As I drug myself out of bed early this morning, I wondered what was in store for us at the Museum of the History of New York. I didn’t expect to find a very entertaining and bubbly presenter, but that is exactly what we had! E.Y. Zipris is very knowlagable on all things New York. She shows a true passion for her city and in finding ways to pass it on to others. We watched a 22 minute video that encompessed 400 years of New York history. I was sceptical that they would be able to pull it off, but was pleasently surprised by how well it was preented.
After this short video we went upstairs to the Cars, Culture and the City exhibit and had a chance to hear and see exactly how the car has influenced NYC. I was surprised to find out that while NYC is big in the car world, only about 77% of New Yorkers actullay own a car.
Following this tour we went back down and did an activity that I plan to bring into my classroom. Using a grid on the floor we first looked at what was happening to NYC as it grew into a large city, then we were each given a zone and each person in our group was told to make something that was zoned that way. When we were finished doing that we “built” our own city. Even as adults we didn’t do so well and had to discuss some changes. I think this would be a great way for my kids to see how our town turned out the way it is today. I thought about also doing a variation of this activity where we make a model of our town the way it is and then discuss how it could be changed to make it better.
After the conclusion of that activity we had some lunch and then went back upstairs to the Lindsey exhibit. I had never heard of this mayor New York, but was impressed by the exhibit. He was a man that wanted to do the right thing but it just didn’t seem to work out for him. He lost popularity, but seemed to stick to his guns on the issues he was passionate about. A lesson on Lindsey would compliment my lesson on tolerance and equality. I also think he would be a great example when we work on the characteristic of perserverance.
Our final section was to look at Riis and his photographs. He tended to photograph the lowest in socity and use it as a tool to get funding for different projects. Using a three point example E.Y. showed us how to analize a few of his photographs and then we were given copies of many Riis photos and asked to create an “exhibit” using just some of the pictures. We needed to have a theme and make sure the people viewing it learned something. This would be a great group activity in my classroom to show kids how the curators have think about what they are putting up in a museum. It is also a great way to introduce or refresh them on the use of primary sources.
Even though today was another very long day, I walk away with knowlage I can immediatly take into the classroom and use.
