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Online Programs
Online Course
Teaching about Race and Slavery in the Colonial and American Revolutionary Periods
This five-week online course focuses on teaching about slavery and race during the colonial and American Revolutionary periods, with a primary focus on African American history. It is designed primarily for upper elementary and middle school teachers. The course will include weekly asynchronous readings, activities, discussion board posts, review and reflection, and video-recorded answers to your questions by presenters. This course will be held in BlackBoard CourseSites. Participants register on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Week-Long Sessions
Elementary School (for educators in grades 3–6)
Becoming Americans (1606–1781)
Elementary school sessions focus on the daily life of colonial Virginians and the transition from subject to citizen that occurred during the Revolutionary War period. Teachers will be immersed in hands-on activities at Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown that highlight the stories of the people living during this time.
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Secondary School (for educators in grades 7–12)
Emerging American Identity (1606–1865)
How do we define our identity as Americans? How do many diverse cultures come together to form the basis of this American identity? What will it become in the future? During this course, participants will examine how the concept of an American identity began in the colonial period and continues to evolve and transform with each generation of Americans. Through inquiry-based analysis of primary sources while exploring throughout the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area, teachers examine how that identity influenced American citizens to shape and change the Republic through the 1860s.
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Three-Day Seminars
African Americans in Eighteenth-Century Virginia (for educators in Grades 3–8)
This seminar explores the lives, roles, and perspectives of enslaved and free black Virginians in the eighteenth century. Participants will pursue a deeper understanding of the diversity of the experiences of enslaved and free black people during the colonial period and the American Revolution.
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Straight from the Sources: Women in Eighteenth-Century Virginia (for educators in Grades 3–8)
This seminar explores the lives, roles, and perspectives of eighteenth-century women. Participants will pursue a deeper understanding of women’s contributions and constraints during the time leading up to the American Revolution.
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- Sample Schedule
Other Workshops
Weekend Workshops
District and Regional Workshops
The Idea of America for Secondary School Teachers
In this one-day workshop in your district, a Colonial Williamsburg educator inspires teachers with interactive, media-rich strategies that link American history and active 21st-century civic engagement.
Sample Workshop topics include but are not limited to:
Customized Group Workshops
The Colonial Williamsburg Professional Development staff can customize arrangements for your teacher group's (of 15 or more) visit to Colonial Williamsburg. Not only can we help you with the educational portion of your visit, but we can also make arrangements for Colonial Williamsburg lodging, meals, and local transportation. For more information or a price quote on a customized teacher professional development program, please email teacherdevelopment@cwf.org or call (757) 565-8417.
