| Last month’s field trip
to the zoo was wonderful. The weather was beautiful and you
didn’t lose any students in the Desert Biome.  You
could tell your students were excited about what they were
seeing. Back at school you heard all about everyone’s
favorite animal. What a great experience!
Students pick up so much information during a field trip.
These facts though, are just like any other facts we learn.
They are only useful if we understand and apply them, drawing
our own conclusions and interpreting them to others.
The experience of the field trip, as beneficial as it may
be, is not the point. The field trip is another tool in your
arsenal to guide students along in constructing meaning from
facts. Make the most of the experience by considering these
ideas:
Before the Trip
- Visit the site on your own before you take students there.
- Plan many pre-activities; the more students know, the
more they want to learn.
- Guide their learning by using the KWL method (What do
you know? What do you want to know? What have you learned?).
- Surround your students with resources about your unit
of study.
- Spark their curiosity with videos and virtual field trips.
- Help your students catch a vision of the end product and
guide them as they compose their questions.
- Create and discuss assessment rubrics with your students,
making sure they understand your expectations.
During the Trip
- Look for answers to investigative questions.
- Use KWL
- Use a focused journal
- Help kids interact with their adventure using all their
senses.
- Talking
- Drawing
- Writing phrases or quick observations
- Taking pictures
- Tape recording their observations and sounds
After the Trip
- Use data collected to create something meaningful.
- Plan presentations to an audience.
- Use Tech tools to let kids “Show off”!
- Complete and send home final assessments.
- Formal Assessments could include rubrics for assignments,
projects, presentations, and tests over subject matter.
- Informal Assessments could include class discussions,
checklists, observations, etc.
Planning an educationally sound field trip is obviously more
work for you, but it reaps huge rewards for your students.
With practice, your students will begin to formulate their
own questions and construct their own meanings for every experience
that comes their way.
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