Educators

These resources were originally developed in 2008 for Catholic Chicago, a temporary exhibition, and can be adapted for use in the Chicago: Crossroads of America exhibition. The gallery conversation cards will help you frame your exploration of the Museum and highlight seven themes related to life in Chicago—people, place, work, community, education, reform, and celebration. Build More

Discover the basics of architecture and Chicago’s important role in architectural history though artifacts and design-and-build projects. The Art of Construction Taking on the roles of architect and builder, students will explore architectural artifacts and then use their creativity and cooperative skills to design and construct their own buildings. Download The Art of Construction. Discovering More

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, world’s fairs and expositions celebrated the past while introducing visions of the future. Chicago hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 and the A Century of Progress World’s Fair in 1933–34. The lessons in this unit cover the art and architecture of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition; the connections More

Discover Chicago’s beginning as a fur-trade outpost in the early nineteenth century. Treasure Chest Students will read a historical fiction story called “Trading Mystery” to learn what life was like in early Chicago during the fur-trade era. Students will then analyze and share their impressions of a “treasure chest” full of early Chicago artifacts. Download More

Enrich your instruction with Great Chicago Stories, an award-winning suite of twelve historical fiction narratives and supporting classroom resources. Download the narratives and unit plans, which were written and classroom-tested by local teachers. Use the interactive history map to click on then-and-now images of locations from each narrative. Investigate historical evidence using question prompts and More