Extra Credit The purpose of extra credit is meant to give credit for enrichment activities above and beyond regular work, or work on a special topic you’re curious about that’s related to our study of history.

Extra credit may not be credited unless regular scheduled assignments have been turned in.

There are three main types of EC:

Assigned EC Opportunities

Extra Credit Trips (IRL and virtual)

Student-Initiated Projects

Assigned EC Opportunities

These are extra credit opportunities that I might assign in class, like a quick research question, a riddle, online survey, or a geography question.

Usually 20 points or fewer.

Extra Credit TripsFamily Trips

Why not get credit for bonding with your family at a museum or event related to our world history study?

Bring a receipt, sticker, or brochure from you visit. (Maybe take a picture of yourself or your family!)

Either make an ersatz-notebook of your visit using maps and vocabulary of the exhibit, taking notes on works that you see, then going home and doing interactions for each work or piece or event that you experienced and how it relates to history that we studied, are studying, or will be studying later on.

Or write a 2-3 page museum review, sharing about the exhibit or event that you intended to see or experience. Describe the museum. What are your reactions to it? How did other people around you react? Did you take a tour, or get an “audio tour”? What did the docent or recording say that was interesting or surprising or familiar? How does it relate to history that we studied, are studying, or will be studying later on in the year? Tell about any exhibits or events that you saw that maybe you didn’t specifically intend to see, but happened upon while you were there?

Usually between 40-100 points, depending on effort and quality.

Extra Credit TripsVirtual Trips

Stuck in the house? Not able to hop on a plane to New York, Washington, D.C., Europe, Asia, Africa, or Mesoamerica just now to look at their museums? Why not get credit for virtually visiting a museum collection or exhibition related to our world history study?

Take a screenshot of the museum you are visiting, maybe include shots of a few of the items you examined in the collection you viewed.

Either make an ersatz-notebook of your online visit using maps and vocabulary on the exhibit site materials, taking notes on works that you see, then doing interactions for each work or piece that you looked at, and how it relates to history that we studied, are studying, or will be studying later on.

Or write a 2-3 page museum review, sharing about the exhibit or event that you intended to see or experience. Describe the museum’s website. What are your reactions to it? Did you take a tour, or get an “audio tour”, watch videos available on the site? What did the docent or recording say that was interesting or surprising or familiar? How does it relate to history that we studied, are studying, or will be studying later on in the year? Tell about any exhibits or events that you saw that maybe you didn’t specifically intend to see, but happened upon while you were on the website? Would you want to visit in person?

Usually between 40-100 points, depending on effort and quality.

Extra Credit TripsSome places to start, most of which are free for students:

UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History

LACMA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Norton Simon Museum

The Huntington Library and Gardens

The Getty Center

The Getty Villa

Online Museums

any of the above museums’ web collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The National Gallery

The Louvre, Museo del Prado, Uffizi, Bozar, Museo Nacional de Antropología or other international museums

Student-Initiated Projects

Once upon a time, I had a student who just was fascinated by the Ottoman Empire, and frequently did extra research on it to present to the class when we were studying it. Extra credit would be given in varying amounts depending on the depth of effort and quality of presentation of what the student learned and how it relates to the class content.

Usually between 20-100 points, depending on effort and quality.