On Friday, February 10th, the 4th graders at my school took a virtual field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.  Students started out with an overview of the newest Smithsonian museum, followed by scenes from the opening ceremony.  For maximum engagement, student also got to compete in a “Presidents for Equal Rights” Kahoot game and an equality quote match on Quizlet.  After these activities, the museum was open to be explored by students with their iPads.  Around the museum were various QR codes that would give access to the content:  a document, image, or video.  The students were engaged in this virtual field trip, and you could see students working with peers to complete writing, reading comprehension, and math activities inside the museum.  The highlights were hearing students say:  “This was the best field trip I’ve ever gone on!” and “Ms. Payne, I didn’t know that there were that many black people that did so many great things!”

Specific skills in the museum:  ordering decimals, compare and contrasting different passages, editing a writing passage to correct errors, identifying fact and opinions in literature.