 |
Old Cap Classroom: Teacher's Guide
About the site
The Old Capitol Museum web site is designed for use by multiple age groups and audiences: the University of Iowa community, historians, architectural historians, school children, and the general public.
The K-12 audience is of special importance. Despite reaching 40,000 people each year through on-site tours, school children in the western two-thirds of Iowa rarely, if ever, get the chance to visit Old Capitol. It is our hope that through the on-line tour, history and classroom sections of this site we can convey some of the richness of Old Capitol to students who do not have the opportunity for a school-sponsored field trip. It is also our hope that this site can inspire teachers and students to come to Iowa City to see Old Capitol "up close and personal."
Educational Goals
-
To introduce students to Old Capitol museum, its rooms and artifacts. (Tour)
-
To introduce students to the people, places and events that help shape the third territorial and first state capitol of Iowa. (Tour, History)
-
To help students gain a deeper understanding of the lives and times of pioneering Iowans. (Tour, History, Chauncey's Swan Song)
Classroom Approaches
This web site can be used in a variety of ways, depending upon your preferences, the needs and interests of your students, and any specific curriculum requirements you may have.
A few suggestions for using the web site are:
- Use the site in an unstructured way for exploratory learning, allowing students to create their own goals and outcomes.
- Use the site in a more structured way with a suggested progression:
- History
- Tour
- Old Cap Classroom
- Use the site for collaborative learning, assigning teams to concentrate on different activities in the site. This is especially good for "Research Detective", where there is a two-pronged approach to finding information.
- Use the classroom activities as advance organizers for touring the site. The site is large, and depending upon the amount of time you can spend, this may be the most efficient method for learning.
- Assign activities from simple to complex:
- Tour Quiz is a knowledge/comprehension based activity, appropriate for all students. It can be used as a post test, or as an advanced organizer (students use the questions as a "scavenger hunt" in the tour.)
- Chauncey's Swan Song requires students to apply their knowledge to a creative writing exercise, appropriate for students with the desire and ability to write well. It may be difficult for students with limited writing ability.
Activity Guides
|
 |
 |
