DNR - Docent-led programs

Docent-led programs

Program Fee: $5 per student
Minimum Program Fee: $50
Maximum students: 30

Adult Admission: 1 teacher + 5 other adults enter free; additional adults, $4/each.

African Americans in Michigan
Grades 4-12
1.5 - 2 hours

From the fur trade to the 21st century, this program highlights African American inventors, businessmen, statesmen and ordinary working people who helped to shape our state and our nation. (GLCEs: 4-H3.0.7, 4-G4.0.1, 4-C2.0.2, 8-U4.2.2, 8-U5.1.2, 8-U5.1.5)

An Extended Tour
Grades 3-12
1.5 - 2 hours

Work with a museum docent to create a tour that fits your curriculum plan. Possibilities include themes as well as time periods ranging from prehistoric Michigan to 1975.

Growing Up in Michigan
Grades 1-2
1.5 hours

Students clean a rug and haul water as they discover what it was like to grow up on a farm in rural Michigan. Students compare their lives to the lives of late-19th-century children. (GLCEs: 1-H2.0.5, 1-H2.0.6, S.DS.02.01)

Journey to Statehood
Grades 3-5
1.5 hours

Discover the story of Michigan's tumultuous entrance into the Union. Learn how settlers traveled here and see tools, dishes and other objects that they brought with them. Explore our dispute with Ohio over the Toledo Strip, and view the state's first Constitution as students receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the Archives of Michigan. (GLCEs: 3-H3.0.9, 3-C1.0.1, 3-C2.0.1)

Michigan: Arsenal of Democracy
Grades 4-12
1.5 hours

Thousands of Michigan citizens worked at home and abroad to help win World War II. Learn what they did and why Michigan was called "The Arsenal of Democracy." (GLCEs: 4-H3.0.4, 4-H3.0.5, 4-C5.0.2, 4-C5.0.4)

Michigan in the Civil War
Grades 3-5
1.5 hours

More than 90,000 men from Michigan served in the Civil War, while their families and people at home supported them. Find out how, and why Michigan's citizens contributed to the war effort. (GLCEs: 3-H1.0.1, 3-H3.0.3, 3-C5.0.1, 3-P3.1.3)

Michigan Mining: Always in the Dark
Grades 3-5
1.5 hours

Dig into Michigan's mining heritage. Discover what it was like to work in the copper and iron mines of the Upper Peninsula. Try your hand at cookie mining. (GLCEs: 4-H3.0.3, 4-H3.0.5, 4-H3.0.8, 4-G4.0.1, 4-G4.0.2, 4-G5.0.1, 4-E1.0.1)

Movers & Seekers: Immigrants come to Michigan
Grades 3-5
1.5 hours

Why do people leave their homes to move to a new place? What do they bring with them and what do they leave behind? Learn about immigrants who have come to Michigan through stories, role-playing and artifacts. (GLCEs: 4-H3.0.2, 4-G4.0.1, 4-G4.0.2, 4-C5.0.1)

Tall Pines and Shanty Boys
Grades 3-5
1.5 hours

Explore life in a lumber camp as you learn how "green gold" changed Michigan's economy. Learn "logger's lingo" and find products made from trees! (GLCEs: 4-H3.0.3, 4-H3.0.4, 4-H3.0.8, 4-G5.0.1, 4-E1.0.5, N.FL.04.36, M.PS.04.02)

The Voyageur's Canoe
Grades 3-5
1.5 hours

Learn about the life of a French voyageur and the Great Lakes fur trade as you help pack a canoe. Find out what goods were traded, how they were packed, how many men traveled in a canoe and how much weight the canoe could carry. (GLCEs: 3-H3.0.6, 3-E1.0.1, 3-E1.0.3, N.MR.03.10, P.FM.03.38)

CANCELLATIONS: Any cancellation must be made at least 11 days before your scheduled program in order to receive a refund (minus $10 service fee).

For more information:

Go to:

Contact the Michigan Historical Museum.

Updated 10/11/2011