Here you will find ideas for activities that can be used during a visit to the museum. These activities are designed to spark ideas but are not fully developed lessons or units.
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Activity Title: Questioning an Object
When: During Visit or Post-visit
Age level: K-12
Objectives:
Guiding questions:
Procedures:
Activity Title: Footnote Jigsaw
When: During visit or if you are not able to visit the museum
Age: K-12
Objective:
Procedures:
Activity Title: Footnote Expert
Where: Pre-visit and during visit
Age: K-12
Objective:
Activity Title: Footnote Round Robin
Where: Pre-visit and during visit
Age: K-12
Objective:
This activity is particularly useful for schools where access to cell phones may present a challenge.
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Activity Title: Questioning an Object
When: During Visit or Post-visit
Age level: K-12
Objectives:
- Students will evaluate their role as visitors to
history museums.
- Students will explore and analyze how museum
staff create and design exhibitions.
Guiding questions:
- How do I as a visitor explore history
museums?
- How do history museum staff make decisions about
what objects to include and what information to pair with objects?
Procedures:
- Before
entering exhibit:
- Introduce
exhibition
- Introduce
the footnotes project
- Tell
students to write down questions they have about different objects/installation
areas as they are touring the exhibit; the questions should be about objects
that do NOT have a footnote associated with them. Questions should focus on the
content being covered.
- Introduce
exhibition
- Tour
the exhibition independently, with teacher as guide, or with a museum educator.
- After
the initial tour ask students to explore exhibition again, this time
independently reading footnotes (using the QR codes). Modification: choose
specific footnotes for students to view rather than use them all or allow
students to choose their own footnotes to view (a list can be provided). Another option includes asking the students
to respond to the prompts provided for each footnote.
- Gather
students to introduce next activity:
- Ask
students to select an object/installation in the exhibition that did not have a
footnote.
- Imagine
you have 15 minutes to talk with the curator of the exhibition about this
specific object. What 10 questions would you ask that are not addressed by the
materials currently on display?
- Ask
students to select an object/installation in the exhibition that did not have a
footnote.
- Possibilities
for expanding in classroom:
- For
secondary students, ask them to conduct research to answer their content questions
from the museum.
- For
secondary students, ask them to conduct research to answer their content questions
from the museum.
Activity Title: Footnote Jigsaw
When: During visit or if you are not able to visit the museum
Age: K-12
Objective:
- Students will explore and analyze how museum
staff create and design exhibitions.
- How do history museum staff make decisions about
what objects, perspectives, and stories to include in an exhibit?
Procedures:
- Assign
students to an “area of expertise”: underrepresented groups, text,
interactives, and object selection.
- Ask
students to find the following footnotes based on their areas of
expertise. They do not need to find them
in any specific order. All students should read footnote #1.
- Underrepresented
groups – footnote 4, 7, 8
- Text
– 6, 7, 14
- Interactives
– footnotes 2, 3, 13
- Object
selection – footnotes 5, 9, 10
- Underrepresented
groups – footnote 4, 7, 8
- Give
students time to read their footnotes independently. Tell them to come up with three main ideas
about their “area of expertise.” In other words to decide on what is most
important from their footnotes.
- Have
students meet in their “home” groups and share their main ideas.
- Have
students meet in “expert” groups where each one is an expert in a different
topic and have them share the main ideas.
- An
option for this activity: students use their phones to respond to the
prompt/question provided for the footnote.
Activity Title: Footnote Expert
Where: Pre-visit and during visit
Age: K-12
Objective:
- Students will explore and analyze how museum staff create and design exhibitions.
- How do history museum staff make decisions about what objects, perspectives, and stories to include in an exhibit? How do the footnotes change my view of the information being presented in the exhibit?
- Introduce the footnotes; read footnote 1 to all students.
- Assign students to footnotes 2 – 14 (one footnote per student[s]); students read their footnote in class and prepare a one-minute presentation on the material.
- At the museum, during the tour by the museum educator or teacher, students will present their footnote to the class as they go through the exhibit.
- Option for this activity: after the presentation of the footnote students use their phones to respond to the prompt/question provided for the footnote.
- Teachers can use the student responses for a post-visit activity
Activity Title: Footnote Round Robin
Where: Pre-visit and during visit
Age: K-12
Objective:
- Students will explore and analyze how museum staff create and design exhibitions.
- How do history museum staff make decisions about what objects, perspectives, and stories to include in an exhibit? How do the footnotes change my view of the information being presented in the exhibit?
This activity is particularly useful for schools where access to cell phones may present a challenge.
- Introduce the footnotes; read footnote 1 to all students.
- Assign pairs of students to footnotes 2 – 14; students read their footnote in class (online or they can be printed out but online is preferable because of the images) and prepare a one-minute presentation on the material.
- Make one student per pair an A and one student per pair a B.
- At the museum, have each “A student” work as “museum staff” and stand next to their footnote. “B students” explore the exhibition at their own pace for a set amount of time, stopping to talk to their peers stationed at each footnote.
- Switch, so that “A students” explore exhibition and “B students” become “museum staff.”
- This activity can happen:
- Before touring the exhibit with museum staff.
- After touring the exhibit.
- Without a tour by museum staff.
- With a tutorial from museum staff (set up in advance), expanding on the footnote material.
- Before touring the exhibit with museum staff.
- Option for this activity: as they hear the footnote students use their phones to respond to the prompt/question provided for the footnote.
- Teachers can use the student responses for a post-visit activity