Lesson Plans

Eastern State Penitentiary was in use for 142 years (1829-1971), making it a great place to study many topics in American History. Teachers who plan to visit Eastern State might find these tools useful to prepare for, or to wrap up, a field trip. For those who are unable to visit, we hope these lesson plans will provide an interesting look into our history.

Lesson Plan 1

1820-1900

This lesson is one of two in a series bringing relevant stories of the penitentiary into the classroom.

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Lesson Plan 2

1890-1930

This is the second lesson in a series of two bringing relevant stories of the penitentiary into the classroom.

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Living at Eastern State Penitentiary

This lesson is designed to connect Gennifer Choldenko's book Al Capone Does My Shirts to Eastern State's history.

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Post-Visit Activities

These shorter post-visit activities will help to wrap-up your trip to ESP.

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