School Programs
BRING YOUR CLASS TO THE HISTORIC WALT WHITMAN BIRTHPLACE.
Class trips enrich classroom instruction and create life-long learning experiences! Students will get to meet a published poet, write creative poems, tour Walt’s birthplace, explore our Interpretative Center exhibits, hear Walt’s voice, and see Walt’s teacher’s desk!
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Journey Through Time
Grades 9-12
Secondary students “Journey Through Time” in multiple ways on their field trip to the Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site. The tour begins in our Interpretive Center, where students watch an historic video about immigration and Whitman’s experience of growing up in New York, followed by a self-guided tour of our exhibit panels, which depict significant events in Walt’s life from his birth in 1819 through to the publication of the ninth edition of his most famous work, “Leaves of Grass,” 1892.
The “Journey Through Time” continues with a tour of the historic Birthplace, built by Walt’s father, Walter Sr., in 1810. Students will learn of the life and times of young Walt, who was born in the house on May 31, 1819, over 200 years ago.
Students will then enjoy a poetry workshop, led by a published poet. They will learn about free verse, or non-rhyming poetry, which Walt popularized more than 150 years ago through reading Walt’s poetry and discussing his other poetic elements – metaphors, word repetition and list poems. They will also discuss the meanings of Walt’s poems and what makes them relevant today.
Using Whitman’s poems as a model or “prompt,” students write their own free verse poetry to share.
Estimated time: 2.5 hours
Monday – Friday ……………………Minimum Fee $150
$9 /student ………………………..(December and January)
$10 /student ………………………..(all other months)
To register for the program, contact our Education Director at 631-427-5240, ext. 113 or email educator@waltwhitman.org
Students will watch a 10-minute video about Whitman’s pioneering poetry, celebrated worldwide for its democratic outlook and new, distinctly American style.
Students read The Sleepers, O Democracy, and I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman and discuss the concepts of empathy, democracy, and civic mindedness, and discover that they have a responsibility to everyone in the community, especially to those who do not possess a voice. Students write a poem about various people in their lives and neighborhoods in the model of Whitman’s poems.
They will also tour the authentic 19th c. farmhouse in which Walt Whitman was born and view the updated timeline exhibits which depicts significant events in Walt’s life from his birth to the final 9th edition publication of “Leaves of Grass” in 1892.
Estimated time: 2.5 hours
Monday – Friday ……………………Minimum Fee $150
$9/student ………………………..(December and January)
$10/student ………………………..(all other months)
To register for the program, contact our Education Director at 631-427-5240, ext. 113 or email educator@waltwhitman.org
Civic Mindedness
Grades 4-12
This program evokes the connection between Walt Whitman and his personal experience with the Civil War, how it impacted him, influenced his poetry, led to his great compassion for others and why he was known as the Poet of Democracy.
Whitman often spoke of the importance of the Civil War in Leaves of Grass. In addition, he penned “Drum Taps,” a sequence of 43 poems about the Civil War which explored his emotional experience of excitement, doubt, direct observation, compassion, and involvement with wounded soldiers. Walt spent a year with wounded Civil War soldiers, writing letters for them.
Students tour the authentic 19th c. farmhouse in which Walt was born. In the modern Interpretive Center, students watch a 10-minute Poetry Foundation video about Whitman’s pioneering poetry, celebrated for its distinctly American style.
Students will read excerpts from his poetry related to the Civil War, including “O Captain! My Captain!” and “Beat! Beat! Drums!” and read two letters that Walt penned on behalf of injured soldiers. Students then write a poem or a letter for a person who could use their help and support.
Teachers receive a civic resource curriculum packet prior to their class trip and may continue related activities back in their classroom.
Estimated time: 2.5 hours
Monday – Friday ……………………Minimum Fee $15o
$9/student ………………………..(December and January)
$10/student ………………………..(all other months)
To register for the program, contact our Education Director at 631-427-5240, ext. 113 or email educator@waltwhitman.org
Create and Explore
Grades 3-8
This program uses an interdisciplinary approach that combines language arts and social studies. In a poetry writing workshop taught by a published poet, students are encouraged to explore the creative process by reading and writing poetry. They explore the meaning of words, build awareness of language, and enhance comprehension skills.
Students tour the authentically furnished 19th century farmhouse, the Walt Whitman Birthplace, home of America’s great poet, born here in 1819. In the Interpretive Center, students view exhibit panels of 19th century America, see Walt’s schoolmaster’s desk from the schoolhouse in Woodbury, Long Island, where he taught in the summer of 1840, and view an authentic printing press like one used by Walt. Students will also hear a recording of Walt’s voice reading his poem, “America,” and view a video about colonial life on a farm.
Estimated time: 2.5 hours
Monday – Friday ……………………Minimum Fee $150
$9/student ………………………..(December and January)
$10/student ………………………..(all other months)
To register for the program, contact our Education Director at 631-427-5240, ext. 113 or email educator@waltwhitman.org
See and Touch
Grades Pre-K – 2
Students tour the home in which Walt Whitman was born and learn what life was like 200 years ago in 1819. Children recognize the similarities and the differences from past to present as they play and interact with the toys of Walt Whitman’s time. An optional video could be shown depicting typical toys throughout the decades from 1910 to 2015.
Estimated time: 1.5 hours Monday-Friday; Minimum Fee $150
$9.00/student in person
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