At the Museum
- Available Tuesday thru Friday
- 90 minutes to 2 hours in length, depending upon age of students
In your classroom
- Available Tuesday thru Friday
- 45 minutes or length of class period
To schedule school programs please fill out our inquiry form by clicking the button below.
School Programs We Currently Offer
A Home Away From Home
1st grade
- At Macculloch Hall Historical Museum only
- 90 minute program
- Visit the kitchen and drawing room at Macculloch Hall
- Tour the restored garden
- Learn what Mr. Macculloch grew on his farm
- Make a decorated cardboard grandfather clock
- Hear about family traditions from Great Britain and the American holidays celebrated by the Macculloch family.
Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
6.1.2.GeoHE.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.2, 6.1.2.GeoHE.4, 6.1.2.GeoGI.1, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.1, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3, 6.1.2.HistorySE.3
Lessons from the Garden
2nd-3rd grade
- At Macculloch Hall Historical Museum only
- 2 hour program
- Visit the restored historic garden
- Discuss the plant cycle, including plant parts and their purposes
- Learn about repurposing and recycling in the 19th century
- Examine soil types while preparing soil for planting bean seeds to take home
- Learn about vermicomposting and handle earthworms to understand their purpose in creating rich soil
- Participate in a garden scavenger hunt
- Program runs rain or shine
Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
6.1.2.GeoPP.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.2, 6.1.2.GeoGI.1, 6.1.2.EconET.2, 6.1.2.EconEM.3, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3, 6.1.5.GeoPP.2, 6.1.5.EconET.3, 6.1.5.EconEM.5, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.9
Meeting Mr. Macculloch
2nd-4th grade
- At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
- 45-60 minute program
- Introductory PowerPoint about the Macculloch family, Macculloch Hall and the use of primary sources
- Discuss the contents of a letter Mr. Macculloch wrote to his son and what we can learn about life in New Jersey in the early 1800s.
- Try using a dipping pen and washable ink to copy a letter written by Mr. Macculloch.
- Examine objects from the 1800s.
- Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall with their family.
Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
6.1.2.CivicsCM.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.2, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.2, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3, 6.1.5.CivicsCM.5, 6.1.5.GeoPP.2, 6.1.5,GeoHE.2, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.9, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6
Building the Morris Canal
4th-5th grade
- At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
- 45-60 minute program
- Introductory PowerPoint about George Macculloch, the “father of the Morris Canal” and why New Jersey needed a canal
- Discuss how primary sources can provide information
- Use 19th century photos to learn about the Morris Canal and what life was like living on the canal
- Build a floor map-model that follows the route of the Morris Canal
- Examine objects from the 1800s
- Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall with their family.
Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
6.1.5.CivicsCM.1, 6.1.5.CivicsCM.3, 6.1.5.CivicsCM.5, 6.1.5.GeoPP.2, 6.1.5.GeoSV.2, 6.1.5.GeoHE.2, 6.1.5.GeoGI.2, 6.1.5.EconET.1, 6.1.5.EconEM.4, 6.1.5.EconNM.3, 6.1.5.EconNM.4, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.1, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.9
Meet the Press: NY Civil War Weekly Newspapers
5th-11th grade
- At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
- 45-60 minute program
- Introductory PowerPoint about the role of illustrated newspapers in the 1850s.
- Students work on teams to design a front page for an 1862 newspaper selecting images and creating headlines to capture the interest of their audience.
- Learn more about the life of Thomas Nast (1840-1902) who Lincoln called his “best recruiting sergeant” for the Union.
- Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall.
Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
6.1.5.GeoPP.1, 6.1.5.GeoSV.1, 6.1.5.EconGE.1, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.2, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6, 6.1.5.HistorySE.2, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.c, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.g, 6.1.12.GeoSV.4.a, 6.1.12.HistoryCC.3.a, 6.1.12.EconNE.3.a
A Call to Arms
5th-11th grade
- At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
- 45-60 minute program
- Introductory PowerPoint about Lincoln’s Call to Arms and Lindley Miller’s (1834-1864) actions during the Civil War. This includes an examination of Thomas Nast’s painting “The Departure of the Seventh Regiment to the War”.
- Students use primary source “Witness to History” cards to discover differing viewpoints (Northerners, Southerners, and residents of Washington, D.C.) in the dawning days of the Civil War
- Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall.
Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
6.1.5.HistoryCC.2, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.5, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.a, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.g, 6.1.12.CivicsPR.4.a, 6.1.12.HistoryUP.4.b
Capturing the Slave Ship Erie
5th-11th grade
- At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
- 45-60 minute program
- Introductory PowerPoint about the United States’ African Squadron and the patrol of the west coast of Africa.
- Learn about the events of August 8, 1860 when Henry Miller on board S.S. Mohican assisted in freeing nearly 900 would-be slaves in route to America.
- Examine primary sources to learn about the trial of the Erie’s Captain Nathaniel Gordon.
- Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall.
Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
6.1.5.CivicsHR.3, 6.1.5.GeoPP.6, 6.1.5.GeoSV.1, 6.1.5.GeoSV.2, 6.1.5.GeoGI.1, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.7, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6, 6.1.8.CivicsHR.3.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.4.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.4.a, 6.1.12.HistoryUP.3.b, 6.1.12.CivicsPR.4.a