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Pre- and Post- Learning Experiences for
Primary and Middle Grade Students

A trip to the Wolcott Museum Complex can be an extremely rewarding learning experience for students.  To ensure the most value from the trip, teachers will want to make sure that students are introduced to the knowledge areas they’ll be exploring prior to the trip, and that they have the opportunity to review what they’ve learned and extend their thinking afterward. 

Preparing the students for the trip might mean "setting the stage" for their visit by introducing them to books, games, songs and learning activities related to life in Ohio during the mid-1800's.  As a part of this involvement, questions could be raised that the students would attempt to answer during their visit.

Post-visit learning experiences should immediately focus on what was observed or experienced during the visit.  This focus should occur even before the class gets involved in writing thank-you letters.  The letters are important, but giving students the opportunity to think through and express what they've learned from their visit is even more important.

 Students' follow-up learning can be extended beyond the specific information acquired on the visit.  The visit can be a springboard into exploring alternate topics and activities. 

Suggested Pre-Visit Learning Experiences

1.  Share information.  The pictures and brief descriptions given on the Maumee City website, www.maumee.org, can be used to introduce students to the Complex.  “What do you think” and “Why do you think” questions can promote interest in the up-coming visit.  Comparing and contrasting the Wolcott House Museum Complex descriptions and pictures with details provided in some of the books which follow will expand the student base of knowledge – and possibly the questions they’d like to answer – in preparation for their visit.

2.  Trade books.  Share books with the students or provide books for them to read that will involve them with information about life in the early and mid-1800’s.  The insights gained from these books will help students better understand the things they see and experience during the tour.

Suggested picture books with Ohio connections:  

Suggested juvenile fiction:

 3.  Once the students have some knowledge about life in early Ohio, they can be involved in activities which will help prepare them for their visit.  For example, the teacher can make a chart with the following three sections: 

Prior to their visit, the students are guided in completing the first two sections of the chart.  Based on their introductory experiences with books and with the Wolcott Museum Complex information on the website, students can list some things they know about life in early Ohio.  With some help from the teacher, they can identify things they'd like to find out as a result of their visit.  This section can also include things they think they know but want to confirm.  The third section of the chart is completed after their visit.  

4.  Songs which were popular during the early and mid-1800's can be sung.  Folk songs are generally created by people as part of their everyday existence, and are handed down from one generation to another.  Students can learn about cultural heritage and traditions through such songs, and they usually enjoy doing it!  There are many sources for songs related to Ohio's early days.  The music series used in your school is often an excellent source.  Two other sources are listed below, along with appropriate songs from each.  

5.  Play with toys or play games that would have been pouplar in the 1800's.  The children of the 1800's had to be resourceful.  They had few toys, and the ones they had were homemade.  Games they played were often ones that had been passed down or that they made up themselves.

Some of the common toys at that time were:  ring toss, jump rope, stilts, dominoes, hoop & stick, Jacob's ladder, marbles, and buzz saw.

When children gathered, some of the games they played were:  tag, hide the thimble, tug-of-war, riddles, charades, and blind man's bluff.  

Suggested Post-Visit and Extended Learning Experiences.  

Following their visit to the Wolcott Museum Complex, students can be given opportunities to think about and share what they saw and experienced.

1.  Younger students who receive a Wolcott House Complex Coloring Book might enjoy coloring the pictures and taking turns with a friend as they tell each other something interesting about the pictures.  Older students who receive the Wolcott House Complex Activity Book might enjoy working on the activity pages independently, and then comparing their results in a total group "show and tell."

2.  A discussion time to share general observations and reactions to the visit.  

3.  A "Language Experience Story" about their visit.

4.  A vocabulary list based on the visit, which students could use to write sentences, a story, a diary entry, a postcard, etc.

5.  A survey to find out what they liked best about their visit.  Students can conduct the survey and make a simple graph of their results.

6.  A comparison chart:  Life in the 1800's / Life Today.  Housing, food, jobs, education, recreation, transportation, and communication might be compared. 

7.  Develop a coat of arms for the Wolcotts.

8.  Challenge students to spend an evening at home as if they were the Wolcott children.  They can write a story about their experience.

9.  One student can pantomime a chore which would have been done in the Wolcott home, and others can guess what the chore is and which family member would have done it.

10.  Make a class paper quilt of the interesting sights and things learned on the visit.  Each student can make one square, and the squares can be combined to make the quilt.

11.  Students make shoebox dioramas of the most memorable parts of the visit.  Display the dioramas as a mini-museum and have the students act as tour guides.

12.  Create an advertisement (TV, radio, or newspaper) to sell one of the houses in the Wolcott House Complex.

13.  Play "Guess What I saw?"  During the visit, students can look for items of interest for which they can give clues.  For example, the purpose of the item, how it was used, where it was used, etc.  Others guess the item.

14.  Compose and send thank-you letters to the field trip site hostess.  Include favorite objects seen or special information learned during the visit. 

Note:  Many of the suggested learning experiences can be either pre- or post-visit.  It is up to the teacher to decide when his/her students would benefit most from the experiences. 

We hope that your visit to the Wolcott House Complex will prove to be an enriching experience for your students.  We also hope that these pre- and post-visit learning suggestions will be useful in helping your students share what they learned during the visit. 

Click below for printable pictures for classroom use!

Wolcott House

Log Cabin

Train Depot

Gilbert-Flanigan Farmhouse

Museum Store / Frederick House