National Park Service

Student Education Programs

Gettysburg National Military Park offers a series of education programs for school groups that visit the park, designed for the enrichment of your students' understanding of the battle and its consequences. These ranger guided programs are only available for approximately six weeks in the Fall (October through November) and eight weeks in the Spring (March through May), and require participation in our September program lottery drawing. If you are interested in being included on our mailing list, send a request on your school's letterhead to the Education Coordinator, Gettysburg National Military Park, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100, Gettysburg, PA 17325. And remember that preparation of your class with pre-visit activities is essential to a complete and successful program!

PROGRAM DATES

Spring 2008: Programs will be held March 24 to May 23, 2008.
Fall 2008: Programs will be available from September 22 to October 31, 2008.

Gettysburg Student Program Reservation Request Form 2007-2008 (pdf)

CORE PROGRAMS

Care of the Wounded
Purpose: To show the damaging effects of the Civil War upon soldiers and civilian life as seen through the eyes of an army doctor. To present the function and operation of the Union Army Medical Department.
Grades: 5 to 12 Class size: 30 max./10 min.
Length: two hours
Procedure: Students will participate in discussion/activities which demonstrate the function ad operation of the Army Medical Department, including the set up of a temporary field hospital on a civilian farm. Physical activities include walking, sitting and carrying.

Impact of War: The Slyder Farm Family
Purpose: To focus on a farm family that lived in Gettysburg at the time of the battle and the impact the war had on both civilians and soldiers. The program will introduce students to 19th Century farming practices and to the townspeople of Gettysburg, before, during and after the great battle.
Grades: 5 to 8
Class size: 30 max./10 min.
Length: two hours
Procedure: Students will hike approximately 1/4 mile down a trail on the western slope of Big Round Top to the Slyder Farm. Several students will roleplay the Slyder family and others will portray the soldiers they encountered on July 2, 1863.

Civil War Soldier
Purpose: To present the motives for joining the Union Army and the hard, unpleasant, dangerous, and often boring life of a soldier during the Civil War.
Grades: 2 to 6
Class size: 35 max./10 min.
Length: two hours
Procedure: Students will participate in discussion/activities that present the training, equipment, life and feelings of the volunteer soldiers. Physical activity involves running, walking, sitting, and standing in formation.

Note: This program is NOT recommended for students who have participated in the Traveling Trunk program, since the purposes and equipment are similar.

Pickett's Charge
Purpose: To examine the experiences and emotions of the Southern soldiers in battle, using the words of actual participants in "Pickett's Charge".
Grades: 5 to 12
Class size: 35 max./10 min.
Length: two hours
Procedure: Students will walk in formation across the field of Pickett's Charge, approximately one mile in length, replaying the roles of individual soldiers. Group unity and participation are stressed throughout the activities. The program makes use of firsthand accounts of the action, including the soldiers feelings and reactions during this sobering event.

Unfinished Work: Creation and Dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery
Purpose: To convey the significance and relevance of the Gettysburg Address and the Gettysburg Soldiers' National Cemetery. To present the battle of Gettysburg from the perspective of its aftermath, destruction and re-building.
Grades: 8 to 12
Class size: 35 max./10 min.
Length: two hours
Procedure: Students will participate in small group activities that simulate the process of soldier identification following the Gettysburg battle. They will then read the letters of ten soldiers buried in the cemetery and analyze their contents with Lincoln's Gettysburg Address sentiments.

FALL FOOTSTEPS PROGRAMS

COURAGE & THE 9TH MASSACHUSETTS BATTERY
“Retreat by prolonge, firing!” is the order as your unit is sacrificed to buy time for the infantry to plug the gaps along Cemetery Ridge. Follow in the path and harried activity of this courageous artillery unit.
GRADES: 4 to 12
CLASS SIZE: 50 max./15 min.
LENGTH: 1 hour

DETERMINATION & THE 15TH ALABAMA INFANTRY
Climb Big Round Top and attack Little Round Top after a forced march, and without any water! This program illustrates the strength, stamina and determination of these Confederate infantrymen.
GRADES: 4 to 12
CLASS SIZE: 50 max./15 min.
LENGTH: 1 hour

LEADERSHIP & THE 6TH WISCONSIN INFANTRY
“Align on the Colors” with Lt. Colonel Rufus Dawes, on July 1st, 1863 as you rush toward an unfinished railroad cut filled with firing Confederate soldiers. Will the cut continue to serve as their cover, or will it become their trap? Leadership will determine the day.
GRADES: 4 to 12
CLASS SIZE: 50 max./15 min.
LENGTH: 1 hour

*PREPARING YOUR CLASS WITH PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES IS A REQUIREMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS!*

Group Activity For The New Museum

The park offers a starter museum activity for schools and other youth groups to use while visiting the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. The museum gallery offers a wide variety of exhibits that will take the visitor through the Civil War from the pre-war causes of the conflict to its completion in 1865. It also covers the aftermath of the war and how it has affected our nation up to today. Naturally a large portion of the museum focuses on the Battle of Gettysburg and President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, with military and civilian relics of the time period featured throughout. 

Your class can use the attached activity form, which is a list of questions that can only be answered by visiting the museum galleries, and discover special parts of the museum that will help them understand the significance of Gettysburg and the people who took part in this historic event. Teachers should print out a copy for your visit to the park.

There are rules we insist groups follow while partaking of this activity:

1. Please make sure your students have a book or clipboard and pencils (no pens) to fill out the activity form while in the galleries.

2. Students must NOT lean on the cases while trying to write.

3. Students must be courteous to other visitors in the gallery by not blocking exhibits for unreasonable amounts of time or loud talking.

Gettysburg Museum Group Activity 2008