Using the Coronavirus Capsule with Students
The Frazier Museum is collaborating with Jefferson County Public Schools, the University of Louisville Archives and Special Collections, other school systems, and the public at large to document and preserve how people are seeing, feeling, and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Capsule will document thoughts and experiences through written word, photographs, art, music, videos, and more.
Educators of all grade levels are invited to utilize the Coronavirus Capsule as part of their lessons in meaningful ways.
Scroll down for 3 suggestions on using the capsule with students.
Have questions? Email us at education@fraziermuseum.org.
#1 Document History | Submit to the Capsule
We are living through a historic time that will be studied for years to come. Invite students to record history by submitting to the Coronavirus Capsule as part of a lesson or assignment.
Some things to consider:
Discussion of primary and secondary sources and why they are important could complement well with the assignment. Investigate sources related to other historic events (journals, letters, photographs, speeches, artifacts, and so forth) prior to submitting.
Submissions are accepted in many forms allowing you to serve diverse learning styles. Students may reflect on life during a pandemic through written word, art, photography, videography, and more.
The project provides an authentic outlet for student work. All submissions to the capsule will be stored by the U of L Archives and Special Collections. Some will also be shared on the Frazier Museum website and within a future physical exhibit exploring the pandemic at the Frazier Museum.
For guidelines and additional information on submitting to the capsule please click here.
#2 Explore Compelling Questions
Have students explore entries to the Coronavirus Capsule, along with other sources, as they think critically and engage with compelling questions. The capsule currently houses hundreds of poems, essays, photographs, art pieces, and more that can serve as evidence and/or entry points for discussion when considering larger questions.
Possible questions for student consideration:
Louisville is a self-proclaimed Compassionate City. Where do you see your community living up to this title and/or where do we have room to improve as it relates to the COVID-19 Pandemic?
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your household and family dynamics?
We are living through a historic event that is leading to many thoughts and emotions. Will the ways we are coping now permanently change our society and community?
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected who you define as a hero?
Ask students to locate a submission from the capsule that relates to the compelling question and respond to it.
A simple format for analyzing art or photography in the capsule could include: 1. What is going on in this image? 2. What do you see that makes you say that? 3. What more can you find?
#3 Embed the Capsule into Larger Lessons
Utilize the Coronavirus Capsule as one of many resources during other applicable inquiry-based lessons.
For example:
Family Inquiry (1st grade) - Explore the question “How can families be the same and different?” in the lesson located on the C3Teachers website. Use the Frazier Museum’s Coronavirus Capsule as one of several places for students to explore ways that other families are the same or different than their own.
Black Death Inquiry (6th grade) - Investigate the question “Can disease change the world?” in the lesson located on the C3Teachers website. Use the Frazier Museum’s Coronavirus Capsule as one of several places for students to explore the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday life in their own community.