TOUR INFORMATION

Working as Partners in Education

The Grace Museum recognizes the important role classroom teachers play in ensuring a meaningful  museum experience.  Our museum education staff wants to work closely with you as a PARTNER in educating your students.  While exposure to artistic, historical, and discovery-centered objects is important to a young mind, taking some time to really prepare and follow-up your visit will allow your class to gain real knowledge and sensitivity to what they see, read, do, and hear while at The Grace.  Here are some strategies for a meaningful museum experience:

Before your Museum Visit

• Confirm the logistics of your tour with our Educational Program Coordinator, Pam Harman, and obtain the name and phone number of your docent.  Contact your docent to discuss the format for your tour and any special needs or ideas you may have to enrich your experience.
  
• Plan to visit the museum before you bring your class.  Admission for a teacher preview is free, and will provide you the opportunity to explore the current exhibitions and better prepare your students before they arrive for their scheduled tour.
  
• Discuss “Museum Manners” with your students and, more importantly, share the format and schedule for your visit. Determine what the learning objectives for your museum experience will be before you arrive.
  
• Incorporate a pre-visit lesson at your campus that will set the tone and objectives for your day at The Grace Museum.  Try to integrate language arts, history, art making, or research into your lesson so that your class will be more active participants at the museum
  

At the Museum

• Before you leave the campus, discuss with your students where they will gather as a group at the museum.  You may want to provide a question or activity for them to complete while they wait to begin the tour.
  
• Work with your docent to implement a variety of teaching tools at the museum.  While your docent will have a wealth of historical and biographical information about the objects on view, you can lead additional activities to make the tour more interactive. 
  

After Your Visit

The tour experience should not end when you get back on the bus.  Instead, expand your day at the museum by designing activities that complement your curriculum.  Taking some time to prepare and follow-up your visit will reinforce your experience for you and your class.  Suggestions for “post-visit” learning may include:

• Incorporate writing and research assignments to extend your experience.
  
• Plan a studio art activity that relates to the images you saw at the museum.
  
• Ask students to keep a journal to record their thoughts, ideas, sketches, and reflections of their museum tour.
  
• Explore the Internet to find additional information about the exhibitions, artists, or objects you viewed at the museum.
  
• Assign group or individual projects where students can assume the role of a museum curator.  What kinds of art would they display?  Why?  What would they like to teach visitors who come to their show?  What artists and art periods would be included?  What do they think about the experience of curating an exhibition?
  

Suggestions for Teaching in the Art Galleries

The Art Museum and galleries offer students the chance to learn about many different types of art, styles, periods, and artists.  Think about ways you can allow your class to participate in stimulating questions and gallery activities tailored to your grade level.  How can you weave language arts, social studies, reading, history, math, and science into your tour?  Below are some suggested activities for your students:

• Explore various art-making tools, techniques, and traditions.
  
• Research a specific artist or period and present your findings.
  
• Write a poem or story about a work of art that interests you.
  
• Select an image and act out the scene it depicts.  Or for younger students, pretend you are one of the elements or principles of art in that image.  How could you move like the color, line, or shapes you see?
• Listen to various types of music as you examine works of art.  How do different melodies affect your viewing experience?
  
• Design looking and thinking questions or games to engage your class in their interpretations in the gallery.
  

Suggestions for Teaching in the History Museum

The History Museum offers a variety of opportunities to learn more about Abilene’s past and the people who added to the quality of life and culture here.  Consider the following list of suggestions for ways you could enhance your tour of the History Museum with your students:

• Research the history of early Abilene life: agriculture, business, education, etc.. 
  
• Create a timeline of important events in Abilene’s past.
  
• Explore the architectural history of Abilene homes and downtown businesses.
  
• Conduct oral histories with family members to really gain a sense of what life in Abilene used to be like.
  
• Assemble a photo collage of period snapshots.
  
• Examine the fashions of the past.  Have students design garments that they think will be a part of Abilene’s future.
  
• Study some of the household items on display.  What were they used for?  Are they still used today?  Check out the museum’s Traveling Trunk to learn more about early daily life in Abilene.
  
• Invite a guest to speak to your class about living or working in Abilene.