Field Trip to the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C.
As an additional resource, I planned a field trip that could be taken that would tie in nicely to this unit. For this field trip, the class would visit the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C. Once we arrive arrive at the memorial, students will have a chance to walk around and look at the statue of Martin Luther King, as well as the surrounding quotes. After students have been given plenty of time to explore the memorial, the class will gather together to analyze it. The questions to guide the analysis are attached below. Keep in mind however that students should have extensive practice analyzing art in the classroom (through virtual field trips) before being expected to analyze the Martin Luther King memorial.
In order to prepare for the field trip, the teacher would need to reserve a bus and bus driver, send permission slips home, and gather parent volunteers. In addition, students would be required to bring their lunches with them, so school bagged lunches should be prepared in the event that a student forgets their lunch. Finally, a week before visiting, you would check the NPS website for scheduled Ranger tours (listed on Resource page), so that when you are there, a Ranger could take the class on an informative tour around the memorial. Other than that, there are no fees associated with visiting the monument and it is open 24/7, so there are no time restrictions. It helps to make this field trip extremely flexible for teachers and their schedules!
The Martin Luther King memorial was chosen because it is a great extension to this unit, providing students with an opportunity to use what they know about Martin Luther King to critically analyze the credibility of his memorial. This field trip also ties to social studies and fine arts content standards. Visiting the memorial is a great way for students to see how our history influences the creation of monuments, sculptures, and other pieces of art. Students will learn that a lot can be understood about a person or a time period simply by looking at a work of art. This trip also ties to fine art standards, which is extremely important considering fine arts usually don't go beyond art projects in the classroom. Students will learn how to have a critical observing eye when looking at works of art, giving them a valuable tool that can be used to help them understand decisions made relating to art.
Since there is not a lot of information available on the official Martin Luther King memorial, I have compiled a handout of wonderings about the memorial to help guide the analysis of it with students. There are also two videos below that give more information about the memorial that could be watched by the teacher, or as a whole class. In addition, it is extremely important to encourage students to think about any controversies that this memorial might provoke, since there have been a lot. Finally, when thinking about this field trip, keep in mind rush hour traffic when traveling to or from the memorial, as well as the time of day you visit the memorial. Late morning, early in the week, might help avoid a lot of tourist foot traffic in and around the memorial.
I think that there are a lot of positives to this field trip. The greatest positive is that students of any grade level could go on this field trip and have a meaningful expereince. Younger grades might not be able to analyze the memorial as in depth as older grades, but they will still be able to apply what they know about Martin Luther King when thinking about his memorial. Another positive, as mentioned earlier, is the fact there there are no cost associated with this field trip, other than travel costs. This makes the field trip accessible to all students and all schools, regardless of financial struggles. There are a couple of suggestions I have for future planners. First, make sure that YOU become an expert on the Martin Luther King memorial before visiting it with your students. This means you need to visit it ahead of time, analyze it for yourself, and then do some research to see what other people are saying. This will allow you to have the most information about the memorial when analyzing it with your students. A final suggestion would be for teachers planning this trip after 2015, consider combining this trip with a trip to the African American museum. Currently the museum is still being built, but with its scheduled opening in two years, it would provide an additional resource for students to explore in relation to Martin Luther King.
When it comes to field trips, I learned that they are most meaningful to students when information they are learning in school can be incorporated into the field trip. Nowadays it seems like teachers plan field trips because they are allowed "2 field trips a year", therefore the only consideration they make is what would be age appropriate for their students. When teachers plan field trips that can directly tied to social studies, science, or other content areas, students can apply what they have learned to real world experiences, helping students to internalize what they have learned. In addition field trips that are tied to content areas provide teachers with additional assessment opportunities to assess if students understand the content that has been taught. When planning a field trip in the future, the first question I will ask myself is "How will students apply what they are learning?" If I do this, then I can ensure that each field trip is successful, engaging, and meaningful to all my students!
In order to prepare for the field trip, the teacher would need to reserve a bus and bus driver, send permission slips home, and gather parent volunteers. In addition, students would be required to bring their lunches with them, so school bagged lunches should be prepared in the event that a student forgets their lunch. Finally, a week before visiting, you would check the NPS website for scheduled Ranger tours (listed on Resource page), so that when you are there, a Ranger could take the class on an informative tour around the memorial. Other than that, there are no fees associated with visiting the monument and it is open 24/7, so there are no time restrictions. It helps to make this field trip extremely flexible for teachers and their schedules!
The Martin Luther King memorial was chosen because it is a great extension to this unit, providing students with an opportunity to use what they know about Martin Luther King to critically analyze the credibility of his memorial. This field trip also ties to social studies and fine arts content standards. Visiting the memorial is a great way for students to see how our history influences the creation of monuments, sculptures, and other pieces of art. Students will learn that a lot can be understood about a person or a time period simply by looking at a work of art. This trip also ties to fine art standards, which is extremely important considering fine arts usually don't go beyond art projects in the classroom. Students will learn how to have a critical observing eye when looking at works of art, giving them a valuable tool that can be used to help them understand decisions made relating to art.
Since there is not a lot of information available on the official Martin Luther King memorial, I have compiled a handout of wonderings about the memorial to help guide the analysis of it with students. There are also two videos below that give more information about the memorial that could be watched by the teacher, or as a whole class. In addition, it is extremely important to encourage students to think about any controversies that this memorial might provoke, since there have been a lot. Finally, when thinking about this field trip, keep in mind rush hour traffic when traveling to or from the memorial, as well as the time of day you visit the memorial. Late morning, early in the week, might help avoid a lot of tourist foot traffic in and around the memorial.
I think that there are a lot of positives to this field trip. The greatest positive is that students of any grade level could go on this field trip and have a meaningful expereince. Younger grades might not be able to analyze the memorial as in depth as older grades, but they will still be able to apply what they know about Martin Luther King when thinking about his memorial. Another positive, as mentioned earlier, is the fact there there are no cost associated with this field trip, other than travel costs. This makes the field trip accessible to all students and all schools, regardless of financial struggles. There are a couple of suggestions I have for future planners. First, make sure that YOU become an expert on the Martin Luther King memorial before visiting it with your students. This means you need to visit it ahead of time, analyze it for yourself, and then do some research to see what other people are saying. This will allow you to have the most information about the memorial when analyzing it with your students. A final suggestion would be for teachers planning this trip after 2015, consider combining this trip with a trip to the African American museum. Currently the museum is still being built, but with its scheduled opening in two years, it would provide an additional resource for students to explore in relation to Martin Luther King.
When it comes to field trips, I learned that they are most meaningful to students when information they are learning in school can be incorporated into the field trip. Nowadays it seems like teachers plan field trips because they are allowed "2 field trips a year", therefore the only consideration they make is what would be age appropriate for their students. When teachers plan field trips that can directly tied to social studies, science, or other content areas, students can apply what they have learned to real world experiences, helping students to internalize what they have learned. In addition field trips that are tied to content areas provide teachers with additional assessment opportunities to assess if students understand the content that has been taught. When planning a field trip in the future, the first question I will ask myself is "How will students apply what they are learning?" If I do this, then I can ensure that each field trip is successful, engaging, and meaningful to all my students!
wonderings_about_the_martin_luther_king_memorial.docx | |
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