Field Trips
Social Studies
Video
A Civics Lesson - Inspiring Students to Become Active Citizens
Students from a Chicago charter school traveled to the deep South to learn about the civil rights movement from those who, as children themselves, marched against segregation. But this was much more than a hands-on history lesson. It was designed to encourage the students to become active citizens themselves, to work to solve the problems they and their communities face today. Civics education like this is a key part of the curriculum at Polaris Charter Academy. As educator Francesca Peck told the students, “We are here to answer the question: How do members of a community affect change?” The message resonated. As one 6th grader told us, everyone has a voice and they need to be heard.
Social Studies
Video
Civil Rights Activists Bring History to Life for a New Generation
It was a moment that changed America. Fifty-five years ago this month, thousands of African-American children walked out of school and began a peaceful march in Birmingham, Ala., to protest segregation. They were met with attack dogs and water hoses. Janice Kelsey was 16 at the time and was arrested for participating in what became known as the Children’s Crusade. This year, she told her story to a group of visiting 5th and 6th graders from Polaris Charter Academy in Chicago, Ill. The students had traveled more than 600 miles to hear first-hand accounts from civil rights activists like Kelsey who were on the front lines of history. “Nobody can tell a story better than the person who experienced it,” said 5th grader Amari. The real-life lesson is in keeping with the school’s philosophy, which Polaris educator Francesca Peck said stresses “the power of immersion, and bringing history to life for our students.” Peck said the two-day visit to Birmingham was not a “field trip,” but was “field work,” with students acting as historians. For many of the students, the impact was powerful. As Amari put it, “This generation, they will have to decide whether they’re going to make a story like that generation did.”
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Wash. State District Cancels International Field Trips
A district in Washington state has halted all international field trips over concerns students in the country illegally wouldn't be able to get back in.
Federal
Schools Cancel International Field Trips Over Concerns for Immigrant Students
So far, the policy change led the district to cancel a band trip to Canada and an education exchange to Osaka, Japan.
Social Studies
Video
Using “Hamilton” in the Classroom
The Broadway musical “Hamilton” is not just a cultural phenomenon or a favorite soundtrack for kids, it has also become an inspiration for educators looking for new ways to connect with their students. Recently 400 New York City public school teachers, most chosen by lottery, won tickets to see the play. Afterward, workshops hosted by the city's department of education and the Fund for Public Schools helped teachers develop lessons about topics like the U.S. Constitution, the presidency, and our Founding Fathers.
Teaching
Video
Using America's National Parks as Classrooms
The National Park Service offers hundreds of lesson plans, virtual resources for schools, and professional development for teachers.
Classroom Technology
Free Electronic Field Trip to Transport Students to Pearl Harbor
The National WWII Museum in New Orleans and a local public TV station plan to webcast an interactive electronic field trip commemorating the 75th anniversary of the attack.
Equity & Diversity
African-American History Museum Gears Up for School Visits
Official school tours don't start at the national museum until 2017, but classes are already flocking to the museum and tapping its resources.
Teaching
Opinion
National Parks at 100: Outdoor Classrooms for Experiential Learning
Our national parks offer educational opportunities to narrow the "experience gap," write Milton Chen and U.S. National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.
Teaching
Opinion
In Praise of the Field Trip
What is a field trip's ultimate purpose? How will the students apply what they have learned? What are their takeaways? And--because these are the questions we hear most often in national policy discussion--was this content standards-based? Could it be delivered (and measured) more efficiently and effectively? Say, in a video or interactive computer game? I'm going to go ahead and answer that question: No.
Curriculum
How Virtual Field Trips Can Change Science Class
An administrator with Durham Public Schools plans more than 100 virtual field trips each year that take her district's elementary school students to places they could never afford to go to otherwise.
Teaching Profession
Chicago Teachers Take Students on Field Trip Despite Furloughs
Teachers at Jorge Prieto Math and Science Academy have decided to follow through with a previously planned field trip today, on the first of Chicago Public Schools' furlough days.
Teaching
How One School District Uses Virtual Field Trips to Save Lots of Time, Money
An administrator with Durham Public Schools plans more than 100 virtual field trips each year that take her district's elementary school students to places they could never afford to go to otherwise.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Md. District Prohibits Field Trips to Baltimore
The Harford County school system in Maryland has banned field trips to Baltimore indefinitely, citing safety concerns following the unrest over the death of Freddie Gray and the subsequent trials of police officers charged in his death.