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Attention Teachers and Chaperones

Welcome to the North Carolina Museum of History. We are pleased that your group has planned to visit us and would like to offer tips to prepare your students for their museum tour.

Before your visit:
Beginning September 15, 2008 the museum will provide all of our pre-visit materials for teachers and students on our website for downloading prior to your visit. Please take advantage of the many resources made available for your use prior to, during, and after your visit to the museum. To access the information go to:

www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/edu/previsit.html

Choose the materials that best suit your tour choice, student age-level, and curriculum needs. Make copies of any materials for your own personal use or for your students to use.

After your visit:
Interested in having more North Carolina history materials in your classroom? Check out our history-in-a-box kits, virtual field trips and Tar Heel Junior Historians at:

www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/edu/outreach.html

Thank you for preparing your students and chaperones for their visit to the North Carolina Museum of History. If you have questions, please email debra.nichols@ncdcr.gov or call 919-807-7986.

Types of Tours

North Carolina History Spotlight Tour    

Grades 4–12, one hour, maximum 35 students, teacher led. Offered September–May on weekdays. What’s in the spotlight today? Visit exhibits containing rotating “spotlight” stations staffed by volunteers to learn more about certain artifacts or specific sections of the exhibits. Groups will explore the museum at their own pace. On a spotlight tour, no two visits to the museum are the same!

If you chose a North Carolina History Spotlight Tour, here is what you need to know:

• All tour groups must register at the information desk in the lobby.
• Groups will be asked to break into smaller groups of 6–8 students, with a chaperone for each group.
• Maps will be provided to each group showing all exhibits and various spotlight stops on the tour.                
• Each group should start in a different gallery and move through the museum looking for spotlights and enjoying all the exhibits at its own pace.
• If another group is at a spotlight, move on to the next stop and come back to it later.
• Some spotlight stops will be manned by museum docents, so please stop and ask questions!

General Resource Guide

All age groups, one hour, maximum 35 people, led by teacher or other adult. Offered year-round. Tour the long-term exhibits Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, and A Call to Arms at your own pace. You may also include other exhibits on your tour.

General Resource Guide

Grades 4–12 and adults, one hour, maximum 35 people, docent led. Offered July–September, Jannuary– February, and June on weekdays. This guided tour features highlights from many of the museum’s exhibits, providing an overview of the people and events shaping North Carolina history.

General Resource Guide

Grades K–3, one hour, maximum 35 students, docent led. Offered September–February and June–August on weekdays. How did North Carolina’s first people look, dress, or cook, and how do we know these things? Touch, see, and even smell reproduction artifacts. See the American Indian community as it existed centuries ago and learn about its contributions to today’s communities.

American Indian Discovery Tour Resource Guide

Grades K–3, one hour, maximum 35 students, docent led. Offered September–May on weekdays. What is a string band and how does it sound? Explore North Carolina’s musical heritage by looking at traditional instruments and recognizing their sounds. Then get moving to the music with some clogging steps.

Making Music in North Carolina Discovery Tour Resource Guide

Grades 4–8, one hour, maximum 35 students, docent led. Offered September–May on weekdays. What is a duck decoy, and why are decoys still made today? Explore the traditions of various cultures and communities in North Carolina. Find out more about our heritage by visiting specific exhibits and touching and learning about objects that have been made for centuries in our state.
                       
Hands-On Heritage Discovery Tour Resource Guide  

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