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. 🙂
Lisa, Thank you for telling me about your idea of a mini gallery for your classroom! I loved that you were inspired by our trip and already have a way to incorporate activities into your classroom! Creating an art gallery before your field trip to the VMFA would certainly build anticipation and background knowledge so that students would get the best experience possible during the face-to-face visit. I appreciate you taking the time to share your lesson idea!
I just found out my 3rd grader will be taking a field trip to VMFA at the end of March! Of course, I signed up to be a chaperone. 🙂 It will be so fun to go through the whole experience with students to see how they respond and interact with the various parts/activities. I think I might be more excited than my daughter is!!