Kentucky Library and Museum Online -- Education

School Field Trips with interactive components and art workshops are available daily for groups of ten or more.

Download Programs & Tour Guide
Download Core Content information
Download Field Trip Instructions/Directions for Teachers

Student rate: $3.50 or $5.00 for art workshop
Teachers: Free (1 per 10 students)
Chaperones: Free (1 per 10 students)
Additional Chaperones/Adults: $5.00

Field trips of changing exhibits will be available during the exhibit period.
Educators can choose from and combine tours from the following options:

Western 100 Western Kentucky University celebrates 100 years. Click here to view the educational unit to be used alongside the Centennial exhibit. Available Jan 2006 - 30 minutes	Felts Log House Includes history of the Log House and furnishings, a textile experience - quilting, weaving, or wool carding - and a Kentucky history discussion. 1 hour
Roads, Rivers, & Rails Includes a History Mystery activity worksheet for students to complete during the tour. 30 minutes	Art Workshops Choose from: Collage Making, Introduction to Watercolor, Mask Making, Victorian Cards, Landscapes "en plein air," Drawing with Conté Crayons, and Weaving Basics. 1 hour
Selected Portraits from the Museum Collection Includes a tour of the portrait gallery in the Kentucky Room led by the artist-in-residence where students choose a portrait to reproduce. 1 hour	A Star in Each Flag: Conflict in Kentucky Exhibit explores KY in the Civil War. Includes numerous interactive activities and a Civil War clothes closet. Click here for photo gallery of exhibit. 45 minutes
Dramatic Performances at the KYLM The KYLM partners with WKU Department of Theatre & Dance to produce school day performances during the fall. Includes pictures, past study guides, and field trip information.

Activities are keyed to the Kentucky Department of Education Core Content for Assessment.

For more information or to schedule a museum field trip, please contact Christy Spurlock or Lynne Ferguson at the Kentucky Library & Museum, Western Kentucky University. 270-745-2594, 745-6082, or Lynne.Ferguson@wku.edu or Christy.spurlock@wku.edu.

Traveling Trunks are contextual resource kits that educators can check out to use in their classrooms.

All kits contain lesson plans and activities. There are no fees for using a Traveling Trunk but use is limited to two weeks. Educators must pick up and return the trunk to the Kentucky Library and Museum during museum hours Monday through Friday 8:00-4:00, Saturday 9:30-4:00, Sunday 1:00-4:00.

Educators can choose from the following Traveling Trunks:

Abraham Lincoln
Funded in part by the Kentucky Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. This traveling trunk contains a variety of resources to help educators explore one of the most fascinating figures in American history. This trunk contains information about Lincoln’s life and legacy including: formative years, presidency and Civil War, assassination, primary sources and much more. In addition to books, work sheets, music and Power Points, the kit contains clothing representative of both Lincoln’s boyhood and of his presidency. Trunk is designed primarily for use with second through fifth grade use.
Trunk Contents

African American History
This teacher's kit was developed to assist educators in enriching their African American history curriculum. The trunk contains information on the influence of African music and food on Kentucky and American culture. It also includes CDs of music and stories. There are several Power Points: African Americans in the Civil War: A Timeline, Segregation, Life of Dr. King, and Faces of the Civil Rights: 1955-1969. The kit also contains a “Slave Bag,” a VHS about slavery, several Carole Marsh workbooks with activities, and posters to hang in the classroom. Trunk is designed primarily for third through sixth grade use.
Trunk Contents

Bowling Green and Warren County
Learn about the local government, history, and geography of Bowling Green and Warren County. This contextual resource kit contains Power Points on government and history of the city and county. There are a variety of objects that represent the city and county. There are two lesson plans/activities—a photograph study and a geography lesson. There is a very large map of Warren County for display as well as a timeline of major events. Thirty copies of the fictionalized “Diary of Johnny Underwood” provide insights into a 19th century childhood. The trunk is designed primarily for first through third grade use.
Trunk Contents

Elections and Politics Traveling Trunk
This traveling trunk is the perfect way to incorporate political knowledge into the classroom. Not only will your students have the opportunity to learn about the road to the presidency and about elections, but also about being a good citizen and about the right to vote. This trunk includes information on government, political parties, political cartoons, elections, voting history, the 2008 Presidential candidates, and citizenship. Materials include a classroom election kit, handouts and worksheets, political buttons, and other various political items.
Trunk Contents

Kentucky Regions and Symbols
This kit of 31 items is designed to assist 4th and 5th grade teachers and students in the exploration of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The kit and accompanying teacher’s manual contains sections on Kentucky’s symbols, famous citizens, geography and government. Items in the kit include CDS, a bag of coal, work sheets, KY timeliness, KY Carol Marsh books, videos, a dulcimer and much more.
Trunk Contents

Historic Native Americans in Kentucky: The Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Shawnee
This teacher's kit was developed to assist educators in enriching their Kentucky histroy curriculum. The guides and activities are designed for 4th and 5th graders, but can be used for 3rd through 6th grade. The trunk includes information about clothing, food, shelter, material culture, and famous leaders from each of the three tribes. Posters, maps, information sheets, “artifacts,” art projects, and folk tales are available in order for students to better understand the culture of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Shawnee Indians. While these three Native groups did have similarities, each tribe has a narrative of its own that contributed to the creation, expansion, and history of Kentucky.
Trunk Contents

Prehistoric Kentucky
This teacher's kit was developed to assist educators in creating a curriculum about prehistory Kentucky. The guides and activities are geared towards 4th and 5th graders, but can be used for up to 8th grade.
Topics include: archeology, Kentucky Native Americans, prehistoric animals known as megafauna, identifying projectile points, a video about Flint knapping (making stone tools). The kit contains actual artifacts and "arrow heads," photos, vocabulary lists, crossword puzzles, quizzes, and ideas for discussion based on the information and three activities.There is also "A Native Presence," a guide published by the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission that contains four lesson plans.
Trunk Contents

Quilting
This teaching kit includes a cross curriculum, core content aligned comprehensive teacher's guide. Numerous activities for elementary, middle and high school applicable to science, math, practical living, social studies, reading and writing are included. The kit also contains several outstanding examples of quilt making at its finest, along with a variety of other manipulatives students will enjoy. African-American influence on quilting, quilts as political statements, polygon quilt game, get-to-know you class paper quilt, are just a few of the many topics and activities your students can explore.
Trunk Contents

Looking at Japanese Culture
This trunk includes examples of traditional Japanese clothing, utensils, and toys, as well as objects illustrating the Japanese numeral and writing systems. The teaching packet contains information on the objects, a few of which include two complete kimono and accessories for a man and a woman, a Japanese abacus, and a traditional windsock that is flown on Children's Day in Japan. Checklist of Trunk Contents

Frontier Experience
This trunk introduces life on the frontier to children. With plenty of hands-on activities and visual aids, this trunk is a fantastic supplement to a lesson about the frontier. Not only will children learn about how people lived and the tools they used to do so, but several toys that they played with in the 19th century are included with the trunk. An informative handbook accompanies the trunk with worksheets and activities for teachers to use as additional resources.
Trunk Contents

Let’s Talk Folk Art
This trunk helps educators explain the importance of Folk Art in our culture. With books on American Folk Art and crafts for the classroom, children will love this hands-on traveling trunk. With more than 20 artifacts from modern America as well as from the Shakers, this trunk covers a lot of different aspects of Folk Art. Lesson plans for grades K-5 are included as well as useful links and information.
Trunk Contents

African Art & Culture
Teach your students about the fascinating subject of African Art with the help of this Traveling Trunk. For teachers, there are lesson plans over African Art, Culture, Traditions, and way of life. For kids, there are plenty of hands-on artifacts such as masks, carved animals, baskets, musical instruments, and lots of fun books. A powerpoint about African Art is also included as well as several helpful website links.
Trunk Contents

Activities are keyed to the Kentucky Department of Education Core Content for Assessment.

For more information or to borrow a traveling trunk please contact Christy Spurlock or Lynne Ferguson at the Kentucky Library & Museum, Western Kentucky University. 270-745-2594, 745-6082, or Lynne.Ferguson@wku.edu or Christy.spurlock@wku.edu.

2008/09 Exhibits

Current Exhibits

A Star in Each Flag: Conflict in Kentucky (Opened October 25, 2008)

Bowling Green Side by Side: VSA arts of Kentucky 2009 (January 18 – March 31, 2009)

Recommended by Duncan Hines (Opened August 3, 2007)

Western 100 (Opened January 22, 2006)

Ongoing Exhibits

Felts Log House

Selected Portraits from the Museum Collection

First American Roads, Rails and Rivers: Warren County Then and Now

Hascal Haile: Guitar-maker to the Stars

Taking the Mystery Out of Prehistory

L. Y. Lancaster Gun Collection

Robert Penn Warren, American Author

Changing Exhibits

"Save the Planet" Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society 2009 Annual Show (May 22 - June 7, 2009)

Eleanor Clark at Yaddo (February 1 - April 30, 2009)

Side by Side: VSA arts of Kentucky 2009 - Statewide show (September 12 - December 10, 2009)

Online Exhibits

Click here to learn about our online exhibits