Primary sources are an essential part of every teacher’s tool box. Using repositories like Remembering Lincoln not only teaches students how to read primary sources but also how to utilize online databases for research. 

Google Arts and Culture gets us excited about the digital future of Ford’s Theatre. You may wonder, “Why? What is Google Arts and Culture and how can it help me—as a teacher, student, Lincoln scholar, or just casual visitor to the site?"

Reflecting on two summers spent in intensive, content-rich professional development through Ford’s Theatre—as a Civil War Washington Teacher Fellow in 2014 and as a Seat of War and Peace scholar in 2015—the biggest impact on my teaching has been getting to know the ordinary: the everyday objects, spaces and moments made the Civil War era extraordinary.

Chris Lese, a teacher at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently worked with Ford’s Theatre to bring his students into local archives and upload responses to the Lincoln assassination to the Remembering Lincoln Digital Collection.

This week, Oratory Fellow Darrin Comstock explains a visit his students shared with former Congressman Hal Daub. Read how their meeting encouraged the students to consider the importance of effective public speaking.

In this post, eighth-grade teacher and Ford’s Oratory Fellow Giani Clarkson shares his experiences teaching the art of oratory to his students in Washington, D.C. 

Ford’s Theatre recently received generous grant funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services to host summer professional development institutes for Grades 3-12 teachers for the next two years. 

At the our recent Teacher Preview Workshop, we discussed how teachers employ historical fiction texts in their classroom. Is historical fiction dangerous? Or, does historical fiction bring students closer to history? What is to be gained by dramatizing the past?

For the last several years, I’ve worked as a Ford’s Theatre Teaching Artist, teaching Lincoln’s speeches and oratory skills to area middle school students. 

For the third year, our National Oratory Fellows journeyed to Washington in early September for a two-day planning meeting to kick off their school years. Here are some things they wanted to share about their favorite moments of the Pretreat and being a part of Ford’s National Oratory Fellows.