Integrating Virtual Field Trips

 Memorial Day VFT v.NoJS

I have linked above the Memorial Day Virtual Field Trip (there is a Google Slides Version, but this one felt more engaging and had a good flow). This field trip starts out with saying how we are going to take a field trip to Arlington National Cemetery and then is followed by some music as the "Let's Go" button pops up. The next slide then shows kids in line waiting to get on the bus and then a bus driving down the road. It highlights a few snap shots of Arlington National Cemetery and the Eternal Flame.

By watching kids get on a bus it gives a more realistic feel that they are attending a field trip in person. Many of my students have not been to places like Arlington and probably never will. As you click through the simulation there are many videos embedded and questions that need to be answered before clicking onto the next part. In this field trip students are looking to collect pictures for a virtual scrapbook. 

When using this in my classroom, it was a whole group lesson but after thinking about it I could have assigned it on Google Classroom and allowed my students to work through at on their own pace. Over two weeks we did a small section each day and reviewed what we talked about the day before. My students each had their own packet that wrote their answers down in. Following the section there was a more in-depth lesson on the daily topic.

Some learning objectives for this virtual field trip are:

-  Understand the importance of Memorial Day and what it stands for

- Identify how some people celebrate Memorial Day 

- Understand the importance of Arlington National Cemetery (who is buried there, the lay out of the cemetery)

- Understand why the Eternal Flame is important and what is symbolizes

- Important people associated with Memorial Day and what why they are important

- Understanding the Tomb of the Unknown Solider (importance of 21 steps, when is it not guarded, who can guard the tomb)

Implementing this into the classroom is easy as it is already set up and easy to use. The only prep work I had to complete was printing out the note sheets for my students which was taken from the Google Slides. When introducing this to the class, the start of the trip does it for you, as it talks about where they will be traveling to and show some clips of things they will learn about. When doing this as a whole class reviewing the questions before the video can help students know what to look for. When I did this, I stopped after each question was answered and wrote it on the whiteboard so we could refer back to it. If I were to do this on Google Classroom, for kids who struggle with spelling I would have them verbally state the answers and either type it in for them or write it for them to type. There is a read aloud button that will read the heading and the questions, with will be helpful for the students who need it read to them. 

Assessing students' literacies practices during this field trip would vary depending on if it was done with the whole group or on Google Classroom.

- Whole Group Assessing:

     - asking each student a comprehension question following the paragraph or video

     - having students come up and click the buttons to move the class along in the field trip

     - comprehension: seeing if students are able to correctly answer the questions following the article or         video

- Google Classroom

    - assessing basic computer skills (can they log into google classroom, open the link and click the             appropriate button to navigate through)

    - comprehension: seeing if students are able to correctly answer the questions following the article or        video