EDU 375: Teaching Elementary Social Studies

Here are the notes from this past week in class:

We began our class conversation by discussing why and how to use Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) in the Social Studies Classroom. The following information is important to know:

The primary reason to make a virtual field trip is to have students experience a field-trip like experience without actually leaving the classroom. Virtual field trips can be designed to provide students with new information, assist students to develop a cultural awareness of other communities, allow students to visit far away places of the world and to give students an opportunity to travel back in time.

In class, students accessed two online articles and read them independently before discussing whole group. Click on the titles below to access the articles:
Get Outta Class with Virtual Field Trips
Take a Museum Field Trip - Without Leaving Your Classroom

When using virtual field trips, we as teachers serve as the tour guide. That means that students are not left randomly going through their virtual trip; rather, they are guided along the way.

Students are often asked to write notes, answer questions and/or complete projects based on what they have learned. This is to apply what they have experienced through the VFT to their own learning.

In class, I provided many different examples of Virtual Field Trips that can be used in the Social Studies classroom. Some VFTs were made using PowerPoint and still camera photos while others were made using 360 degree panorama technology. Click here to view the list of VFTs that were explored in class.

In class, we also reviewed the Virtual Field Trip assignment. This assignment is located on this website for your reference.

The following is a list of some examples of Virtual Field Trips for early childhood and childhood social studies content:

First Grade Example (Families and community):

School example:

http://www.campbell.k12.oh.us/Viewseum/TourVRT/Penhale/penhalefinal/penhalefinalB.htm

Second Grade Examples (Rural, urban and suburban communities):

At the Dairy Farm:

http://www.mda.state.mi.us/kids/pictures/dairy/index.html

The Story of Milk:

http://www.moomilk.com/tours/tour1-1.htm

New York City Point of View:

http://www.nycpov.com/

Third Grade Example (Communities around the world):

Alaska Native Heritage Center:

http://www.alaskanative.net/2.asp

Fourth Grade Examples (NYS history):

Ellis Island:

http://www.historychannel.com/ellisisland/gateway/index.html

Erie Canal Tour:

http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/#

Fifth Grade Examples (American history):

Historical Tour of the White House:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/

White House Tour:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/360index.html

George Washington’s Mount Vernon:

http://www.mountvernon.org/virtual/index.cfm/ss/29//cfid/4136915/cftoken/12349013

The Constitutional Tour (Philadelphia Walking Tour):

http://www.theconstitutional.com/tour.php

The Great Depression:

http://jc-schools.net/write/Depression_files/frame.htm

Sixth Grade Examples (Eastern World Cultures):

The Great Wall of China:

http://www.thebeijingguide.com/great_wall_of_china/index.html

Explore the Taj Mahal:

http://www.taj-mahal.net/index.htm

When you begin to create your own Virtual Field Trip (VFT), start by selecting a social studies topic of your choice. VFT topics are often places to visit. Here are two examples:

Places to visit:

Tour Colonial Williamsburg

http://history.org/visit/tourTheTown/

Tour Washington, D.C.

http://ahp.gatech.edu/dc_map.html

After you select a place to visit, it is important that you find additional sites that can enhance your students’ virtual experience even more. Here are three different websites that could be used together to begin to create a VFT for 6^th grade social studies students on Ancient Egypt:

Tour the Great Pyramid

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/

Tour of a mummy

http://www.westminster.edu/about/mummy/virtual_tour.cfm

Interact with a mummy

http://www.mos.org/quest/mummy3d.php

Visit the Nile River

http://touregypt.net/WildEgypt/nile1.htm

Once locating a variety of internet resources, it is time to create a PowerPoint presentation that will allow you to be a guide for students as you take them on your tour.

Here is an example of one that is completed:

http://web.cortland.edu/palecz01/edu%20647/virtual%20field%20trip.ppt

Use this above example to identify ways that the author:

1. Established desired student outcomes (objectives)

2. Identified ways that the author established a sense of “being there”

3. Included many different primary documents (photos) to supplement the text

4. Embedded online tours to have students virtually experience the location

5. Created a PowerPoint presentation to combine all of the above to make a VFT.

That's all for this week. Keep reading, keep learning and keep coming to class! ~Kim