DESTINATIONS

Post Trip Activities

POST-TRIP: FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES

The key to enhancing any trip for a student is the value of talking about it, expressing one’s opinions, listening to others’ points of view and participating in a respectful discussion of the experience.

Hands-on activities provide another way for students to share their experiences and learn from others. Some examples and tips include:

  • Discuss what they did and did not enjoy.
  • Have students write a newspaper or blog article while pretending they are an art, theater or travel critic.
  • Make a list of what they learned from this experience.
  • Make a list of areas that students would like to learn more about.
  • Incorporate suggested follow-up activities from the venue’s website.
  • Where appropriate, send a Thank You note to the staff at the venue.
  • Visit www.Educatorsresources.com for free curriculum by subject.
  • Assign an art project for students to replicate an object, animal, person, or setting they saw. Explore different types of art methods and genres.
  • Explore the venue’s subject matter online by researching how it varies by nation and across disciplines. For example, how are dinosaurs viewed by different cultures in other parts of the world, in different time periods, by artists, by scientists, by historians, in myths, in films and movies, and even by other children.

FOLLOW UP WITH THE VENUE

Relationship and communication is the key between venues and schools. Venues ask that schools please share problems that they have in planning their trips or that occurred during the trip.

Create a folder at the school for each trip to help you in planning future trips. It should include the following for each venue:

  • The contact person and contact information.
  • The itinerary and cost.
  • Any problems.
  • Suggestions.
  • Pre/Post visit materials including lesson plans and curricula that either the venue or the teacher creates.