Here you will find ideas for activities that can be used prior to visiting the museum. These activities are designed to spark ideas but are not fully developed lessons or units.
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Activity Title: Making of a Museum
When: Pre-visit
Age: K-5
Objective:
Guiding question:
Procedures:
The Making of a Museum
Students will create their own museum exhibition on a topic of their choosing and answer the following questions:
1. What is your museum about?
2. What stories do you want to tell and why do you want to tell those stories?
3. What will be in your museum?
4. Where will the objects come from?
5. What are the different jobs people have at your museum?
6. Will your museum always stay the same or will it change?
7. Who will visit your museum and why?
On the back of this paper, draw what your museum would look like or an object in your museum.
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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: Making of a Museum
When: Pre-visit
Age: K-5
Objective:
- Students will explore the process of exhibit
creation from the perspective of curators, historians, designers, and
educators.
Guiding question:
- What decisions do we need to make when creating
an exhibit
Procedures:
- Divide
students into small groups.
- Have
them complete the Making of a Museum worksheet
together (see below).
- Optional:
ask each group to present their museum to the rest of the class.
- Teacher
leads a discussion about making decisions in museums, including the following
topics:
- Theme
– why is the exhibit or museum important in the first place?
- What
objects are available to you? What exists? Are they for sale? Where will you
buy them?
- Finances
– where does your money come from? How will you use it? What will you
prioritize?
- Donors
– maintaining relationships, different priorities
- Research
– what do we know about the topic? Who is writing about it?
- Audience
– how hard or easy will the text be? Will there be different interactive
activities?
The Making of a Museum
Students will create their own museum exhibition on a topic of their choosing and answer the following questions:
1. What is your museum about?
2. What stories do you want to tell and why do you want to tell those stories?
3. What will be in your museum?
4. Where will the objects come from?
5. What are the different jobs people have at your museum?
6. Will your museum always stay the same or will it change?
7. Who will visit your museum and why?
On the back of this paper, draw what your museum would look like or an object in your museum.
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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