Virtual Field Trips
Registration opens August 8, 2022 at 8:00 am
Adobe Days
Duration: 40 minutes
Target Audiences: Grades 3-5
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topic(s): Spanish Colonial Life in California; San Jose/Local History; Late 18th-Century American History
Description: Transport your class to the first Spanish town of Alta California founded in 1777—El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. History San José takes students on an excursion of the oldest house in San José, built-in 1778. Students will explore several aspects of Spanish colonial life—cattle-ranching, cooking, and candle-making—to envision how Spanish settlers adapted to their new normal and changed the landscape of the future state of California.
Early to Rise
Duration: 40 minutes
Target Audiences: Grades 2-3
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topic(s): American Farming; American Education; Children’s Daily Life
Description: When did a kid’s day begin in the late-1800s? Students have the chance to virtually wash clothes, milk a cow, and practice cursive handwriting during their schoolhouse lesson. History San José guides students through a vivid experience so they can make comparisons between the lives of children 100 years ago and their own lives today.
History Detectives
Duration: 40 minutes
Target Audiences: Grades 4-8
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topics: Image/Object Analysis; Primary Sources; Childhood in the American West
Description: History San José guides students as they do “the work” of history by actively inspecting primary sources from History San José’s Collection Center. Students will conduct important research and investigate the mystery behind a 19th-century painting of a boy. Students will formulate questions, identify historical materials, evaluate the data, and report their findings. Through this inquiry-based exercise, they will hone important critical thinking skills and learn that solving the mysteries of the past requires certain procedures and tons of imagination.
Immigration
Duration: 40 minutes
Target Audiences: Grades 4,5, & 8
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topic(s): Immigration; Ethnic History/Studies
Description: How does immigration policy and cultural identity shape a person’s life in San Jose? This innovative field trip has students step into another person’s shoes. Students discover the challenges and triumphs of REAL people and compare the immigrants’ experiences, past and present.
Grant funding available for this program through the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project. Apply here.
One-Room Schoolhouse
Duration: 30 minutes
Target Audiences: Grade 1
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topic(s): American Education; Children’s Daily Life
Description: Transport your class to the Santa Ana Schoolhouse—a one-room schoolhouse built in 1872 for students in San Benito County. History San José offers students the opportunity to engage in interactive activities that mimic the real lived experiences of San Jose schoolchildren in the 1890s. Students will compare schools of the 1890s to school life now and in the process get to recognize that some aspects of people, places, and things change over time while others stay the same.
Westward Ho!
Duration: 40 minutes
Target Audiences: Grades 3-5 & 8
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topic(s): Westward Expansion; Overland Trails; Manifest Destiny
Description: During the mid-1800s, many American settlers moved West in covered wagons. History San José offers students the opportunity to travel as part of an American caravan from Independence, MO to Sacramento, CA. Students will visually analyze photographs and paintings to determine the environmental dynamics settlers faced across the terrain and inspect artifacts settlers carried over the course of their 1,700-mile journey West. By the end of the presentation, students will understand the motivating factors that led people to trek overland and recognize the challenges American settlers faced when traveling westward to California.
Valley of Heart’s Delight
Duration: 40 minutes
Target Audiences: Grades 3-5 & 8
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topic(s): American Farming; Labor History; Second Industrial Revolution
Description: During the second industrial revolution, the Santa Clara Valley earned the moniker Valley of Heart’s Delight as the center of the fruit industry. The region’s landscape was filled with orchards and fruit canneries. History San José will teach students about the orchards and how food is grown, packaged, and shipped. Through interactive activities, students will learn how farmers and canneries used the latest technology and innovations to improve mass food production and create some of the most well recognized canned fruit brands in the 21st century—Del Monte and Sunsweet.
Victorian Days
Duration: 40 minutes
Target Audiences: Grades 3-4
Student Cap: 35 students
Fee: $110 session
Topic(s): Victorian Culture; Local History
Description: What was family life in San Jose like after American statehood? Students step back in time to learn about family and community life in San Jose over 150 years ago. Inside the exquisite old home, students attend Isabella’s birthday party and explore the Victorian lifestyles of both domestic servants and Fallon family members, solving puzzles and playing parlor games.
Pricing
Virtual field trips are $110 per session. There is a 35 student cap for each session to ensure quality programming.
Confirmations will be sent out within 4 weeks of online registration. The offer letter includes the reserved program date, program description, and deposit due date.
Cancellation and Rescheduling:
Once confirmed, if you are unable to keep the date you reserved, please email us at education@historysanjose.org as soon as possible to reschedule. Should you choose to cancel your school program, note that your deposit is non-refundable.
Questions? Education Department staff members are happy to answer any questions you may have. Call 408.918.1040 or email education@historysanjose.org.
Thanks to the generosity of the Hugh Stuart Center Charitable Trust, Title I Schools can apply for a grant that will cover the program fees. Please indicate on your registration form that you are in a Title I school and would like to be considered for the grant.
Prepare for Your Virtual Visit
To help you prepare, History San José developed two important documents: The Preparation Checklist, which answers questions you may have about the booking process & The Invoice Template, which is an example of a History San José invoice.
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