Middle School and High School
Enrich your field trip experience with these self-guided resources designed for use in the exhibition Chicago: Crossroads of America.
Middle School Students
These self-guided role-play activities immerse your students in Chicago's history.
Next Stop: 'L' Ride Home from the Fair
Climb aboard Chicago’s first ‘L’ car and imagine riding home from a visit to the 1893 world’s fair in Jackson Park. Using character cards, students assume turn-of-the-century personas and engage their seatmates in conversations about their favorite parts of the fair.
Jazz talk
Take a seat in the Jazz and Blues Club to enjoy rare footage of legendary Chicago performers. Jazz Talk cards challenge students to use period slang to step back into the Roaring Twenties.
Middle School and High School Students
Audio Tour: In Our Own Words
40 minutes.
Local high school students wrote and performed this tour which features original interviews, vintage music, dialog and dramatic readings on topics such as the Great Fire, Gangland Chicago, Jazz and Blues, and the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
You can download the tour to any MP3 player in advance of your visit.
> Download the In Our Own Words teen audio tour (40 MB)
Alternatively, you can reserve the Museum’s iPods for use during your field trip: $2 per iPod; advance reservations required.
Use the In Our Own Words teacher discussion guide—before and after your field trip—to expand on the topics, artifacts, issues, and historical arguments presented in the audio tour
