Free Lesson Plans for Teachers: The Met.

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The Met.
April 20, 2007

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Redesigning the
Met's Home for Greek and Roman Art."

The article states, "The reconstruction of the galleries and adjacent areas
- a 15-year, $220 million project - will enable the Met to exhibit some
5,300 works, or 95 percent of this collection, about half of which had
been in storage in recent decades. By restoring the south wing to its
original purpose, the reconstruction also pays homage to the vision of its
first architects, McKim, Mead & White, who created it with Greek and
Roman art in mind."

According to the article, head architect 85 year old Kevin Roche said,
"The hardest challenge..was negotiating various concerns, from the
displacement of visitors during construction to making sure that the art
was carefully transported and installed. 'The architecture is relatively
simple..The human aspect is always more complicated."

Read a Related Article!

Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

Have your students ever been to a museum? Did they like it?
Why/why not? What did they like most about it?

Consider making a collaborative list of things that your
students liked about going to a museum. Students could
also make individual lists.

If your students could either add one wall inside your classroom
or remove one inside wall from the school, what would they do?
Why?

In small groups invite students to draw a picture of what
their ideal classroom would look like. Would it have a
reading area? What about a play area? What about tables
for working? Assign each student in the group a different
job, such as drawer and time-keeper.

Do your students think that it would be neat to see an art project
that a parent made when he/she was young? Why/why not

Students could ask their parents to show them one thing
that the parents have had for a very long time. Students
can then report back. If possible, students could even take
a picture of the item and email the picture to the teacher's
email address.The items could be posted in an on-line
collage.

If your students could select any one item of clothes to put in a
museum of fashion what would they select? Why? This clothes
might be an example of what they like to wear.

Consider hosting a "Fashion Museum" in your classroom.
In addition to modeling the clothes, students could explain
why they selected the item that they did select. What could
somebody in the future learn about them from this clothes?
Another class could be invited to view the museum.

Discussion-Starters for Older Students

Vocabulary terms to discuss: Whimsical; Homage; Reinvigorating;
and, Curator.

Ask your students to explain the purpose of museums. Why
would anybody want to exhibit art from the past? What can we
learn from museums that is applicable to our own lives?

These questions could prompt an interesting class
discussion.

The article explains that in developing the layout of the museum
galleries, Mr. Roche had to determine "'exactly what moment in
Roman architecture' to honor." What do your students think that
this phrase means? How could one determine what moments in a
historical period to give specific honor?

Consider asking students to develop a list of criteria for
historical events that merit special attention in a museum.

According to the article, Philippe de Montebello, the Met's director
said, "I don't believe in itineraries; I believe in wanderings..The
head of Constantine tells you you're in the last stages." What do
your students think that Mr. Montebello meant by this? Would
your students prefer to have an itinerary or to wander in a
museum? Why?

Students could respond to these questions in personal
reflections. These reflections could be posted on a class
wiki.

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