The bits I most remember about my school days are those that took place outside the classroom, as we were taken on countless theater visits and trips to places of interest. –Alan Bennett
School field trips are age-old traditions. We know that children enjoy hands-on learning experiences that field trips provide. A trip can be as simple as an excursion to the neighborhood hardware store with a class of first graders or it might be an all day trip to a downtown museum. Off campus visits give children an opportunity to connect classroom instruction with real life application.
For students to get the most out of the experience, it’s important that the focus of the trip be relevant to what the students are studying in school. Ask yourself, how does this trip relate to and support the curriculum? Does it provide an educational experience or is it just a chance to spend a day away from school? When you can clearly pinpoint the educational objectives, you're ready to book the trip and start the planning process. To help in planning, museum websites provide curriculum resources that align with the Common Core Standards. A wide range of lesson plans are available that you can adapt to meet the needs of your students. Other resources such as learning guides for use during the trip are also available. Many art museums have published lesson plans that integrate art with science and math. Here are links to excellent teacher resources from several U. S. art museums: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
After you've selected the field trip venue, introduce the field trip topic to your class. Research shows that students learn more from a field trip when given pre-trip instruction. Sharing photos, video, brochures and art items before the trip rouses their interest. You can even have students research the field trip site and create their own essential questions. Prior to the trip, help students refine their observation skills. Practice looking at ordinary objects such as a paper clip, a paintbrush, a comb, clothespins, etc. Ask them what they see and what they notice about the object that they never saw before? These exercises develop new ways of seeing that students can use during the trip.
Explore the museum’s website as a class to identify the kinds of exhibits on display. Introduce materials they'll use at the museum along with trip specific vocabulary. To see some examples of outstanding materials, look at these field trip guides available from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. These are valuable resources not only for a zoo field trip, but also for a general study guide of animal behavior.
Just as pre-planning provides a richer field trip experience, follow-up activities reinforce learning. These activities allow another opportunity to process and reinforce concepts. Discuss student's general impressions of the trip and review assignments related to the event. Create a bulletin board showing materials created and collected as part of the field trip. Write and send thank you notes to chaperones and other people who supported the trip. And consider creating a slide show to play at a school event.
While a trip to a museum is ideal, sometimes funding or geographic distance are an issue. Then a virtual field trip is the next best thing. There are an amazing number of such trips available on the internet. Introduce virtual trips in the same manner as you would a trip to a local venue. By doing both real and virtual trips, students will benefit from a wide variety of experiences.
The peak season for field trips are May and June. In the future, consider taking trips earlier in the year when museums are less crowded and students can have a more leisurely visit. Trips taken at the start of the year help students develop teamwork skills that can be used during the entire school year.
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