What an amazing resource VMFA is! I had no idea they had that interactive space on the first floor – super cool. I plan to bring my kiddos back there to watch how they interact with the space, and think more about how I can use it in my teaching. I thought the sensory/braille overlay station was particularly cool and can’t wait to explore that on my own. It made me think of the sound lesson I did for Science last semester — what a cool way to make sound waves more tactile. 🙂
I love how many ways there are to interact with the museum’s collection. The website seems to be a treasure trove of lesson/activity ideas and images. The gallery virtual tour is super cool too. There are so many options, including self-guided tours, audio tours (can’t wait for the teen version!), docent-led visits, virtual field trips, and curated collections for independent exploration…there’s really no excuse for not incorporating these resources in some way!!
I hope they are able to extend the virtual field trip to lower grades – that was rather disappointing to hear that it’s currently only for 6th and up. I’ve experienced a virtual field trip with 3rd graders and they LOVED it. It is a very efficient option, time and money wise. It also provides an awesome way to frontload the process/skills before coming in for an in-person field trip. Having been through the process now, I suppose I could study up on facilitating the experience and do it on my own until they are able to accommodate younger kids.
One idea I had for my classroom is a mini gallery. It can either be a physical space in the classroom, or a virtual gallery on their computers — either way, it will contain a photo of a piece of art that connects to our content in some way. There will be some simple, self-service engagement suggestions there, like the grab and go cards at the VMFA (see/think/wonder; connect/extend/challenge; tell a story; etc.). Or, the questions can be more directly related to content (write a list of all the adjectives you can think of that describe this piece; Was this person a Patriot or Loyalist? What are your clues?; etc.) Or even just fun ones, like an I Spy list of details to find to encourage close observation. Students can visit the gallery as an early finisher activity, or it can be used as a rotation station during language arts or another subject (which would promote discussion). It looks like the digital collection at the VMFA will be a great source of high-quality images of engaging art for this mini gallery!
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to learn about and experience the resources available at the VMFA. I am really excited to incorporate lots of this into my classroom. I’d love to know some of your other favorite community resources — parks, museums, experts, etc. — for field trips, virtual field trips, and other in-class resources. 🙂