FYI & Calendar
History Hunters Youth Reporter

How to Participate?Contact Info Form
CalendarWhat is the History Hunters Program?What will you see? What will students learn?
What will be Provided?

Participating is easy!

Subsidized spaces are currently filled for the 2007-2008 History Hunters Youth Reporter Program. We are still accepting classes on a fee basis. If your class is interested in participating please contact education@stenton.org or 215-329-7312.

Please follow the steps below to involve your school in this exciting program (Teachers only, please!).

NOTE: For more information on the History Hunters program fees for non-Philadelphia School District schools please contact education@stenton.org

  1. Please fill in the Contact Sheet form and email it to the History Hunters Museum Educator (education@stenton.org)
  2. After receiving confirmation from the Museum Educator about your school’s participation, review the online History Hunters Calendar to schedule dates for visits.
  3. Each class should have 4 site visits during the year, in the following order: Stenton, Cliveden, Wyck, Johnson House.
  4. Review the availability for each site on the History Hunters Calendar, by selecting the month and site name. A list of available dates will show as a list on the right.
  5. Once you have identified dates that suit your class, email those to the Museum Educator. Please do not contact the sites directly.
  6. First come, first served, so please try to schedule your visits as early as possible.
  7. If you need to schedule additional visits, please return to the History Hunters Calendar.
  8. The History Hunters staff will work with you to ensure that transportation is provided to the right place at the right time, by approved bus companies.

return to top

History Hunters is an innovative program for students in 4th and 5th grade that allows them to hunt for history in their own neighborhood. Through generous grant funding from the Heritage Philadelphia Program, a program of the Pew Charitable Trusts, participating schools will experience four of Philadelphia’s most historic house museums. At each site students will become “investigative reporters,” trying to learn as much as they can about the places and people, and then writing about their experiences.
The History Hunters curriculum:

  • Is closely linked with the Philadelphia City School District’s Social Studies Scope and Sequence
  • Focuses on literacy with a strong writing element
  • “Read To” component

return to top

Over the course of the academic year, students will travel to four historic sites in Historic Germantown, seeing buildings and artifacts that are over two hundred years old. The schedule of visits is paced to correspond with the appropriate curricular units covered in the classroom. Through site visits, students will be able to experience how people lived, and the challenges that many faced during Colonial times and in the early years of our nation’s history.

The HISTORY HUNTERS experience includes:

  • 4 site visits during the school year, including exciting on-site activities such as hands-on demonstrations, role-playing, and crafts
  • Each student receives a workbook with introductory readings and pre- and post-visit activities, a “press pass” and a reporter notepad
  • Students serve as Youth Reporters, writing up their newspaper reports after each site visit
  • Written work from students is posted on the History Hunters website
  • Selected writings appear in a NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION supplement in the Philadelphia Inquirer

return to top

At Stenton, students learn about early colonial Pennsylvania,
especially relations between European settlers and Native Americans.
At Cliveden, students focus on the period of the American Revolution, particularly the Battle of Germantown and the effects of war on the local community.
At Wyck, students explore Quaker family life in the early 1800’s through exceptional artifacts collected over 9 generations by a prominent Philadelphia family.

At Johnson House, students focus on the abolition movement, the Underground Railroad and events leading up to and through the Civil War.

 

 

return to top

The History Hunters project pays for the following costs for Philadelphia City School classes:

  • Admission to all sites
  • Costs of transportation from approved City of Philadelphia vendor’s list
  • Student workbooks with introductory materials and pre- and post-visit activities
  • Teacher materials
  • Act 48 In-service training opportunities for teachers

Return to top

 

 

Photo Tour | Youth Reporter | FYI & Calendar | Curriculum | House Sites | Resources | Home | Splash page | email: education@stenton.org
© 2003 History Hunters Youth Reporter, Stenton | website design: www.chaley.com