on Monday, March 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Learn about the life Alexander Hamilton, framer of the US Constitution, economist, and first Secretary of the Treasury, as well as his New York City home, known as Hamilton Grange. This workshop will utilize the history of this famous New Yorker to enhance lesson planning skills through place-based education. Participants will go on a special tour of the home and surrounding property, examine primary resources, and learn about one of the most influential founders of the United States, and resident of The Big Apple, from Hamilton scholar and author Richard Brookhiser. Participants will also receive digital resources for use in the classroom and a copy of the book by Brookhiser. Find new and engaging ways to plan your lessons in the home of a forefather of the United States!
To register for this FREE workshop, click here and provide your name, school name and address, grade level you teach, phone number, and preferred email address.
This workshop is being offered in collaboration with Brooklyn College, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Bank Street College, the National Parks of New York Harbor, and is funded through the National Park Service History and Civics Program. The History and Civics funding was appropriated to establish a pilot program for the teaching of American history and civics in the National Parks.
