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Grades 3 and 4

SOCIAL STUDIES

Christmas Now and Then

Available November 25–December 19, 2008
See how Christmas today is celebrated differently than it was a century ago. Using the museum’s collections, students learn how ideas about Santa Claus, Christmas decorations, and gift-giving have changed. They “shop” for gifts on an early 1900’s budget.
11/2 hours SS: 1 LA: 1, 3, 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

Coming to America

How do contemporary immigration issues compare with those of the past? Students participate in the Immigration Game, a highly interactive experience where the choices they make affect their options as immigrants. Following the game, students become immigrants or on-the-spot reporters as they role-play the experiences of immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century and today. They then work in teams to rewrite the rules of the game they played to reflect what they have learned. This experience builds skills in active listening and note taking.
11/2 hours SS: 1, 3, 4, 5 LA: 1, 2, 3, 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

Growing Up in 19th-Century America

How were values, traditions, and ideas transmitted to children at the turn of the 19th century? Using the museum’s collections, students role-play home life and life at school during this period. Costumes, games, toys, artifacts, and photographs illustrate the cultural, social, and educational values of the time.
11/2 hours SS: 1, 2 LA: 1, 3, 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

If Toys Could Talk About History

Toys provide an important way for children to learn about society. Students compare and contrast toys made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with those made today. They learn about the skills, values, and information gained through toys, as well as how gender roles influence the nature of play.
11/2 hours SS: 1 LA: 1, 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy! Understanding Patriotism

Why do we salute the flag? What is a patriotic symbol? Using the museum’s collections, students explore the connection between images, objects, and the patriotic feelings they evoke. They learn through experience how feelings of patriotism are stirred through images, marching, and music. Students create a new patriotic symbol of their own for the 21st century.
11/2 hours SS: 1, 5 LA: 1, 2, 3, 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

The Immigration Experience

What was it like to be a part of an immigrant family at the beginning of the 20th century? Using props, costumes and scripts, students learn through role-play as they reenact Immigration Recognition Day, a historical event that took place in Rochester, New York, in the 1920s. Students learn where immigrants to this country came from, the challenges they faced, and how it felt to be a newcomer in a strange land.
1 hour      SS: 1, 3, 4,       LA: 1, 3, 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

LANGUAGE ARTS

Fractured Fairy Tales: Playing with Story Elements

In traditional fairy tales, readers learn that Hope + Heroes = Happiness. What happens to this formula when we fracture these tales? Amid backdrops for some of our favorite tales in Reading Adventureland’s Fairy Tale section, students will be inspired to use a variety of literary landscapes to fracture favorite tales in unique and creative ways. Students retell favorite stories adding their own new twists. They may tell the story from a new perspective, explore the impacts of cause and effect, or introduce a new character. Familiarity with fairy tale themes and motifs is recommended. Activities are adjusted accordingly for older students.
1 1/2 hours      LA: 1, 2, 3      Arts: 1, 2
Available Wednesday through Friday

R.S.V.P. to a Most Peculiar Invitation

You and your students are cordially invited to a truly nonsensical house-warming party in Reading Adventureland’s Upside-Down Nonsense House. Bring your scarves and mittens to help “warm” the house and “shoot the breeze” while trying to make sense out of a topsy-turvy world where Life – Logic = Laughs. Students learn that wordplay is the key to nonsense as they engage in activities that extend their understanding of homonyms and homographs, idioms and rhythms, verses and rhymes, and more.
1 1/2 hours      LA: 1, 3      Arts: 1
Available Wednesday through Friday

Shipwrecked! The Adventure Game

Character development and story structure are just two of the many literary skills that take on life-size proportions when students discover the Adventure section of Reading Adventureland. Working in small groups, students build their own adventure story based on the choices they make and the crew of characters they create. Using a ship’s log, they keep track of their adventure. Back at school they can write the full tale of the characters and settings they imagined.
1 1/2 hours      LA: 1, 2, 4      Arts: 2
Available Wednesday through Friday

Sleuth School

School is in session in Reading Adventureland! Students attend a class in the Mystery Mansion School of Artful Sleuthing to learn and practice the skills literary detectives like Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes use to solve mysteries. Students need a sharp eye and a quick mind as they learn to make careful observations, collect and interpret evidence, discover relationships, and draw conclusions.
1 1/2 hours      LA: 1, 3, 4      MST: 1, 7
Available Wednesday through Friday

Spellbinders:  The Wizardry of Words

Why do we call a captivating book “spellbinding” or “enchanting”? Perhaps it’s because writers weave words in the same way that sorcerers cast spells. In this entrancing experience, students explore how great fantasy writers create worlds with words and use techniques that transport us to new places. Students use excerpts from classic fantasy literature to guide their exploration of the Fantasy section in Reading Adventureland. Then they try their hand at creating fantastic worlds of their own through the wizardry of words.
1 1/2 hours      LA: 1, 2, 3      Arts: 3
Available Wednesday through Friday

A Writer’s Trek: Exploring the Writing Process

How does a writer gather ideas, find a voice, and choose words? Students explore the writing process in the highly stimulating environments of TimeLab and the 2nd floor collections. Bring your notebooks and some good walking shoes.
2 hours LA: 1, 2, 3
Available Tuesday through Friday

MATH AND SCIENCE

Categorizing and Classifying with Toys

What categories can your students invent to organize a selection of the museum’s famous toy collection? Students visit the National Toy Hall of Fame® where they are challenged to practice and apply categorization and classification in a hands-on museum environment. Students work in small groups and share their findings.
1 hour      MST: 3     SS: 1
Available Tuesday through Friday

Math Strategy Party

Students learn to apply math strategies to a real-world situation in Super Kids Market. They work in small groups to plan a party using the math strategies of their choice. They watch for coupons and sales to help them stay within a budget. Groups share the math processes that led them to their final plans.
1 hour  MST: 3  LA: 4     Health: 3
Available Tuesday through Friday

Meet the Butterfly Guy

Experience a day in the life of one of our very own entomologists. Your students will enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden® and a first-hand account of what is involved in running a year-round, indoor butterfly garden. Students won’t just watch and observe, they will help release and feed butterflies, and monitor the balance of the ecosystem in which these colorful creatures live. Our entomologist and staff will explain and demonstrate the life cycle of these unique and beautiful insects and the maintenance of this specially-balanced habitat.
1 hour            MST: 1, 4, 7
Available Wednesdays, May 6, 20, and 27, and June 3, 2009, 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. only
Each session is limited to one class—call early to book this lesson!
Cost:  $8.00 per student

My Smart Parts Are Working!

Brains think in many different ways. How do you like to use your brain? In TimeLab and DanceLab, each student learns how to turn his or her brain “on,” get it in gear, and use it to learn. Students learn how to talk about their strengths as learners.
1 1/2 hours    MST: 4    ; LA: 1, 3, 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

Playing with Physics

What do force, gravity, and motion have to do with play? This science-based experience is designed to help students put their knowledge of physics into action. Students make observations and explain their thinking as they investigate the forces at work in the Field of Play exhibit. This experience allows students to work with and demonstrate their understanding of some of the basic concepts in physics; it can be adapted to meet the needs and interests of all young scientists.
1 1/2 hours        MST: 1, 4, 5, 7       LA: 4
Available Tuesday through Friday

Predators and Protection:  The Art of the Butterfly

Let your students enter the fabulous Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden® with a palette of colors, a keen eye for design, and a splash of curiosity, and they will return with some surprising discoveries! Students explore the concept of camouflage through observation and their own creations. They then become predators and protectors as they learn and play through a movement game that brings the colorful and amazing art of the butterfly world alive.
1 1/2 hours            MST: 1            Arts: 1
Available Tuesday through Friday