As students watch a video, have them complete an organizer that asks them to find:

Wow! One surprising fact/idea.

Huh? One question they have that the field trip didn’t answer.

Observation: One observation they had about the video.

Offer videos to struggling learners as another form of accessing information and creating knowledge. 

Either the students (collectively) or the teacher could jot down drawable locations, people, animals, habitats, etc. from the virtual field trip and write them on small slips of paper.

Split the class into two equitable teams. Following the traditional rules of Pictionary (no letters or numbers/no gestures), students are to draw the item written on their slip of paper. Their team guesses while they are drawing. The teacher can determine how much time is reasonable for each turn (one minute should be good). Teams alternate, taking turns back and forth. Teachers could use a Pictionary-style board or they could award points for every correct guess.

Many options exist. Consider:

Allowing the other team to guess once after the timer runs out and “stealing” the point if they get it.

Bonus points awarded if the team can identify the idea and name a fact from the virtual field trip.

Giving students an option of Pictionary (drawing) or charades (acting).

Allowing the next person up for the other team to continue drawing the same slip if not guessed on the first try.

Have students create a passport for themselves and color it in. Use it to create a booklet where they can record each “journey” they take. Each page inside the passport could have a drawn picture from the destination, the title, and maybe a one line description.

As students go on the virtual field trip, have them write down keywords they hear. For example, on the Galapagos island video: islands, exotic, shark, adaptation, giant tortoise, largest, symbol, tourists, iguanas, marine, colorful, dragons, sea-going lizard, etc.

Once the virtual field trip is complete, students can create a word cloud of their keywords. There are free tools online that can make this an easy process. After students have turned in their word cloud, the teacher can prepare a Powerpoint or hand-outs of the clouds. The final task would be to have students use highlighters to find the top ten most common keywords used by students over a particular field trip. Compile these top ten lists and discuss: are these words the most important topics from the virtual field trip? If so, why? If not, why did we collectively select them?

Create a webquest worksheet. Students will work in pairs or small groups to complete the webquest and then present their results.

Have students write down every number they hear on a video. Just the number (no labels). Once the virtual field trip is over, share that the students will be matching their numbers to a label.

This could be discussed in a class conversation or even done on a worksheet (like):

____ medicines

____ countries that surround the basin

____ people who live in Asia

Students follow the same directions as above with the number hunt, but they write each number on the backof a separate post-it note (on the sticky side).

Around the room, the teacher has written on chart paper or markerboards the matching labels. For example, one poster might say “medicines” and one might read the “population of Asia”, etc. Students will be tasked with silently(no discussion in this case) walking around and placing their post-it note on what they believe is the correct label (for example, you put the post-it that has the number seven on it on the poster that has the word continents on it). However, since the students wrote their number on the sticky side, they will not be able to see what their peers are choosing.

After all students are finished, the teacher can lead a discussion collectively or can review each of the responses on the poster. For example, if 100% of the post-it notes on the continents read 7, the teacher knows that students collectively both heard and comprehended the information. Celebrate! However, if many students put an outrageous number like 1,500,000 for the number of continents, the teacher can be aware of some possible re-teaching, explanation or reviewing of the trip may be necessary for full comprehension.

One side of the room is the area for “true” and the opposite side of the room is for “false.” The teacher reads or posts (on a PPT or on the board) statements from the virtual field trip, some of which are edited slightly (making them false). The students do not answer aloud but they answer with their bodily placement in the classroom. For example, if the statement was “Coral reefs are second only to rainforests in the huge number of plants and animals who live there.” and you know it is true and all the students were on the “true” side of the room, you know that this was understood universally.

However, if the statement was “Coral reefs are made of sandstone, corals, algae, anemones, and more” (which is false because it’s made of limestone) and the class was split in half-some in the true and some in the false, you know this was either trickier or less understood collectively.

As an added bonus for older students, you could have the students write true and false statements during their virtual field trip.

Four Corners is like Room Split (above), except there the four corners that act as a scale. For example, you can have strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree-one in each corner. Then the teacher can read statements where students can decide their opinions on the topic and move to the space that demonstrates this idea.

For example, “If tourism decreased, the congestion in Tokyo would be improved.” and students would move to the corner that best represented their thoughts. The teacher could decide to allow a small group discussion validating why the students in the same corner felt the way they did and share out for everyone.

Develop a travel brochure or commercial to explain why people should visit the country you are researching.

Write a persuasive paper or research paper on why people should visit the country that they chose to research.

If studying more than one country, have students discuss how they are similar and different.

K-3 Geography:  Cut out different pieces of construction paper with the continents on it and place it on the floor.  Then have students identify which continent they live in and identify the rest of the continents.

Use or create a puzzle with the 50 states of the United States and then after you discuss each state and put it down on a table, floor, etc.  When you have all of the states, have students put the United States puzzle together.

Create a map of a continent with playdoh, clay, paint, etc. that shows the continent’s landforms. This could be done as a group project by assigning one continent to each group.  Each group would then create a map that illustrates the continent’s various land features (i.e. mountains, hills, rivers, lakes, bays, plains, etc.).

Contact another school in a state, country, or continent that your class is studying and set up a pen pal where your students write to their students and vice versa.  This could be done by letter or email.

Have students that are interested in arts and crafts recreate traditional clothing, pottery, tools used, etc. of a country that was studied.

Create a webquest worksheet. Students will work in pairs or small groups to complete the webquest and then present their results.

Assign videos for homework and then discuss video content/assignment in class.

Written all over the board are people, places, animals, objects, locations, etc mentioned in the virtual field trip. On the floor are two pieces of tape, equidistant from the board. Each team will have a player stand behind the tape.

The teacher creates two separate teams, each with their own flyswatter. Every team member will take a turn with the flyswatter standing behind the tape line. The teacher says the definition or a description of one of the words written on the board as a clue. After the teacher reads the statement, they say go!, releasing the students behind the line. Students take their flyswatter and hit the word that matches the definition/description. If they both choose the same word, the flyswatter on the bottom gets the credit for the correct answer. The teacher can choose to keep a tally of team points or use another scoring method. When their turn is finished, the students go to the back of the line.

This game is active and can be rowdy. Care should be taken to ensure the flyswatters are used safely.

Give students the list of topics for your selected virtual field trip and have them cut the topics into strips. Tell students that after the trip, they will be sorting the topics into categories of their choosing and labeling the categories. These categories should help them to organize the ideas they have after the virtual field trip. Although there is not a “right and wrong” answer, having a clear justification and rationale that aligns with the content of the virtual field trip is key. The teacher could model this with one virtual field trip and have a class discussion about how to categorize the topics and then move to students completing this work independently or with collaboration.

In this activity, students select a noun-either a person, place, or thing mentioned in the virtual field trip. This could easily work as an activity after students go on several virtual field trips.

On an index card, They begin with the question: who/what/where am I? They then give increasingly specific clues. The final clue is “who/what/where” am I with the initials ___?

For example:

Where am I?

I am a country bordered by Iran and China.

The Kyhber Pass connects me with Afghanistan.

A section of Kashmir is under my control.

I have towering mountains, fertile plants, and sandy deserts.

My people love cricket.

Karachi is my largest city.

My capital is Islamabad.

Where am I, with the initial P?

Answer: Pakistan

If the card is a person, it begins with “Who am I?” and ends with both the question and initials.  (example: Thomas Jefferson would end with “who am I with the initials TJ?”)

If the card is an object it begins with “What am I?” and ends with both the question and initials (example: the Eiffel Tower would end with “what am I with the initials ET?”)

Students could give any number of clues between the initial question and the finishing question; this depends on age and the amount of content this is covering. Feel free to require a certain number of clues (like five between the initial and ending question). These clues are written in first-person as if you are the person, place, or thing.

Once students create these cards, the teacher (or student author) reads the cards aloud slowly. (Note: Students are NOT allowed to respond to the card they created). Each student gets ONE opportunity to give an answer. Once they speak, their opportunity is over for the round. For example, as the second clue above is read a student guesses “India!” Since that is incorrect, they are not allowed to speak for the rest of the card. This creates a level of friendly competition and strategy to shouting responses. When a student correctly guesses the answer, they are given the card to hold. At the end (when all the cards have been read), students can count their cards to see who won.

Saving these cards unit to unit or year to year can create a content-specific and fun way to review.

Before viewing the virtual field trip, have a class discussion on perceived issues an area faces. For example, what do students think is a problem for the national parks of North America? Brainstorm a list. They might think a problem is: “people want to buy the land instead of keeping it a park.” Consider how this problem demonstrates that students might assume there is little to no value in leaving the national park and that development could be a better use for the land.

Then have students watch the virtual field trip. Discuss afterwards the issues highlighted by the virtual field trip. How accurate was the initial brainstorm? What issues were surprising to students? Why?

Use the initial brainstorm to recognize and possibly address misconceptions students have regarding the topic.

In this task, students create a “museum exhibit” for a specific topic after watching the virtual field trip. This could be a whole-class effort where students are tasked with one part of the exhibit, or this task could be group, pair or individual work.

Usually, a museum exhibit takes into account the emotional and intellectual components. This can include a story line and flow. Additionally, the text should be selected with great care so as to give the pertinent information without overwhelming. Exhibits can include artifacts (physical objects), primary source documentation, timelines, important facts, infographics (think cause/effect, problem/solution, etc,)

If two virtual field trips are helpful to cover curricular standards, consider a comparison/contrast activity. Utilizing a graphic organizer like a Venn Diagram to search for similarities and differences. Students could benefit from possible topic areas to compare and contrast in advance.

Use a video as part of a nonfiction reading response.  Apply nonfiction reading skills such as author’s purpose, drawing inferences, summarizing, identifying main idea and details, determine the meaning of content specific words by using context clues from the videos, compare and contrast the video to a text, explain the relationship between events using details from the video.

Media Specialist/STEM Specialist/Educational Technologist could use these videos as part of their lessons.

Students create a business plan for a business they see a need for in one of city/country videos.

Students compare and contrast transportation systems in a city/country 

Students compare and contrast technology developments in a city/country 

Students compare and contrast education system in a city/country

Students plan a vacation to a city/country detailing each stop with cost per activity

Set up a travel agency and have students talk about the places they have traveled in the videos to potential customers (other students).

Have students create task cards such as one on drawing conclusions that the teacher then places in a deck for a slideshow to be shown to the class.

Have students write a question from the video on to a notecard. Ask the class as whole.  The student with the most correct answers wins bragging rights, etc.

Create a board game based on the video.  For example, players could be animals who are traveling the board to reach a destination.  They must stop along the way to collect adaptations.  If the animal lands in a place on the board that it is not equipped to survive in it must return to the beginning of the game to gain the adaptation before moving forward again.

Design a mindmap to illustrate the theme and main idea of the video.

Design a movie poster or movie trailer for the video.

Create a set of flashcards with vocabulary and terms from the videos.

Select vocabulary words from the videos.  Assign a word to a group of students.  While viewing the video as a class, have the group stand or sit each time they hear the assigned word. 

Create a Prezi slideshow to represent the main ideas of the video.

Create a habitat in a fish tank to display in the classroom.

Ask the 5 W’s about a video… who, what, when, where and how.

Use as a resource for a substitute teacher.

Have a day where students dress in costume, bring foods, etc that are reflective of an area they visited in a video.  Set up booths and have the students talk about their assigned country.

Set up a computer in the classroom that can be used for students to view videos when they need additional support, or for students who have finished current assignment and want to get ahead.

Draft a letter to a newspaper editor, government official, lobbyist that reflects a position on a relevant subject.