Education at Denny
The Abbey and the Farmland Museum
Handling sessions
These are opportunities for children to see, handle and think about objects from the past. They provide the excitement of actual hands-on contact with artefacts of historical importance, and through them with the people of the historical period the children have been studying. The objects are investigated in terms of their own value, and from them the children are encouraged to make deductions about the lives of the people who owned and used them.
These sessions will generally be led by museum educators, though it can be arranged for teachers to lead them if they wish.
Among the sessions offered will be:
Toys in the past
Life in the 1950's
Fenland life
Victorian homes
World War 2
Farming
Washday
Tudor life
Full details of these sessions can be found below, and here as they are developed, but all will involve an element of handling original objects, and will involve deductive skills in which the objects shed light on the lives and societies of the people who used them.
Format
The usual format of handling sessions is as follows:
Aims: - to handle objects from the past
- to use objects to learn about people in the past
- to work effectively in a group
Introduction
Session leader will remind class that objects tell us not just about themselves, but about the people who owned them, and about society at the time they were being used.
Get to know your object
Either individually, or in pairs, students will study a given object and comment on its size, weight, texture, colour, use, identity, and make a deduction about its owner.
Discuss your objects
In small groups, use the objects to discuss the common theme that they represent (e.g. clothes, housework, technology, etc.) and draw conclusions about this aspect of life at the time. Prepare to present findings to the class.
Presentation
Helped by the session leader, each group shows its objects and builds up a picture of life at the time.
Conclusion
There can be a discussion about life at the time; whether it was better or worse than nowadays; and the usefulness of objects in bringing the past to life
With KS1 children, it is usually more appropriate for the objects not to be placed in front of them, but to bring a few of them at a time to the front to handle the objects, while the session leader coaxes deductions from them and the others in the class.
You are viewing the text version of this site.
To view the full version please install the Adobe Flash Player and ensure your web browser has JavaScript enabled.
Need help? check the requirements page.
