We are excited to take our 6th grader to the Detroit Institute of Art in person this year! The DIA offers an excellent docent-led tour, titled “Shaping Identities,” through some of the richest ancient world artifacts from Egypt, Asia, Greece and Rome, as well as an Islamic gallery. Students will explore works of art from around the world spanning thousands of years to investigate how people of diverse cultures use art to define, reinforce, and communicate cultural, national, and personal identity. Our curriculum emphasis on how cultures today are greatly inspired by the ancients gives students the opportunity to make connections between the objects as art and function. Students also gain a deeper appreciation of the cultures they are studying through art.

All 6th graders at Creekside will preview pictures of ancient artifacts during class time, synthesizing what they've learned about “what makes a civilization.” While on the docent-led tour at the DIA, students can make connections between photos of artifacts seen in class and real artifacts viewed at the DIA.

In addition to the guided tour, students will have time to explore the museum on their own with a chaperone to revisit artifacts and/or investigate special interests.

As well as engaging with these artifacts and each other, we would also like our 6th graders exposed to a world-renowned museum experience in an urban setting.

Students will also use their DIA trip as comparison experience for the artifact that they are creating and exhibiting at our annual Creekside Night at the Museum.

Our trip would meet the following standards.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
Comprehension and Collaboration:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1.C
Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2
Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.

Social Studies

P1.2 Interpret primary and secondary source documents for point of view, context, bias, and frame of reference or perspective.
P2.4 Use resources in multiple forms and from multiple perspectives to analyze issues.
K1.3 Understand the diversity of human beings and human cultures.
K1.4 Analyze events and circumstances from the vantage point of others.
W2.1.3 Examine early civilizations to describe their common features.

Students will discuss their ideas about the focus artifacts from the docent-led tour. They will choose one artifact about which to write a summary.

Students will compare and contrast the artifacts we’ve studied and examined at school digitally with the DIA live experience. To get to see several artifacts that we’ve learned about in person is very exciting!

Though this is a one-time event for our 6th graders, we see the benefit to students as enhancing their lifelong learning and involvement with the Arts. We hope it enriches their understanding of the ancient cultures, and helps them appreciate cultures and people that are different than what they experience every day.

We think the interaction within the larger arts/cultural community is invaluable, as is experiencing art in an urban, world-renowned museum. We hope that the DIA continues its reputation by retaining the pieces it currently houses.