A key facet of the National Road Heritage Corridor’s mission is education as it works to advocate for, build awareness of, and encourage the conservation of the cultural, historic, natural, recreational and economic resources along Pennsylvania’s Historic National Road and the broader region. The NRHC recognizes that to be successful in their mission there must be a strong educational component to their work because without knowledge, residents and visitors will not see the value in taking care of this important place and its resources.
To that end, the NRHC has developed some learning tools and supporting documents to introduce local history into classrooms.
Early Childhood Local History Awareness Learning Tools – The goal of the units is to increase young children’s awareness of the local history surrounding them. Ultimately, the NRHC hopes to instill a sense of “pride in place” and help children understand the need to protect these important local resources.
The Learning Tools will be organized in four stand-alone units: The French and Indian War and Fort Necessity; George Washington; Thomas Jefferson; and The National Road. Each unit has a short description of the historical background for you, a brief read aloud to introduce the students to the history and events, photographs of important people or places to display, and several student activities you can use to further develop your students’ understanding.
Each unit begins with an activity to introduce the main idea, and a second activity to assist students in making connections to the topic. The student activities are aligned with the Pennsylvania Core Standards, and are designed to be used as brief, teacher-directed activities or fleshed out into larger thematic themes.
Description: This WebQuest allows students to research the history and features of The National Road in Pennsylvania. Students will create an informational brochure based on the knowledge they have compiled from the research.
Grade Level: 3-5
Curriculum: English / Language Arts
Keywords: National Road,Route 40,National Pike, Old National Pike, Old Pike, Pennsylvania trails, federal highway, U.S. Route 40
Author(s): Rebecca Maddas
In 2007, the National Road Heritage Corridor and its Heritage Council reached out to elementary school teachers along the corridor to break ground on a new program that takes local history into the classroom without teaching a local history curriculum.
The result was the development of a 3rd to 4th grade level learning center that includes activities and projects that take a cross discipline approach and meet PA standards.
To obtain a CD that includes the learning center information including all the elements needed to build the center including the bulletin boards, master copies, etc., please contact the National Road Heritage Corridor 724-437-9877 or firstname.lastname@example.org. There is a small fee to cover production and shipping.