On Friday, I toured with and was entertained by six 6th-grade students from Walden School. When I asked why they were at the museum, they quickly responded, “to learn about the Silk Road!” Hmmm. I explained that the Silk Road exhibit was just a small part of the tour, but the exhibition they would see was unique and interesting. I then gave them a bit of time to explore in the Crossroads Gallery. While they were exploring, the teacher informed me (somewhat apologetically) that they hadn’t actually started learning about the Silk Road. We then moved on.
We started in the Wetlands with the kites (as I did with the 2nd-graders). I wanted to see if 6th graders were as engaged as the 2s. We started with a discussion of butterflies and related topics. With the exception of more knowledge of the process of metamorphosis, etc., the Ss were equally engaged. We talked about Qing Ming Festival and Tomb Sweeping. They were very interested. I found it curious that none of the Ss had ever actually been to a cemetery!
On to the forest. Activity: Ss partnered up, and I asked them to wander around the Forest (the pillars) and find the ugliest object or the one they found least interesting. They were to discuss each other’s choice and agree on one to bring back to the group. When they were back in the group, I told them the second part of their task: they were to return to the object they had chosen and find one thing in it that they could agree was beautiful. When done with this task, they presented their objects to the rest of us and explained what they found beautiful and why. They were thoughtful, articulate presenters. After a few more moments of exploring those objects, one S remarked to me that while he originally felt the object was really ugly, he disagreed with his initial assessment and thinks the object. Very beautiful! What a little close looking can do, eh?
At the Golden Frog/Toad, we briefly discussed the California Gold Rush, which they were already familiar with. We read “Uncle Speaks” aloud and discussed the meaning of “Enough is Enough.” I had them scour the room for the “most valuable object” (thanks, Lorenzo) and finally concluded that they, indeed, were the most valuable. Another “AHA” moment: when wandering about, one S pointed out that the Liu Haichan and Toad shows the Toad with three legs, but he stated that the toad wasn’t necessarily “missing” a leg, but perhaps was born differently, with a disability or birth issue!
In the apartment, these students were as fascinated with the exhibit as the 2nd graders the day before, though they weren’t necessarily as focused on the food around the table. They commented on the phone, the typewriter, and the TV/VCR set-up (some seemed to know what they were). When asked what time period this might have been, they thought “70s.”
As time was quickly passing, we briefly passed through the Feng Huang room on our way to the Guardians/Storefront. While in the Guardian exhibit, we were briefly visited by a workman walking through who quickly disappeared through an unseen hole in the wall. A few minutes later, he came back out and left. We followed him and spent our remaining minutes in the Storefront, talking about Tanuki, Kitsune, and other objects of interest.
This was another amazing tour with an amazing group of students. They were engaged and articulate, bringing fresh ideas to their understanding of the exhibition. Their teacher commented that she would like to figure out a way to get back to the museum with S before the exhibition closes. She was also interested in attending the Himalayan exhibition next year.
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