For Teachers

TEACHER WORKSHOPS 2013 - "Teaching Biography, Primary Sources, and Common Core Standards with Mark Twain"

With support from the Missouri Humanities Council, the Mark Twain Museum will host its eighth year of teacher workshops. Two week-long teacher workshops addressing Common Core Standards are offered during the summer of 2013. Educators will learn how Twain's boyhood experiences here in Hannibal influenced his greatest literature. The cost is only $125 and includes materials, meals, admissions, etc. Graduate credits (4 credit hours) are available through Quincy University or Hannibal-LaGrange University for an additional $320 (total for 4 credits). Full details for registration are available on the application form. Workshop dates are:

Week 1: July 8-12

Week 2: July 22-26

This unique opportunity allows educators from around the country to share teaching ideas and develop lesson plans that address the Common Core Standards. Participants will be sent materials prior to the workshop including Dear Mark Twain: Letters from His Readers by R. Kent Rasmussen; a DVD of Mark Twain's A True Story Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It (performed by master storyteller Gladys Coggswell); and Mark Twain: Words & Music, a double-CD that tells Twain's life story in spoken word and song, featuring Jimmy Buffett as Huck Finn, Garrison Keillor as narrator, and Clint Eastwood as Twain.

These week-long teacher workshops have several goals: To provide teachers with background on works by Twain, to experience the town that served as the fictionalized setting for his best known books, and to provide a forum for discussion and creative thinking about how to approach Twain’s writings in the classroom. We want to make Mark Twain accessible to you, the teachers, so you can make Mark Twain accessible to your students. Workshop participants will collaborate to create lesson plans to post on our website and share with educators around the world.

The Museum has assembled an experienced faculty to conduct this exciting and inspiring course.  The emphasis will be on content knowledge and new strategies for teaching Twain’s works including ready-to-use lesson plans, integrated curriculum, multimedia resources, multiple intelligences, and innovative ways to use technology.

During the workshop participants will experience an immersion into the boyhood experiences of Sam Clemens during his boyhood in Florida and Hannibal, MO. Participants will tour the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum and other historic sites, follow a guided tour through Mark Twain Cave, ride the Mark Twain Riverboat, and journey to Twain’s birthplace in Florida, Missouri.

Educators return year after year to experience Twain's Hannibal and return to their classroom rejuvenated and ready to go!  Don't miss a workshop that is so much fun you'll swear you're playing hooky! In the past six years teachers have expressed great enthusiasm about our workshops:

"Participating in this workshop has provided me with an awareness, motivation, and authentic experience that has enriched me personally and professionally. It was so well-planned, informative, and enjoyable that it really became the best educational week in my teaching career of 30 years."

"This workshop opened my eyes to Mark Twain. I had believed he was too outdated to teach to today's children! I was wrong! The workshop was like a vacation... tours, great food, and great company! Presenters were full of knowledge and I would swear they knew Mark Twain personally."

We invite you to come to Hannibal. Remember—the stories started here!

TEACHER RESOURCES

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum is working on creating easy to use resources for teaching Mark Twain and his works in the classroom. Below are some useful links for basic classroom questions.

Timeline

Mark Twain's Genealogy

Mark Twain's Publishing Career

Link to School Tours

Teacher Resource Guide (12 pages of activities, ideas, and handouts)

Virtual Tours (of Museum properties and Museum artifacts)

Need Resources?

Teachers, did you know that you can purchase books and other educational materials from the museum store at a 10% discount? Sales from the museum gift shops help to maintain the museum properties and support our education programs. We appreciate your business and want to support YOU in your classroom! Simply call the museum directly at 573-221-9010 to place your order, and by providing verification that you are a teacher, 10% will be deducted from your purchase of books and other educational materials. Thank you for supporting us with your purchases! (Note: Please call between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm Central Time to place your order.)

Looking for Mark Twain quotes on everything from T-shirts to mouse pads? Visit our SpreadShirt store to find an entire line of Mark Twain merchandise with his best quotes.

Lesson Plans

We have been busy developing lesson plans to go along with some of Mark Twain's books and short stories. Do you have a great lesson plan you'd like to share? Consider sending it to us for the Mark Twain Creative Teaching Award (due March 15 each year)!

Planning a field trip to the museum properties? We have designed a hands-on, minds-on Scavenger Hunt of knowledge for your students. This scavenger hunt provides an opportunity for your students to collaborate on teams as they interact with exhibits and artifacts to learn about the life and works of Samuel Clemens. Kid-tested and teacher-approved! (Teachers, print and bring enough for your students. Answer keys are available on site.) If you would like information about booking a field trip to the museum, please click here. You can also view a Virtual Tour of the museum created by students. (Teachers, this is a great way to ensure that your field trips will be interactive. Have your students create a virtual tour!)

2008 Mark Twain Creative Teaching Awards:

Grand Prize: Dana Thompson, New Smyrna Beach Middle School, New Smyrna Beach, FL
Mark Twain: His Life and Works (School-wide Unit)

1st Prize, Elementary: Laurie Robinett and Susan J. Snyder, Cary Junior High School, Cary, IL
The Prince and the Pauper (Unit suitable for elementary and middle/junior high levels)

1st Prize, Middle: Barbara Adair, New Smyrna Beach Middle School, New Smyrna Beach, FL
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Unit suitable for middle/junior high and elementary school levels)

1st Prize, High School: Clark Beim-Esche, The Principia School, St. Louis, MO
The Mark Twain Project (AP Literature and Composition)

Honorable Mention, Scott J. Peters, Gifted Education Resource Institute, Purdue University, West Lafatette, IN
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Unit suitable for multiple grade levels)

The winners were invited to Hannibal, Missouri to accept their awards during National Tom Sawyer Days. Thank you to everyone for submitting lesson plans for consideration. And it's not too early to begin thinking about the 2009 Mark Twain Creative Teaching Awards!

Other resources you might find helpful:

Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT
This is the home where Sam and Livy Clemens raised their children.

Mark Twain Quotes
Thousands of quotes by Mark Twain are organized alphabetically by topic.

Kennedy Center - 4 Lessons on "Mark Twain, the Lincoln of Our Literature"

Library of Congress Lesson Plans about Mark Twain

Mark Twain Papers & Project at the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley

Mark Twain's Writings Searchable E-Text and Memory Builder Game

National Geographic Lesson Plan - Mark Twain Cave

PBS Mark Twain Interactive Scrapbook and Classroom Activities

If, as a teacher,you are facing resistance by your school in teaching either The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you will find the completed rationales below helpful. These rationales are copyright 2007 by the National Council for Teachers of English. They are posted with permission.

Rationales for teaching The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Rationales for teaching Adventures of Huckleberry Finn