Field Trip Fun w/ a Freebie

We recently spent a day at the Museum of Discovery and Science in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. We saw an excellent 3D dinosaur movie and had a great class led by one of the museum volunteers. We ran from the otters to the fossil dig to the Everglades experience, we harassed a mastodon and climbed in and out of a giant shark about a thousand and ten times. Then we ate lunch outside in the 90 degree weather while fending off GIANT pigeons that we made sure we didn't feed. Which obviously is not the norm. I'm surprised these pidgies could even fly! But who am I to talk...I'm having some trouble getting off the ground myself these days.



We capped off the day with a 40 minute un-air-conditioned, bumpy bus ride back to the other end of the county. The kids were actually great and we all had tons of fun, but by the time we were back in the classroom the kids were all hot, sweaty and tired! (Wait, maybe that was just me...) Anyhow, I had about 25 minutes before dismissal and ZERO energy, so we welcomed Miss Frizzle to the room to share just a little bit more about dinosaurs, just in case we missed something at the museum.

I had a few little pangs of guilt. I thought I should be leading some great discussion about everything we had just seen and done, but I just didn't have it in me. I was also wishing that I at least had some kind of fun activity that I could give them so that they could work in groups to discuss it with each other because somehow they still actually had some energy left. But, I had nada. zip. zero. zilch. I felt bad, but not bad enough to turn off the Frizz.

I dragged myself home, crawled into bed and settled in for a nap and...I couldn't sleep!! Can you believe?? I was so dog tired, but my brain was racing with ideas. So I stopped fighting it and rolled my butt out of bed and started working.

I ended up creating a packet of stuff that I can not even believe I haven't had before! I made a whole packet full of field trip teacher planning pages, student activities and even a glyph and bulletin board activity. I was pretty impressed with my sleepy self for coming up with what I did. I was a little less impressed the next day when I went back to proofread everything, but no worries, it's all fixed now.

So, the next day we tried out some of my ideas, and I have to say, they were pretty good! With some hot coffee in me and a good night's sleep, we did have a great discussion about what we did and then the kids worked on a few of the activities from the packet. Here is the Field Trip Wrap-up, a nice review of the day:

I'm loving how their drawings so accurately depicted the day. 
They haven't even seen the real pix yet. Love this!

And here are a few of their bus glyphs. The glyph was great, because it allowed them to freely express how they felt about the trip without having to say it out loud. I walked around and listened to the table chatter as they were working and it gave me a some insight into what they really thought and remembered about the trip (the pigeons, the big shark and the bus ride...)

If you're interested, I put the whole packet together on TpT which you can see {HERE} (It's on sale until 4/16!) You can also grab the Field Trip Wrap-up page free by clicking {HERE}.

As much as I'm excited to use these activities for my field trips in the future, I'm secretly relived I don't have to until next year! :)

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33 comments

  1. What a cute idea!! Looks like you had a wonderful time at the museum.

    Miss J
    Smiles, Crayons, and Endless Stories

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    1. Thanks :)
      We sure did! It's nice to have so many cool things pretty close to us here in South Florida!

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  2. Love your Field Trip pack! Awesome Idea! Today we had field day and we were EXHAUSTED so Ms. Frizzle was invited to our class also. :)

    Casey
    Second Grade Math Maniac Blog

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    1. Ugh, the only thing more exhausting than a field trip is field day!! That does give me some more ideas though...lol!!

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  3. What a neat idea. It's always hard to find something for the kiddos to do when you return from a field trip and have just a little bit of time before heading home (and I usually am so exhausted that I can't even think straight to even do a read aloud). We are going on a field trip next Thursday and I am totally going to use your freebie with them when we get back! Thank you sooooo much for sharing :)

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    1. You are so welcome! I hope it comes in handy and gives you a few minutes to regroup before dismissal. Have fun!

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  4. This is such a smart idea Denise!! I love everything you come up with. I am very impressed...usually I am totally blah after a fieldtrip--you are amazing!!!
    Kristen

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    1. Aww thanks Kristen! I was pretty blah, but my mind wouldn't let my body relax. Never seems to do that when I'm thinking about getting on the treadmill though. I'm pretty good about being able to ignore those thoughts. lol!

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  5. I love your idea! I was the same way after our field trip on the 6th...exhausted, but still ended up going "bunny shopping" with a friend that night, getting home close to midnight! Whew!

    Thanks so much for sharing your packet! While our field trip was our last day before Spring Break, I'm thinking of using it when we go back on Monday! Knowing that we took charter buses on our trip (the kids call them "luxury buses", I'm sure that the trip is still fresh in their minds! ;)

    Chrissy
    Adventures in Second Grade

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    1. Luxury buses - ha! love it! We actually used to take charter buses for this trip because school buses couldn't come early enough. I'm thinking we may need to go back to that next year. Those school buses are HOT!!

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  6. such a CUTE activity pack :) I don't think we will be going on a field trip this year, but if we do next year, I will totally be using this! (I kind of want to go on a field trip JUST to do this now!! That glyph is too cute!)

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    1. Lol! Thanks! I love glyphs but sometimes they get so complicated and there's a lot to prepare. I love that this one is just ready to print and use when you really don't have a whole lot of brain power available!

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  7. My 1st grade class is going to a petting farm on Tuesday. They love to write and draw! This is so creative and they will love it. Thanks for sharing even when you exhausted!

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    1. You are so welcome! I'd love to see their pictures :) LIttle kid animal drawings are the best!

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    1. Thanks girl! :)
      I have a feeling that if you were on the trip with us, my story would be a whole lot more entertaining! lol!

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  9. Adorable!! Hope you're doing well Denise :) xoxo

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    1. Hi Laura!
      All's well. Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. My kids love fieldtrips, but they tire me out! I love what you've created in this kit. I am heading over to TPT now to check it out. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas!!!
    Connie
    www.welcometofirstgraderoom5.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Connie! The older I get, the MORE they wear me out!

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  11. Denise,

    These are great and definitely provoke kids to think and summarize their thoughts in a non-intimidating way. I love it! Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Thanks Teri! :)
    (Now I want a cupcake...)

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  13. HI Thea!
    You are so welcome! I really wish I would have had this for the in-house trip that we had about digestion. The kids worked together to actually form the large intestine and then the "waste" ended up in a "toilet bow". Those pix would be priceless!! There's always next year...

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  14. These look awesome!! Love field trips too, but would agree that they are totally tiring!
    Robynn
    BusyBees

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  15. That field trip wrap up is brilliant. How cute is that drawing with one of your cuties looking at the fish tank?!?! Precious. Love the class picture with the shark!

    Sheila

    Sprinkle Teaching Magic

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  16. This is so great! You did a wonderful job! Thanks for sharing!

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  17. That museum looks incredible! I love the school buses too.
     Chrissy

    First Grade Found Me

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  18. I'm a new follower of your blog! I absolutely love your ideas for a field trip wrap up. I'm a first year teacher about to embark on the first big field trip of the year. I have been trying to think of a way to finish the field trip time at school. This is perfect! Thanks for sharing!
    - Elizabeth
    http://firstyearinthe3rdgrade.blogspot.com/

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  19. What a great idea...love your field trip packet!

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  20. LOVE THIS! We have a field trip coming up and now I am even MORE excited about it! Thanks for sharing :)

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  21. I am LOVING this!! It's in my wishlist for next year! :)

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  22. Hi Denise!

    I'm a new follower of your blog...I found you from TBA!! We recently went to our aquarium on a very extensive field trip. The kids were energized yet worn out-as was I! It's refreshing to know that the students are still just as engaged in a field trip the day after the event. We usually schedule our trips on Fridays. In the future, I think I'll be more inclined to plan mid week trips. It leads to better discussions!

    Thanks for your ideas!

    Maureen
    http://kdg-frogs.blogspot.com/

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  23. Looks like fun!

    learnplayandhavefun.blogspot.com

    Jessica

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