Successful Field Trips To EFSC

STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL FIELD TRIP AT EFSC

(adapted from Creating Successful Field Trips by Barbara English/ Karen Lipton-Doidge)


1. Look at your long-range plans.

  • When registering for a new trip, choose the season that best fits into your long-range plans. (Programs at EFSC are flexible, field trips dates are not.)
  • Which programs offer an experience for your students that cannot be duplicated in the classroom? What curriculum expectations can be best met and assessed from the field trip experience? Which programs make the learning accessible to students?
  • Talk to other teachers about their experiences at EFSC and the programs in which they have participated. 

 


2. Choosing a program.

 

 

  • Choose a program that best matches your focus for the field trip. What do you want your students to learn from the experience?
  • Once you have chosen your program, include the EFSC experience into your long range and unit plans. 
  • Plan appropriate ways to integrate the field trip into multiple areas of the curriculum.
  • Plan assessment and evaluation strategies in advance. 
  • Let parents and guardians know at the beginning of the year about the trip, its learning goals and what the costs will be.

 


3. Preparing for your Field Trip

 

 

  • With your students, create a web of ideas to explore various themes, concepts and questions before and after the trip. 
  • Bring your anchor chart to the centre so we can integrate the field trip into the classroom experience.
  • Use the online checklist provided to help with logistics. 

 

 


4. Post-Visit Activities

 

 

  • Extend the EFSC experience further in the classroom. Use our reflective journals (available to download on our website) http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/efsc/Teachers/Elementary/Journals-Outside-Activities-and-Cool-Links
  •  Ask us for more ideas!
  • Post-visit activities for many program are on our website can also provide the basis for assessing the learning outcomes of the visit.
  • Take photos of students at EFSC: submit photos with a short story with your school's newsletter or website.
  • Display your students work from your trip or work related to the experience.