Pre- and Post-Visit Activities: Grades 5 - 8

Signs & Symbols: Decoding Art
Guided Visit

Pre-Visit Activities

• Introduce students to the Allentown Art Museum by describing where it is, where it is located and what it contains. Ask students: What is a museum? Has anyone ever been to the Allentown Art Museum or another museum before? What did you see at the museum? Explain to them why they are going and how the trip connects to what they are studying at school.
  
  
• Discuss with students: What is a symbol? Is a symbol the same thing as a logo? Why or why not? What role do symbols play in their lives? Besides popular culture symbols, where else can they find symbols in their everyday lives? Have students draw symbols they see during the course of one day in a journal. How many did they find? Are symbols more important in the world than they thought? Why or why not?
  
  
• What about colors? Can colors have meaning beyond their decorative qualities? Have students research what different colors mean in different countries — for instance, in North America brides wear white, but in India they wear red. Why? What do the colors symbolize? Can a color have more than one meaning?
  
  
• Review Museum Etiquette with students to ensure they understand the unique qualities of museums as compared to other places that are familiar to them — the library, their house, the grocery store, etc.

Post-Visit Activities

• Review the trip with students. Ask them: What did they see? What did they do while they were at the Allentown Art Museum? What was their favorite artwork or activity? Why?
  
  
• Using the Museum's online collection, have students look for works of art they did not see at the Museum, then use what they have learned about signs and symbols to "decode" the works. If they are unsure about something they see in the artwork, have them research the object or figure to find out more.
  
  
• Have students design their own symbol. Once they are complete, display them and have other students try to decode their meaning. Then have students share with the group what the symbol means and why they chose to represent this aspect of themselves.

More Pre- and Post-Visit Activities

Kindergarten - Grade 4
ART DETECTIVES
THE FOUR SEASONS
MY FIRST VISIT TO THE MUSEUM
SENSATIONAL SENSES
SCULPTURE: SHAPES TO WALK AROUND

Grades 5 - 8
SIGNS & SYMBOLS: DECODING ART
NEW WAYS OF SEEING THE WORLD
BY DESIGN: ART & LIFE
PERSPECTIVE IN DEPTH
SCULPTURE: SHAPES TO WALK AROUND
THE RENAISSANCE CONNECTION

Grades 9 - 12
SIGNS & SYMBOLS: DECODING ART
NEW WAYS OF SEEING THE WORLD
BY DESIGN: ART & LIFE
SKETCHING THE LANDSCAPE