Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Oriental Institute, iPads, Webquests, Target, and Hogwarts. What Do They All Have in Common? . . . A Whole Lot of Learning!

The following post is written by Ms. Nashwa Mekky, 5th-grade teacher at Ivy Hill Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She shares her field trip planning and the museum visit experience for her students at the Oriental Institute in January 2014. 


“Where is in the world can we find Mesopotamia?” I ask my fifth graders, only to receive blank stares back. I have a little more luck with, “How about Egypt? What continent can we find Egypt on?” Half the hands shoot up; all ready to answer. There would have to be ample pre-field trip learning before we embark on our class trip to the Oriental Institute. With proper planning, this field trip would be a valuable experience that my students would always carry with them in their schema of learning. But where to start… The OI website of course!
 
The last thing I wanted was to have my students walk through the museum like drones, looking at artifacts as if they were broken pieces of stone. Because I teach in a progressive school district that values 21st-century skills, like global awareness, technology, discovery, and integration of learning, I knew I would find all the resources and support I needed to make this learning experience an authentic one. After all, my school is WIRED, literally.

In collaboration with my 5th-grade teaching team, we started by creating a closed WebQuest template on a Google Drive, with direct links to the educational resources offered on the OI website. Students pondered questions posed to them relating to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and then searched for answers using the provided links. Research topics pertained to each civilization’s daily life, warfare, art, architecture, farming, and much more. They analyzed these artifacts online, compared and contrasted daily life today with that of their earlier descendants, and self-assessed their learning daily through questioning and reflection. And all this was just the start; they were exploring, discovering, analyzing, and gaining new information. The next step was to share out with their peers.

Students collaborated together and created a Google Presentation on what they uncovered. Now they were ready for the onsite visit to the OI. “Are we going to the see Striding Lion?” asked one student. They all wanted to see their artifact. The ones they researched and were the class expert on. The list was long. The Mesopotamian group wanted to see the Laws of Hammurabi, the Incantation Bowl, Demon Pazuzu, and the Lamassu. While the ancient Egypt group was excited to see the real life Sistrum, Mummy Mask, Statue of Tutankhamun, and the Female Harpist.

To help defray the cost of the trip, the OI made available useful links for field trip grants that I was able to apply for. I was grateful to secure a sizable grant through Target Field Trip Grant Program, which helps to make field trips like mine cost-effective and affordable.

Beaming with anticipation and excitement, students grabbed hold of their iPads and were ready to document every moment of their experience. Once we arrived at the OI, we were greeted by friendly and knowledgeable docents who took our students in small groups for a guided tour of the museum. As part of the program, students attended the artifact analysis class, where they handled original and replicas of artifacts, and like real archaeologists, made deductions and conclusions about the daily life of the people who created them.

So what happened with all the pictures that were snapped up with the iPads? The students created a presentation on the Explain Everything App and uploaded them to their classroom YouTube Channel. Students used their favorite artifacts to explain everything they knew through their prior research and onsite visit. They had a finished product that synthesized their learning, and was a creation of their very own.

Will my class visit the OI again next year? I sure hope so. I know my students will carry much of what they learned about this region’s culture, history, civilization, geography, as well as an overall awareness that goes beyond their sixth grade social studies curriculum. This experience has broadened their appreciation and understanding of the world we live in today. Whether the students are 5th graders or seniors in high school, there is so much the Oriental Institute has to offer on so many levels!

--------
About the Author:
Ms. Nashwa Mekky is a 5th-grade teacher at Ivy Hill Elementary School in Arlington Heights. She served on the Oriental Institute Teacher Advisory Council in the school years of 2012-2013 and 2013-2014.

No comments: