Welcome!
Discovering Democracy at Please Touch Museum is an interactive field trip program focused on civic engagement for students in grades K-2. Using the “Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy,” students will be asked to consider their identities and communities and what role they play in becoming engaged, active, and responsible citizens.
The web page includes access to the two digital narrative games, one for before your visit and one for after your visit to the Please Touch Museum. The games will prompt your students to make decisions to help solve community problems.
Pre-Visit Game:
After your in-class visit with a Museum Educator, your class will use the Pre-Visit Game to continue practicing skills central to becoming active and engaged citizens. The game further explores the foundational civics concepts of community, empathy, and taking care of others. Students will explore three community senarios: Class Library Problem, Class Pet Problem, and Recess Problem.
Community Scenarios:
- Classroom Library Problem: The classroom library is a mess and no one has been cleaning up, making it hard to find books.
- Civics Focus: Community cooperation and compromise
- Class Pet Problem: The students have not been properly taking care of their classroom pet turtle, Ben.
- Civics Focus: Empathy and treating others the way you want to be treated
- Recess Problem: During recess, two children are using all of the playground toys, leaving none for their fellow classmates to play with.
- Civics Focus: Equity and fair distribution of resources
Post-Visit Game:
In the first few days after your field trip to Please Touch Museum, your class will use the post-visit game to further engage with the Discovering Democracy curriculum and learning goals. In your classroom, students get to explore how their actions contribute to the community, and further understand characteristics of fair and just rules, empathy, and responsibility.
Community Scenarios:
- Dinner Problem: It is dinner time at Carlos’ house and Carlos’ dad asks him to set the table, but he does not want to help.
- Civics Focus: Responsibility and obligation to others, fair rules keep order
- Game Problem: At Lili’s house we are introduced to her twin little sisters, Mini and Nini. Lili has a rule that only two people can play her new game and she won’t let her sisters play.
- Civics Focus: Characteristics of a fair and just rule
- Block Party Problem: All the children are at a neighborhood block party. There is one small dance floor and one person is hogging it for themselves.
- Civics Focus: Impact of an unjust rule, taking action to make rules more equitable
Thank you for your participation!