In the Loupe: Preparing Kids to Visit Museums

Prepping a group of young people to visit a museum?

Sometimes museum spaces can seem a bit formal or unapproachable to kids, especially when there are no designated youth spaces. But even traditional, object-focused museums can be exciting for everyone. 

Though we no longer offer this remote program, educators and caregivers have told us they appreciated the prep activities we offered for our Skype: In the Loupe program, so we are sharing them here! 

Why do we keep it?

Sometimes the concept of a museum can be confusing to kids. History museums, in particular, might seem like unfamiliar buildings that hold old things in glass cases.  It's not always possible for smaller museums and historical societies to host children's programs or "please touch" exhibits, but that doesn't mean kids can't find these spaces engaging.

This first activity can be completed as a worksheet or a conversation. It is an opportunity to talk about the types of things people keep and find important. 

Q- Ask children what objects in their possession they find interesting, important, or dear? And why?

If the museum you are visiting has a website or social media presence, this might be an opportunity to share some interesting posts or articles. Helping kids orient and set expectations for their visit goes a long way to making the site visit or field trip successful.  At Morristown, we have a Junior Ranger program, and our activity booklet is available on site (in print) and on the web (PDF).

What is a Collection?

The artifacts or collections displayed in a museum can vary in content and materials.

Collections might include historic structures (buildings), library and archival materials (books and papers), natural specimens (flora, fauna, rock, and minerals), and museum artifacts (furniture, clothing, art, etc.). Some collections overlap into more than one category of description. 

This activity is fun to play on a chalkboard or white board with teeny post it notes. 

Newark high school students play the collection game.

Nomenclature

Nomenclature is the name or term given to something. Museums name, classify, and categorize artifacts as a way to record their unique qualities for identification and interpretation. 

Artifacts are categorized by type (what they are), purpose or use (what they are used for), and material (what they are made of). 

Museums also catalog or record specific details about artifacts, such as size, condition (good, fair, poor), historical information (when or how they were used and who used them), and provenance (who has owned an artifact and how it was acquired). Natural history artifacts, like specimens, might include additional scientific information like chemical content or indication of rarity. 

In most traditional museums, artifacts contain labels with this information.

Note the artifact description on this object label. 

 

Exploring Galleries with Specific Lenses

A fun way to explore galleries is to gamify your visit. We often have students use the following thought lenses when they look around. 

Consider...

Accessibility

• descriptions and language 
• is it user friendly?
• layout
• color and image contrast
• exhibit height
• connecting the story
• viewing or audio description

Story Telling & Dialog

• exhibit themes
• paring of artifacts
• does it inspire questions?
• layout (room and exhibits)
• educational use
• relevance to visitors
• is it engaging?

Preservation

• artifact condition
• artifact materials
• surrounding environment
• artifact conservation needs
• cases, mount, & displays
• lighting
• exposure (touching, humidity) 

Prep activities by Sarah Minegar

ML 15: Lesson and Wrap Up

Lesson:  Lyrical History and Document Based Questions 

Lyrics to Gordon Ward's Grandfather River
Click to enlarge or print.

After the Kahoot game, the teacher will pass out the lyric sheets to the students. Have students listen to Grandfather River and annotate at least three sections of the lyrics. The teacher can change these directions to specific lines or may leave it broad. After listening to the song one or two times the students, should pair up and talk about the song. This is where they should quickly go over the part they annotated and explain to the other student their thought process. The teacher should than hold a class discussion to answer any questions about the song and to engage the class in discussion. It would also be a good idea to ask the students to explain their thought process about their annotations. After the discussion the teacher will hand out the worksheet DBQ to the students. After some time, the students should go into pairs and work together and go over their answers.  




🎶  Click here for the audio recording of Grandfather River 🎶




All maps and and charts are from the Morristown NHP Library and Archives.


Click the DBQ thumbnails to enlarge or print exercises:

Terra Australis Incignita
America Nova Tabula

The Travels of Capts
Lewis and Clark,
From St. Louis, By Way of the
Missouri and Columbia Rivers
to the Pacific Ocean, (1809).

Discoveries Made in Exploring
 the Missouri, Red River, and Washita
by Captains Lewis and Clark
1906, A + G Way Printers

Mississippi Map,
Given to William Law
N.D.

America Septentrionalis
a Domino d' Anville in Gallis
edtia nune in Anglia
Noriberga, 1756.

Conclusion: House Hunters Historical 

To finish off this lesson the teacher should go over the worksheet and play this YouTube video called Louisiana Purchase: House Hunters Historical. This is a hilarious way to reinforce the lesson! 







ML 15: Lewis and Clark
Mini Lesson by Nicholas Quintero
For Complete Lesson Overview click HERE.

ML 15: Methodology and Introduction

Think-Pair-Share:

As education students, we are taught to use interactive and groups activities. Most of those who want to teach the younger kids use Think-Pair-Share and I also found it difficult to utilize in a high school classroom. However, I think it works extremely well with this lesson. I like the idea of the students working independently, working with the song, and then going into small groups. I decided to use the Think Pair Share because some students can get lost with bigger groups and having one of partner would force the students to participate or sit in silence.

Jigsaw Puzzle (another option):

The Jigsaw Puzzle approach is a good way to get students into small groups. Below is an outline depicting how that might work, logistically. 

Warm Ups and Games:

I like to begin with fun introductory material that hooks learners. The YouTube Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Memestory works well with this lesson.  After the video the class will play a quick Kahoot to do a review and to get the students excited about the lesson. The Kahoot I designed is a five question mini-quiz. It is not to grade the students; but just an interactive way to make them pay attention. The teacher can give the winning student a reward such as extra credit or something tangible such as a piece of candy.

Click HERE to play my sample Kahoot

Song: 

Incorporating music and poetry is a way to encourage multi-sensory engagement.  

Click HERE to play the You Tube audio recording of Gordon Ward's song.

Click lyric sheet to enlarge or print. A PDF of this file may be obtained that is compatible with electronic reading devices. 

ML 15: Lewis and Clark

Mini Lesson by Nicholas Quintero
For Complete Lesson Overview click HERE.

Reserve Your Classroom Materials Today!

Dear Teachers,

We know you are busy enjoying your summer activities, but it is never too early to beginning thinking ahead to the fall!  Our Traveling Museum Artifact boxes are available for two week loan intervals and include adaptable activities appropriate for primary, middle, and secondary grade levels. We currently offer four museum boxes available for classroom use.


Morristown’s Traveling Museum Artifact Boxes contain groupings of reproduction artifacts similar to those that would have been typically found in the possession of various persons during the late eighteenth century. The purpose of these boxes extends beyond a mere show-and-tell experience for students. Morristown National Historical Park has constructed these traveling educational units to enable students to simulate what the Park and other museums do when archiving, storing, and interpreting objects from the past. We hope that by examining these objects in “museum condition,” students will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the work involved in preserving a record of the past, as well as expand their historical reasoning and historical empathy skills. And ultimately, we hope that these boxes will serve as useful preparation for teachers planning a field trip to the Morristown National Historical Park Museum.

Unit 1
Contents of a Slave's Bag

Unit 2
Contents of Native American Bandolier Bag

Unit 3
Contents of a Colonial Lady's Pocket

Unit 4
Contents of a Soldier's Haversack



The artifacts in our Traveling Museum boxes are stored, labeled,
and catalogged just like the real objects in our special collections.



Our replica objects come with corresponding accession records and catalog
cards, so students can get the full museum experience!

 



Schools within the state can request the loan of the Traveling Museum Artifact Boxes by contacting 973-539-2016 (Sarah Minegar @ x 215) or (Jude Pfister @ x 204)

Our Traveling Museum Artifact boxes are available for two week loan intervals
(teacher pick up only).



 
Our Traveling Museum Artifact boxes utilize replica artifacts and lesson units originally developed and distributed by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. These original Hands-On History Kits can be found here. Morristown National Historical Park has utilized these fantastic materials to create its own derivation demonstrating the museum end of artifact preservation. These derivations include artifact "housing," museum object records, and original lesson materials and activities. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is in no way affiliated with the derivation of materials found here.