A visit to Canterbury Shaker Village is a fun and engaging way to fulfill New Hampshire history standards in your curriculum. The Village offers guided tours for school and youth groups from kindergarten through high school. Groups tour buildings and participate in theme-related activities designed specifically for each age group to enhance their understanding of historic Shaker life, work, and worship.
2012-2013 Programs
THE SHAKERS: LIFE IN A COMMUNITY
Appropriate for Grades 3 and up 2 hours
What was it like to live in a Shaker community? Students step off the bus as new members of a Shaker Village! Learning a Shaker Dance in the Meeting House, exploring daily life in the Dwelling House, designing a washing machine and making a Shaker industry craft, students discover through hands-on activities how spirit, cooperation, invention, efficiency and perseverance allowed the Shakers to survive and thrive as a community.
NH Frameworks: Social Studies: US/NH History, World History, Civics & Government, Economics, and Geography. Math: Numbers & Operations, Geometry. Science: Science Process Skills. Reading: Written/Oral Communications
Vermont Frameworks: History/Social Studies, Math.
Maine Frameworks: Social Studies B3, E1, E2. Math: Real Numbers, Geometric Measurements. Science & Technology A2.
Massachusetts Frameworks: History/Social Studies: Concepts and Skills, Geography; Math: Geometry, Measurement.
THE SHAKERS AND SIMPLE MACHINES
Appropriate for Grades 3-6
Creating a thriving, industrious Shaker Village took ingenuity and hard work—it also relied on simple machines. In this experiential, hands-on program, students learn the history of the innovative Shakers as they investigate the Shakers’ use of simple machines—pulley, lever, wheel and axle, wedge, inclined plane and screw—designing a Shaker ‘gymnastikon,’ preparing Shaker apple pie, apprenticing as Shaker oval box makers, and designing their own systems using simple machines.
NH Frameworks: Science: Science Process Skills. Math: Numbers & Operations, Geometry & Measurement, Data, Statistics & Probability, Problem Solving, Reasoning, and Proof. Social Studies: NH History. Reading: Written/Oral Communications.
Vermont Frameworks: Science.
Maine Frameworks: Math Real Numbers, Measurement & Approximation, Equations & Inequalities. Social Studies: B3, D1, E1, E2. Science & Technology: A1, A2, A3, B1B2, C2, C3, D4.
Massachusetts Frameworks: History/Social Studies G, Concept& Skills. Technology & Science: Forms of Energy, Property of Matter, Learning Standards, Materials & Tools, Engineering Design, Common/Technology, Construction Technologies.
SHAKER INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY
Appropriate for Grades 3 and up 2 hours
Where does technology come from? Discover the answers by becoming Shaker inventors and innovators! In this four-part program, your school may select three hands-on, experiential segments from a menu of six: students can design an oven that will bake 60 pies, invent a flat broom and learn about trade as broom sellers, put together a clothing pattern, design a washing machine and more! The fourth segment engages students in a Shaker chair model making activity.
NH Frameworks: Math: Numbers & Operations, Geometry and Measurement, Connections, Communications and Representation, Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof. Science: Science Process Skills. Social Studies: NH History. Reading: Written/Oral Communications
Vermont Frameworks: Math, Science Systems, Science Measurements, History/Social Studies.
Maine Frameworks: Math: Real Numbers, Measurement & Approximation, Geometric Figures, Geometric Measurement, and Transformations. Science & Technology A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B2, C2, C3. Social Studies: A2, B3, C1, C2, D1, E1, E2.
Massachusetts Frameworks: Math: Learning Standards: Number Sense & Operations, Patterns, Relations & Algebra, Geometry, Measurement. Technology and Science: Forms of Energy, Learning Standards Materials and Tools, Learning Standards Engineering Design. History/Social Studies: Economics, History & Geography.
THE EARTH SHALL PROVIDE: THE SHAKERS AND THE LAND
Appropriate for Grades 3 and up 2 hours
How did people get food and clothe themselves before supermarkets and department stores? Enter the world of the Shakers, whose survival and prosperity depended on the land and on environmental stewardship. In this experiential program, students learn about the origins of food and clothing and the importance of plants in our lives. Students explore food processing in the Dwelling House Kitchen, identify plants in the Gardens, make Shaker seed packets, and spin yarn in the Spin Shop.
NH Frameworks: Social Studies: Economics, Geography, History, and World History. Science: Learning Standards, Science Process Skills. Reading: Written/Oral Communications
Vermont Frameworks: Science, History/Social Studies.
Maine Frameworks: Social Studies B3, D1, E1, E2. Science & Technology: A1, A3, C3, E1, E2, E5.
Massachusetts Frameworks: History/Social Studies: Economics. Technology & Science: Life Science: Characteristics, Structure and Functions, Adaptations, Energy & Living Things, Evolution & Biodiversity.
EQUALITY: THE SHAKER PIONEERS
Appropriate for Grades 6 and up 2 hours
The Shakers were pioneers in their ideals of gender and racial equality. Stepping back in time at the historic Village, students learn how equality shaped the Shaker community and experience issues of equality from the viewpoints of fictional characters in history, including an orphan, a fugitive slave, a freed slave, a wealthy merchant, a married woman, and an unmarried woman. In the historic Dwelling House Chapel, students engage in a debate on a fictional case study about rights.
NH Frameworks: Social Studies: Civics & Government, History. Reading: Written/Oral Communications
Vermont Frameworks: History/Social Studies: Civics, Government & Society, Social & Historical Questioning, Students connecting past with the present, Show understanding of how humans interpret history.
Maine Frameworks: Social Studies A1, A2, B2, B4, E1,E2
Massachusetts Frameworks: History/Social Studies: Concepts & Standards, History & Geography.
Before Your Visit
Here are a few steps you can take to ensure a great field trip experience at Canterbury Shaker Village:
- Prepare your students for their visit. Prior knowledge of the Shakers greatly enhances a visit to the Village.
- Prepare your chaperones for the importance of their roles and for trip logistics.
- Remind your group to dress for the weather
- of the day. A considerable amount of time will be spent outside and walking.
- Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of your program.
- Bring your lunch! An indoor space will be reserved for your school’s bag lunch. If weather permits, you may wish to enjoy a picnic lunch on the grounds.
Field Trip Policies
Reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance by contacting the Education Manager at (603) 783-9511 ext. 284. Programs are booked on a first-come, first-served basis from mid-April through October 31. All programs are two hours in length and are scheduled from 10am-noon. Minimum group size is 10 students. Large groups will be divided into smaller groups for the tour.
Groups are welcome to explore the museum and grounds on their own after their scheduled programs. Picnic facilities, craft demonstrations, self-guide areas, and walking trails are available for school group use. An indoor space will be reserved for your school’s bag lunch. If weather permits, you may wish to enjoy a picnic lunch on the grounds. Students are also welcome to shop at the Museum Store, but must be accompanied by at least one adult chaperone.
Fees and Payment
Admission fee is $6 per child. One teacher, aide or chaperone per 10 students is required per visit. There will be no charge for these adults, teachers and aides. Any additional chaperones will be charged $9 each. Payment is due upon arrival.
Chaperones
Canterbury Shaker Village requires one chaperone for every 10 students for all its programs. Chaperones should be prepared to participate and assist in the tour experience. An adult must accompany children at all times.
Canterbury Shaker Village School Programs are made possible through the support
of Lincoln Financial Foundation.