Education Mission
The Education Department at the New-York Historical Society offers a wealth of resources and learning opportunities designed to make history come alive!
Education programs are made possible through endowments established by the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Hearst Foundations. Programs are supported, in part, by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. Additional support is provided by The Barker Welfare Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation and Verizon.
Support the New-York Historical Society
Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 100,000 schoolchildren annually.
History and Literacy Come to Life Through Musical Theater
The American Musicals Project (AMP) is a dynamic education program that combines American musical theater with primary sources from the New-York Historical Society’s collections to make learning seventh and eighth grade Social Studies and English Language Arts exciting and memorable. The ten curricular units follow New York State Learning Standards and cover topics ranging from the Declaration of Independence (1776) to Post-World War II New York (West Side Story).
The American Musicals Project is a joint venture of the New-York Historical Society and the New York City Department of Education.
How AMP Works
The American Musicals Project Resource Guides correspond with ten of the eleven New York State seventh and eighth grade Social Studies curriculum units. Each unit consists of a DVD with video clips from the relevant musical(s) and a curriculum guide with lesson plans, primary source documents and images, script excerpts, and lyrics. AMP lesson plans guide teachers through these resources to inspire them to create exciting and innovative learning experiences for their students.
Effectiveness
In the fall of 2005, Dr. Robert Horowitz of Columbia University Teachers College designed and administered an extensive survey of teacher experiences with AMP. Designed to assess the project’s overall effectiveness, the survey prompted teachers to reflect on their training and to consider the ways they work with AMP materials in the classroom.
Ninety percent of teachers who responded to the survey reported that AMP helped them teach more effectively. Eighty-eight percent of teachers reported that students learned more historical content when using AMP curriculum and sixty-nine percent of teachers believed that the AMP units helped improve their students’ vocabulary.
Contact
For more information about AMP, please contact us at americanmusicalsproject@nyhistory.org.
