For Educators: Mansion and Museum Lessons
The George Eastman Museum serves students and educators through programs that provide creative approaches to the curriculum. Whether on-site or online, our resources help students to explore a range of subjects, including photography, history, technology, and language arts.
George Eastman's Historic Mansion
Explore the museum from school or home with our virtual tours. Through the links below, you can access the historic mansion, see select behind-the-scenes areas, and tour the gardens in full bloom. There are also pre-visit experiences to introduce Mr. Eastman and his contributions to photography.
- Historic mansion virtual tour
- Learning from Primary Resources: Early Photography
- Learning about George Eastman as an Inventor
- July 12, 1854 - Happy Birthday Mr. Eastman!
- Halloween Friendly Ghost Activity
- Photographic Process Glossary
- Post Visit Experience: Learning at Eastman Museum
- Storytime at GEM - "It's a Snap! George Eastman's First Photograph" by Monica Kulling, read by Nate Smith, Communications Manager, George Eastman Museum
ANNUAL EXHIBITIONS
Sweet Creations
Mid-November to January 1 - Specific dates determined on an annual basis
- Learning about Gingerbread Folktales from Around the World with Picture Books
- Storytime at GEM: The Gingerbread Man" (English) and "El Hombre de Pan de Jengibre" (Spanish) retold by Catherine McCafferty, read by Sophie Flores Lopez, University of Rochester, Education Intern Fall 2023
- Gingerbread Person Template to design
- Gingerbread House Template to design
- How to Make a Gingerbread Pinhole Camera - Video
- Instructions for Making a Pinhole Camera
- Paper Bag Gingerbread House
Dutch Connection
February and/or March - Specific dates determined on an annual basis
- Dutch Connection Video: How to Plant a Bulb
- PDF Instructions: How to Plant a Bulb
- Learning about Bulbs, Flowers, and Gardening with Picture Books
- Learning about Bulbs Activity
- GEM Kids Bulb Growth Chart: PreK Level
- GEM Kids Bulb Growth Chart: Kindergarten to Third Grade Level
- Blog Post: Advice on Growing Indoor Plants
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Crashing into the 60s: Film Posters from the Collection
- Poster Analysis Worksheet
- Storytime at GEM: "Young Charlotte Filmmaker" by Frank Viva, read by Caroline Yeager, Associate Curator, Administration, Moving Image Department, George Eastman Museum
Selections From The Collection
- I Spy
- Storytime at GEM: "Making a Great Exhibition" by Doro Globus and Rose Blake, read by Sarah Riveria, Executive Assistant to the Director, George Eastman Museum
- Storytime at GEM: "Gordon Parks How the Photographer Captured Black and White America" by Carole Boston Weathersford, read by Jamie Allen, Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Curator, Department of Photography, George Eastman Museum
- MST Art Education Graduate Student Read Aloud (RIT) "Imogen: The Mother of Modernism and Three Boys", by Amy Novesky, read by Amanda Gigilia
- MST Art Education Graduate Student Read Aloud (RIT) "Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression", by Carole Boston Weathersford, read by Ariana Aponte
PAST EXHIBITIONS
Exploring Animation: Rochester International Academy Phenakistoscope Discovery Project
- Inclusive Lesson Plan: Animation Wheels
- Animation Disc Instructions
- Phenakisticope Template
- How to Create a Phenakistoscope - Video
Gregory Halpern: 19 winters / 7 springs
Gillian Laub: Southern Rites
- Rights, Rites, Write: Lesson Plan
- Hear from the Artist: Gillian Laub
- Gillian Laub: Southern Rites Pre-Visit Experience
- Thinking and Learning about Civil Rights & DEAI with Picture Books
- Educational Resources
- Southern Rites: The Heartbreaking Story of Justin Patterson's Death
- New York Times Critiquing a Photograph
- Learning for Justice/Social Justice Learning Standards
- View Prom Night in Mississippi on YouTube and Additional Resources
- Prom Night in Mississippi: Curriculum (Learning for Justice, formerly Teaching Tolerance)
- GEM Consider Card: Exploring Perspective Taking Through Photography
Resistance and Rescue: Denmark and the Holocaust
- Storytime at GEM: "The Whispering Town" by Jennifer Elvgren, read by Suzanne Kolodziej, Museum Educator, George Eastman Museum
- Exploring Perspective Taking and Empathy: “The Whispering Town”
- Educational Resources
- Voices in the Void - Holocaust Documentary Short Film (2021)
- Voices in the Void - Eastman Museum: Film Lesson Plan
- Humanity in Action, Interactive lessons to Voices in the Void
- Humanity in Action, The Danish Exception
- United Nations: Holocaust Museums and Memorials
- First Book, Historically Accurate Holocaust Books: High School Level
Adam Ekberg: Minor Spectacles
- Hear from the Artist: Adam Ekberg
- Pre-Visit Experience: Artist Video Introduction
- Writing a Windspark Poem
Marcia Resnick: As It Is or Could Be
Selections from the Collection: War and Conflict
- Pre-Visit Experience: I am Not 'Napalm Girl' Anymore Reading and Questions
- The KWL Strategy: Researching Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
- UNICEF: Voices of Youth/Violence and Conflict/Poems for Peace
- In Gallery Activity: Explore Protest Poetry
- Protest Poetry Lesson - Brian Turner
- Photographic Process Glossary
- Photography and Poetry Extra Resources
Perspectives: Recents Gifts of Contemporary Art
Anastasia Samoylova: FloodZone
- Constructing A Lune Poem to Photographs
- Poetry in the Main Galleries
- Knew Wonder Wish Writing Lesson
- Present and Absent Writing Lesson
- Past and Future Writing Lesson
- FloodZone Dream Lesson
- Water Quality Related Key Terms and Concepts
- Stormwater Coalition of Monroe County Stormwater School Curriculum (SUNY-Brockport)
Joshua Rashaad McFadden: I Believe I'll Run On
Artist Joshua Rashaad McFadden uses photography to engage some of the most challenging subject matter of our time. Working across genres—social documentary, reportage, portraiture, book arts, and fine arts—he critically examines race, masculinity, sexuality, and gender in the United States. His work reveals the destructive impact of these constructs on Black Americans.
- Virtual tour
- Spark a Conversation card
- Hear from the Artist: Joshua Rashaad McFadden
- Exhibition Inspired Picture Books
- Using a Viewfinder Activity
- Pre-Visit Experience: Teaching Civil Rights Reading and Questions
- Pre-Visit Experience: New York Times Reading and Questions
James Tylor: From an Untouched Landscape
In his artistic practice, James Tylor highlights under-told and often unseen histories of Aboriginal peoples. Tylor takes an expansive approach to landscape, incorporating his Kaurna knowledge into its presentation, and to the photographic medium, through use of technologies old and new. In Tylor’s hands, photography, once used to survey Aboriginal lands and peoples, becomes a way to indigenize landscapes.