Bring the Historic Ephrata Cloister into your classroom with this new series of virtual school visits!
These programs provide a substitute for in-person field trips to the National Historic Landmark while the site remains closed during the pandemic. The series, called Obed’s Classroom, draws its name from Brother Obed, Ephrata’s first school teacher who offered lessons to children starting in the mid-1700s. The four virtual lessons, designed for grades three to five, each last about 30 minutes and explore different aspects of the community’s history popular with students visiting the museum. Teachers have the flexibility to schedule the lessons as a full unit in one day, or as four separate virtual visits at different times. Each lesson can accommodate up to 30 students. A packet of essential questions, background information, and follow-up materials accompanies each lesson. Teachers are required to attend a brief pre-conference visit with the Museum Educator prior to the first live classroom visit to review the technology and the classroom procedures.
The full series of Obed’s Classroom lessons is available for $75, with a discount available for two or more classrooms in the same school. Contact Museum Educator Michael Showalter at mishowalte@pa.gov to arrange to bring this new virtual experience to a classroom.
| Where Ephrata Began | By the Book |
| A Visit to the Sisters’ House and Meetinghouse | A Visit to the Printing Office |
| Explore life in this unique community. | Discover the process used to create the largest book printed in early America. |
| Good Humors | Lessons from History |
| A Visit to the Physician’s House | Going to School from 1740 to 1840 |
| Medicine in early Ephrata was a learning process, even for the doctors. | Schools looked differently in the past before the invention of computers. |
Homeschool Days
| Fridays, April 16 & May 14 |
| 9:00 — 1:30 |
| All four of the Obed’s Classroom lessons described above will be offered on these days. |
| 9:00 | 10:00 |
| Where Ephrata Began | By the Book |
| 11:00 | 12:30 |
| Good Humors | Lessons from the Past |
All four lessons are available for homeschools on these days for the single cost of $15.00 per computer link. Students must be able to print the related worksheets for each class.
PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED no later than 2 days prior to the program. Contact the Museum Educator, Michael Showalter, at mishowalte@pa.gov for full details. Tickets can be purchased here: April 16 and May 14.
