n o n t Ver n ou Discovering the Real George Washington: M A Teachers’ Guide to New Views from
1.1.1 1.1.1 “The Faces of George George Washington filled many roles in his life, including surveyor, Washington” for farmer, soldier, family man, military leader, slave owner, and our Elementary Teachers nation’s first president. In this lesson, your students will explore several of Washington’s roles as they are depicted in portraits.
Using the Mount Vernon website, discovergeorgewashington.org, show the following three portraits, one at a time, to your class: n Life of George Washington, the Farmer (timeline year 1764) n George Washington after the Battle of Princeton (timeline year 1777) n The Washington Family (timeline year 1784)
For each portrait, have the children describe what Washington is doing, what he is wearing, and what animals and people appear in the scene. Also have them describe the scene’s location and any action that is taking place within it. Record the children’s observations on the chalkboard, along with a list of the objects that the artist has chosen to include in the portrait. Then ask the children what they think the artist who painted the picture is trying to tell them about George Washington. List all of the children’s ideas on the chalkboard. For each idea, ask the student, “What clue(s) did the artist use to convey this message about George Washington?” Be sure not to reveal the title of the portrait until after your students have finished drawing their own conclusions through careful examination of the picture’s visual clues.
After examining all three portraits, have each student choose a role that Washington filled in his lifetime and draw a picture that portrays that role. Students should include in their portraits objects that match each role (compass and chains for surveying; sword and spyglass for soldier), as well as a background scene and possibly other people (perhaps a crowd of people at Federal Hall for president; the 16-sided barn and slaves for farmer). Have students share their finished drawings with the class, explaining what role each portrait is portraying and how the objects and scene help to represent that role. “Tr aveling While creating the website discovergeorgewashington.org, our staff Through Time with reviewed hundreds of paintings, documents, and objects to select items George Washington” that we believed best portrayed George Washington’s leadership in different capacities and at different times in his life. For this activity, for Middle School your students will create their own timelines of ten key events in Teachers Washington’s life. The ten events should reflect the different facets of Washington’s character and leadership and be spaced throughout his life.
Using the Mount Vernon website, mountvernon.org, have students review the online “Collections” and choose images of artifacts and other items that they think best represent the key events and accomplishments in Washington’s life. Encourage students to include images of different types of items from the Mount Vernon collections, including paintings, three-dimensional objects, and documents.
Using computer print-outs or their own hand-made drawings of the selected items, students should assemble their timelines on construction paper in chronological order, being sure to include for each image, a caption explaining the event or accomplishment the image represents, the date or time period when the event or accomplishment took place, and a description of the item represented by the image – including what it is made of, when it was created, and how it relates to George Washington. Have students present their timelines to the rest of the class, explaining the reasoning behind their choices of events and images. Display the finished timelines in your classroom, and encourage your students to explore the Mount Vernon timeline, discovergeorgewashington.org. “George Washington’s When George Washington took office as America’s first president in 1789, First Inaugur al,” for he was filled with trepidation – and for good reason. Many challenges High School Teachers faced him in a role that had yet to be defined. Through this lesson and its reference to present day circumstances, your students will learn about the challenges that Washington confronted when he assumed the role of president. In addition, they will examine the meaning and function of that republican institution known as the “presidential inaugural address.”
Begin the lesson by having students explore the years, 1787-1789, on the discovergeorgewashington.org web site. If possible, project on a large screen the web site image of Washington’s inaugural at New York City’s Federal Hall – or pass out copies of the image for students to examine. What visual evidence suggests that it is portraying a serious and important event?
Now have the class brainstorm a list of the issues that Washington faced when he was sworn in as president. For example, the country was deeply in debt, militarily weak, and vulnerable to enemy attack. Moreover, the nation was deeply divided on a number of major issues, including the institution of slavery. Considering these and other challenges, have students write down the messages that they would like to convey to the American people at their first inauguration if they were George Washington.
Then have students read Washington’s first inaugural address from the website, gwpapers.virginia. edu. What are the issues that Washington did, in reality, address? Why do students think he was not more specific in referencing particular problems? Since there were no electronic media, how was his speech disseminated to the American people?
Finally, have students read the 2009 speech of the current United States President, Barack Hussein Obama, which is available at whitehouse.gov. What problems was the nation facing when Obama took office? How are these challenges reflected in Obama’s speech? What similarities in terms of style and substance can students find between the inaugural speeches of our first and forty-fourth presidents? In what ways do the two speeches differ from one another? What reference does President Obama make to George Washington? How was President Obama’s speech disseminated to the nation? He remains one of the most fascinating and important figures in American history, yet he is also one of the most difficult to get to know. We instantly recognize his face, yet his achievements may seem remote to us. Who was the real George Washington?
Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon, made possible by the generous support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, brings together history and forensic science to reveal the man behind the legend. His character, intellect, courage, and wisdom can remind us of who we are as a people and a nation.
This teaching guide and poster, along with Discover the Real George Washington: Timeline, are companions to the traveling exhibition, which includes nearly 100 artifacts, 12 video and interactive programs, and three life-size, forensic figures of George Washington. These resources are designed to provide learning activities that can further discussion of George Washington once students return to the classroom. Discover the Real George Washington: Timeline, discovergeorgewashington.org, allows teachers to bring the traveling exhibition experience back to their schools through artifacts and documents relating to Washington’s life, videos, behind-the- scenes features, and playful animations. The mission of the Mount Vernon Education Department is to engage children and adults in learning about the life, leadership, character and legacy of George Washington. The Mount Vernon website, mountvernon.org, provides a wealth of biographical information about George Washington and his times, as well as lesson plans and other teaching materials.
Through our new online interactive experience, George Washington’s World for Kids, washingtonsworld.org, students can discover the real Washington at home and at war. They can explore a 3D Mount Vernon, searching for artifacts that reveal the many facets of the man; play a harpsichord so that he can dance with his beloved Martha; and serve as gun captain at Washington’s moment of greatest military achievement, the siege of Yorktown.
George Washington Wired, georgewashingtonwired.org, is Mount Vernon’s “educators-only” blog that brings you the latest news on the professional development events, research, lesson plans, and other resources that Mount Vernon’s Education Department has to offer.