Teaching and Learning
Ford’s Education provides dynamic learning experiences for all teachers and students.
Our teacher programs and resources explore the leadership and legacy of Abraham Lincoln and the city of Civil War Washington. Through historic site visits, virtual field trips, student matinees, and oratory programs, we offer powerful and unforgettable opportunities to express, explore and engage. Come learn with us!
Featured Programs
Virtual Field Trips
No matter where you are, you can learn about President Lincoln’s assassination and Civil War Washington through our distance-learning programs.
Student Matinees
Ford’s Theatre offers weekday student matinees and lessons to complement your curriculum.
Stand Up, Be Heard
The Stand Up, Be Heard program is a transformative initiative that empowers young people to confidently express themselves through civic engagement, research, historical thinking and public speaking.
Ford’s Approach to Oratory
Abraham Lincoln was a powerful orator who used his words to inspire and unite. Reflecting this legacy, the Ford’s Theatre Oratory Approach offers easy-to-implement tools that help every student develop public speaking skills and find their own powerful voice.
Teaching Lincoln’s Assassination and Legacy
We offer ready-to-use history lesson plans focused on how to teach President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the Civil War.
Education Resources
We offer teachers many ways to bring President Abraham Lincoln into your classroom.
Narrative Writing: Using a Primary Source Memoir
In this lesson, students will close-read a narrative primary source (a letter from Julia Adelaide Shepard, an eyewitness to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln) and use it as a mentor text for creating their own piece of narrative writing.
Type: Classroom Activities, Lessons, Primary Sources
Levels: Grades 3 to 5
Podium Points
Ford’s Theatre has identified nine elements of effective public speaking. This lesson teaches students use those elements and helps them recognize how to use them effectively.
Type: Classroom Activities, Lessons
Levels: Grades 3 to 5, Grades 6 to 8, Grades 9 to 12
The Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln
In this free lesson plan, students use first-person primary source documents and perspective taking to better understand the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Type: Classroom Activities, Lessons
Levels: Grades 5 to 8
