Post-Field Trip Activites

Just as quality pre-planning is essential to the success of a field trip, planning for appropriate follow-up activities will facilitate student learning and multiply the value of hands-on experiences outside the classroom. The following activities provide a general guide when planning for post-field trip classroom experiences.

• Provide time for students to share general observations and reactions to field trip experiences

• Share specific assignments students completed while on the field trip.

• Create a classroom bulletin board displaying materials developed or collected while on the field trip.

• Develop a classroom theater that replicates and extends what students observed on the field trip.

• Link field trip activities to multiple curricular areas. For example, students can develop vocabulary lists based on field trip observations; record field trip observations in a classroom journal; complete math problems related to actual field trip budget planning; etc.

• Share and evaluate student assignments/activities.

• Have the class compose and send thank-you letters to the field trip site host, chaperones, school administrators and other persons that supported the field trip. Include favorite objects or special information learned during the field trip.

• Create a short news report about what happened on the field trip. Share the trip via a school bulletin board, trip presentation for parent's night, or class Web page.