Preparing Students Before the Trip
When students know what to expect, they will become more aware and observant when on the Field Trip. Live Theater offers an experience that will awaken emotions as well as senses!
Discuss the purpose of the field trip and how it relates to the current unit of study.
Introduce visual observation skills. Let students describe in detail ordinary objects, like a paper clip, paintbrush, clothespin, or comb to their classmates.
Introduce vocabulary words that relate to live theater, music, etc.
Show photographs or posters of the field trip site or related to performances that will be viewed.
Assign students "specialists" roles in one aspect of the topic that they will be studying during the field trip. Students could be grouped in different subject areas related to the field trip topic to research (e.g., music, choreography, costuming, story telling, etc).
Explore the Website of the location you will be visiting.
As a class, brainstorm a set of standards of conduct for the trip and discuss suggested behaviors, etiquette, appropriate clothing to wear for the trip, and more.
Discuss with students how to ask good questions and brainstorm a list of open-ended observation questions to gather information during the visit. Record questions on chart paper or in student field trip journals.
Overview the field trip schedule.