Curriculum activities are projects and studies related to school curricula. School curricula are subjects and lesson plans that students take in order to complete a grade level of study. Curriculum activities such as art projects, essays, class assignments, and field trips can help keep students interested as well as provide further opportunities for learning.
Field trips are class outings to educational or cultural institutions. These outings relate to study in the field of a certain subject. For instance, if the curriculum lessons for a music class include a section on opera, the teacher may decide to plan a field trip by first finding out which different operas are performing in town. If it's possible to arrange seats, transportation, and tickets, a class field trip to see an opera may be one of the curriculum activities for the music course.
Class assignments, in which students work together in groups, are common curricula activities in both traditional school and online education. For a group class assignment, the students in different groups often arrange time outside of school hours to meet and work on the project. In the case of online classes, the students may communicate ideas for the project via telephone and email unless they are located in the same city or town. Class group assignments could involve the members presenting readings or reports on the assigned topic.
Essays are curriculum activities in which individual students write a required number of pages about their position on a certain topic or piece of literature. They must back up their assertions with supporting points. For instance, an essay on the subject of early retirement would either discuss its pros, the positive points, or cons, the negative aspects. Essays remain as popular curriculum assignments because they allow students to delve deeply into a subject; a student reflects on different parts of the topic as well as conducts research in order to come up with a strong stance well supported by facts.
Art projects provide creative curriculum activities that offer the student's view or expression of a subject. For instance, an art project in a science class may include a representation of the solar system by using painted foam balls as planets. Art activities in an elementary social studies class could involve the children drawing pictures of different places in the world. Art project activities are typically given at the elementary school level, as the children are too young to be given essay assignments alone.