Show-and-Tell Cabinets Let Students Be Curators

Today’s Curiosity Cabinets house personal rare finds and function as museums in classrooms.

What if you could modernize a seventeenth century idea that would engage and involve students all year long? Curiosity Cabinets of the past are the perfect venue for today’s show-and-tell items. Historically known as “Wunderkammer”, these “Cabinets of Wonder” were privately-owned collections of rare, unusual, or valuable artifacts that told a story about its owner. These rooms and personal cupboards sparked curiosity and interest, and resulted from an increasing desire to analyze, display and entertain. Today’s historical museums of wonder can be found as inquiry-based learning tools in the classroom. Students fill cabinets with unique items to display for others to examine, question and interpret. Here are ways to create a modern museum in your classroom where the curators take a single concept and use their curiosity and imagination to learn throughout the year. 1. Unlock history Curiosity Cabinets, or “Cabinets of Wonder” bring rich history. Originated by the wealthy and scholarly, they flourished during the Renaissance Era and contained many unusual pieces such as preserved animals, horns, and skeletons as well as ancient sculptures, porcelain and clockwork. Use this history to present the idea of a Curiosity Cabinet to your classroom. Explore how these past spaces provoked a sense of wonder in the observer. Discover how these cabinets were the forerunner to museums. Talk about how you and your students could modernize a cabinet to the classroom. 2. Create your cabinet Be original and imaginative. Historical cabinets were either ornate and exotic, or more modest and practical, according to historian and Oxford Regius Professor R. J. W. Evans. Let history be your backdrop as you construct your own unique theatre, and encourage students to think about which personal item tells their story. A cabinet can be a piece of antique furniture, a tabletop, a series of shelves, or an area of the classroom to display items. Visit a museum to build a foundation for the concept, and start with photographs on a bulletin board so students can visualize their cabinet. Create a virtual museum to share with other classrooms. 3. Launch your show Display your museum in the classroom for the students throughout the year. Let students to investigate, ask questions, and ponder. Encourage students to analyze and write informational comments about the pieces. Stretch higher-order thinking skills by crafting work extensions across multiple units. Inspire students to connect with each other. “Our student teacher had our students bring in one artifact that represented them,” said Rachel Lovely, a teacher in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. “They would write a short story about the item and how it reflected them.” Curiosity is at the heart of education. Inquiry-based learning feeds thirst for knowledge and deepens understanding and engagement. Delve back into history and import a concept that will keep your students asking questions all year long.