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Elementary School (GRDS K-5) Field Trips
History Station
Grades 3-5 • November & March, December-February • $8/Student • Learning Standards
The 1800s come alive through sights, sounds, and smells. Students witness forging iron in the Blacksmith Shop, churning butter in the 1840s farmhouse, and learning about corn grinding in the Log House. Students will also experience the cultural legacy of the one-room schoolhouse that gave rise to the popularization of the 3Rs (reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic), and cooperative/peer learning. The program duration is 3 hours.
Student learning outcomes include:
- Identify individual and community needs and learn about different solutions to the challenges of survival and community formation
- Identify differences and similarities between the 19th century and today in land use, work, chores, home and family life, material culture, and leisure time activities
- Practice historical thinking, using multiple perspectives, analysis of evidence, causes and effects, and ethical reasoning
Time Travel Trip
Grades K-8 • April - June, September - October, • $8/Student • Learning Standards
Follow the development of a typical Northern Illinois town as it grows from a frontier outpost in the 19th century to a thriving agricultural center in the early 20th century to a 21st-century community where people live and work. Meet museum educators and volunteers who will engage your students in inquiry and discovery along your self-guided tour of our spacious 13-acre campus. Classes are able to choose the duration of their visit anytime between 9:30 am and 3 pm.
Naper Settlement In Your Classroom
Naper Settlement in Your Classroom: 1890s Schoolhouse Classroom Visit
Grades 3-8 • $150 per Class/30 Students • Learning Standards
Transform your 21st-century classroom into a one-room schoolhouse. Your students will take on the role of 19th-century students with a schoolteacher in period clothing leading the class. Our staff will provide old-fashioned classroom instruction and supplies, including slates, slate pencils, and McGuffey Readers. The program lasts approximately 1.5 hours. Consecutive programs may be booked. Ask about availability for your school.
History Station Virtual Field Trip
Grades 3-5 • Year-Round Program • $150 per Class, up to 30 Students • Learning Standards
This interactive virtual learning program allows students to experience the past using Naper Settlement as a backdrop. The History Station digital field trip experience will take students through our historic grounds and houses to learn about the chores and common trades of the 1800s and evaluate the cultural significance of work and home life of families and communities. There are many ways to solve the problems of food, shelter, transportation, and community resilience.
Student learning outcomes include:
- Describe the overall pattern of settlement in northern Illinois communities, including indigenous removal
- Identify individual and community needs and learn about different solutions to the challenges of survival and community formation
- Identify differences and similarities between the 19th century and today in land use, work, chores, home and family life, material culture, and leisure time activities
- Use primary and secondary resources to construct narratives about the past
- Practice historical thinking, using multiple perspectives, analysis of evidence, causes and effects, and ethical reasoning
Lessons in Resilience Virtual Field Trip
Grades 5-6 • Year-Round Program • $150 per classroom, up to 30 students • Learning Standards
Through historical examples, students will hear the stories and strategies that illuminate the ways Americans have endured hardship, solved problems, and envisioned strong community futures. This program prioritizes social-emotional learning skills that today’s students can develop as they discover how weather, illness, and discrimination affected local individuals, families, and communities in the past.
This program prioritizes social-emotional learning skills. Student learning outcomes include:
- Analyze and evaluate primary and secondary source documents and images
- Use historical thinking skills, including asking historical questions, seeking evidence, and constructing interpretive narratives
- Cite three major kinds of challenging events that can be found across time, culture, and history
- Define “Resilience,” elaborate on how resilience is expressed at the individual, family/household, and community levels
- Synthesize characteristics of resilience from three discrete historical narratives
- Explain complex interactions of cause and effect between people, places, organizations, and events
Building Naperville at Naper Settlement
Grade 4 • $8/Student • District 203 & 204 and Naperville Private Schools
Formerly called “Living History,” Building Naperville engages 4th grade Naperville students in an interactive exploration of commerce, trade, and technology in Naperville’s 19th-century culture and economy to develop geographic, economic, and historical literacy and civic awareness. Students will experience history as they interact with our engaging staff and artifacts to discover how Naperville grew from the Illinois prairie to become the city in which we live, work, and play. This trip includes a highly interactive onsite experience and includes digital tours for teachers to use back in the classroom. The program duration is 3 hours.
Student learning outcomes include:
- Identify individual and community needs and learn about different solutions to the challenges of survival and community formation
- Identify differences and similarities between the 19th century and today in land use, work, chores, home and family life, material culture, and leisure time activities
- Practice historical thinking, using multiple perspectives, analysis of evidence, causes and effects, and ethical reasoning
Building Naperville Virtual Field Trip
Grade 4 • Year-Round Program • $150 per Class/30 Students • District 203 & 204 and Naperville Private Schools • Learning Standards
Students will engage in an interactive exploration of commerce, trade, and technology in Naperville’s interdependent, 19th-century culture and economy to develop geographic, economic, and historical literacy and civic awareness. The program helps students build context and understanding of the settlement and community development patterns of Naperville and Illinois including Indigenous presence and displacement, European settlement, immigration, and migration. The Living History digital field trip experience will take students through our historic grounds and buildings to learn about community transformation from prairie to city.
Student learning outcomes include:
- Describe the overall pattern of settlement in Naperville and in other northern Illinois communities, including indigenous removal
- Identify individual and community needs and learn about different solutions to the challenges of survival and community formation
- Identify differences and similarities between the 19th century and today in land use, work, chores, home and family life, material culture, and leisure time activities
- Use primary and secondary resources to construct narratives about the past
- Practice historical thinking, using multiple perspectives, analysis of evidence, causes and effects, and ethical reasoning
Please Note: This program is for Naperville School District 203 and 204 schools. Other school districts, please see our History Station field trip.
Hunt for History at Naper Settlement
Grade 2 • April • $8/Student, 2-Hour Program, District 203 & 204 and Naperville Private Schools
Students become detectives on a quest to learn about their local community, then and now. This interactive program takes students on a hunt throughout the historic buildings where museum educators in period clothing challenge their knowledge of history and engage them in activities sure to make this trip a favorite memory from 2nd grade. The program duration is 2 hours.