K-8 at the History Center
Field Trips and Youth Programming
Education programs at The History Center in Tompkins County bring local history out of the archives and into the hands — and imaginations — of students. From museum-based gallery explorations and curriculum-linked lessons on maps, transportation, and community life, to immersive living-history days at the Eight Square Schoolhouse (Tompkins County’s 1827 octagonal one-room school and the only brick example of its kind in New York), our offerings are designed for K–8 learners and tailored to classroom standards.
Contact Jane Koestler at eightsquare@thehistorycenter.net to inquire about program scheduling and fees
Tours and Lessons in the Exhibit Hall
For classes interested in visiting the Exhibit Hall space in Ithaca Commons with structured engagement and guidance, we suggest pairing a Exhibit Hall tour with a history lesson. Tours and lessons have been designed to compliment each other to nurture both observational and hands-on skills.
Exhibit Bingo
Target Age Range: Fourth/Fifth Grade or Middle School
Location: at THC
Duration: 30 - 60 minutes
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 24 students)
Students work with a partner to explore the current exhibit and answer questions on a gallery bingo sheet. Each bingo sheet helps students go a little deeper into a topic while examining the main exhibits in our gallery. Answering five questions in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) results in a bingo win. Nine areas of the exhibit have accompanying bingo sheets.
Gallery Exploration
Target Age Range: First/Second/Third Grade
Location: at THC
Duration: 30 minutes
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 22 students)
Small groups of 2-5 students and a chaperone explore the gallery by rotating through the museum exhibits. Chaperones are provided a guide to help make displays accessible to the students.
Lessons
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Target Age Range: First/Second Grade.
Location: at THC
Duration: 75 minutes with an exhibit tour
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 22 students)
Through discussion about the role of history museums and interaction with historical objects, the children will appreciate that history keeps growing every day. Students will investigate some historical artifacts and answer research questions about what they are made of, how they were used, and when they were used. Students will then share the stories of their objects.
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Target Age Range: Second Grade.
Location: at THC
Duration: 75 minutes with an exhibit tour
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 22 students)
Through examination of photographs from The History Center’s collection, students will discover that urban and rural communities have similar traits over time. We will explore such questions as “What did my community look like when my grandma (great grandma) was a child? How do neighborhoods change over time?”.
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Target Age Range: Third/Fourth Grade
Location: at THC
Duration: 75 minutes with an exhibit tour
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 24 students)
Students will examine a variety of local historical maps to explore NYS and local history over time. Students will build skills and gain confidence in their mapping skills by exploring symbols, map keys, the use of scale, the compass rose, and how maps incorporate color and words to communicate information. They will also deepen their understanding of local geography and reflect on the rapid growth of the county during the 1800s.
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Target Age Range: Fourth/Fifth Grade or Middle School
Location: at THC
Duration: 75 minutes with additional 30 minutes if including exhibit tour
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 24 students)
By viewing pictures of demolished or renovated structures and visiting actual historic sites, students will explore downtown historic Ithaca. The History Center of Tompkins County is located in Bank Alley on the present day Commons. This area has been a focus of downtown Ithaca life for over 200 years, but looks quite different today than how it looked in the 1800s. The walking tour concentrates on the area around DeWitt Park and the Ithaca Commons, including the following sites: The Boardman House, churches located in or near DeWitt Park, the Beebe-Halsey House, the DeWitt Building, the Clinton House, the Masonic Temple, the Ithaca Times building, the Grant/Floros Block, the Colonial Building, and Home Dairy.
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Target Age Range: Fifth Grade thru Middle School
Location: at THC
Duration: 75 minutes with additional 30 minutes if including exhibit tour
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 24 students)
Students learn about the Erie Canal, its bicentennial celebration, and how the Cayuga-Seneca Canal connects Ithaca and Tompkins County to this transformative work of engineering. Then students engage in a STEM activity to create their own barges using selected resources. The goal is to create a boat that will carry the largest load (of pennies) possible. Students have the opportunity to build and test their barges.
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Target Age Range: Fourth/Fifth Grade or Middle School
Duration: 30 or 60 minutes with an exhibit tour
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 24 students)
Through stories and pictures, students will learn about some local connections to the Underground Railroad and identify their locations on a map of downtown Ithaca. Basic mapping skills are reinforced as maps are labeled with a key of local points of interest.
Field Trips at the Eight Square School House
The Eight Square Schoolhouse is the oldest school still standing in Tompkins County and the only brick octagonal schoolhouse in New York State. It was built in 1827 to replace a smaller, wooden, plank school that had been built in the same spot in 1814. The Eight Square Schoolhouse was used as a one-room school for children in Dryden until1941, when busing allowed districts to centralize.
We look forward to seeing you at the Eight Square Schoolhouse! Both programs run for approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes, and the fee is $350 per class for up to 24 (fourth grade) students. If you would like to reserve a date for a class visit or have any questions, please contact Jane Koestler, Eight Square Schoolhouse Coordinator at eightsquare@thehistorycenter.net
Living History Program
Target Age Range: Fourth grade
Duration: three hours, 20 minutes
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 24 students)
The Living History Program gives fourth graders from public or private schools, as well as home school groups, an opportunity to experience a day at school in 1892. Students are invited to dress in period clothing, choose an 1892 name to use during their visit, and imagine life over 130 years ago. After a short introduction in the present, a Living History Interpreter, dressed and acting as a schoolteacher, takes the students back in time to 1892. Using our authentic 1890s curriculum, students experience lessons in reading (from a period primer), drawing (with chalk on slates), vocabulary, and arithmetic. We have an outdoor break with period games before a picnic style lunch. We briefly come back to the present after recess to check in with the students and reflect on issues of equity and inclusion. Students wash their hands using a well pump before enjoying an outdoor lunch (in nice weather). After, students partake in a nature lesson and transition back inside the schoolhouse for a penmanship lesson with metal nib pens and ink. The1892 school day ends with a geography lesson using period maps. We move back to the present for a closing discussion and some time for reflection.
Historic Site Visit
Target Age Range: Fourth grade
Duration: three hours, 20 minutes
Capacity (Min-Max): 1 class (up to 24 students)
The Historic Site Visit gives fourth graders from public or private schools, as well as home school groups, an opportunity to experience a selection of activities that might have been used in 1892. During the program, students participate in reading (from a period primer), drawing (with chalk on slates), vocabulary, and arithmetic lessons. Period games are introduced before an outside break and a picnic style lunch. After, students partake in a nature lesson and transition back inside the schoolhouse for a penmanship lesson with metal nib pens and ink. The final activity includes a geography lesson using period maps. Students may choose to wear historical costumes, but the educator will not pretend to travel back in time.