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Teacher Resources
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Activities and resources.
Use before & after a visit, or anytime.
For Museum Visits
Preview galleries and print out activities to do at the Museum. |
Educator
Receptions
Preview
the Museum
Planning a Group Visit
Living Landscapes
Curriculum Guide
Professional Development Workshops
Go directly to Living Landscapes
Outreach Programs
 Educator
Receptions Meet
the Education staff, enjoy refreshments, learn about our Museum
Educator-led Programs, view special exhibitions and pick up related
resources.
Save
this date!
Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation
Educator Reception
– Wednesday, April 2 @ 3:30pm
Become an innovator as you explore this amazing new interactive exhibition. Celebrate the launch of the new Use Your Noodle curriculum with a screening of the instructional DVD, an extensive tour of the Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation and an opportunity to view the newly remodeled galleries. Complimentary copies of the Use Your Noodle curriculum kit and DVD will be available. Call (413) 443-7171, ext. 18, to RSVP.
Around the Corner and Across the Globe
Educator Reception
– Thursday, May 8 @ 3:30pm
Educators are invited to explore three exhibitions opening in April 2008: What’s the Story, which dives into the Museum’s collection to learn how objects tell stories; Native Peoples, which introduces visitors to the indigenous people of America’s Northeast and Northwest regions; and the reinstallation of our Ancient Civilization gallery, Clues to the Ancient World, where life in Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and China are explored. Call (413) 443-7171, ext. 18, to RSVP.
Preview
the Museum
Educators can
preview the Berkshire Museum free of charge year-round! Call ahead.
(413) 443-7171, ext. 19. All teachers receive a 10% discount in
the Museum store. For free admission and store discount please show
your teacher ID.
Living Landscapes Curriculum Guide and Website
 Make learning outdoors meaningful, manageable and fun. The second edition of Living Landscapes does all this and more! These ready-to-use lessons use math, science, language, and visual arts to engage your students in outdoor activities that link to classroom curriculum.
The new Living Landscapes website adds teacher resources and dynamic activities to make your students' outdoor learning experience unforgettable. Coming in Spring 2008: Teaching in Nature workshops for professional development.
To order a copy of the Living Landscapes Curriculum Guide
Living Landscapes: Teaching in Nature uses outdoor experiential learning to support core subjects in the elementary classroom—math, English language arts, science, and the arts—and provides easy to-follow lessons that use the school grounds and on-hand materials.
Download Full Guide PDF Will take several minutes to download, or Order Here.
Professional
Development Workshops
The Museum
offers professional development workshops for educators throughout
the year. For information about arranging Museum-led professional
development workshops for your school or district, contact Maria
Mingalone, Director of Education and Public Programs, at (413) 443-7171,
ext. 14.
Berkshire Museum Workshops
Enliven your classroom with new lesson ideas and dynamic, hands-on approaches that make connections across disciplines-- including math, language, visual arts, history, and natural science. Connect with colleagues and gain fresh perspectives with field specialists and Berkshire Museum educators.
Use your Noodle
For teachers grades K-8
Saturday, May 17
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Advanced Registration Required
Course Fee: $75 (includes a copy of the Use Your Noodle curriculum and DVD)
Contact: Curtis Asch, Education Program Manager (413) 443-7171 ext. 19
Location: Berkshire Museum
Get inspired and learn fun new teaching approaches that motivate students to think outside the box! This workshop will have you thinking creatively and practicing to be innovative.
Use Your Noodle is a flexible curriculum that helps teachers (grades K-8) to encourage students to think critically and creatively. Students will work together in groups to come up with ways to use noodles – pasta of any shape or size, raw or cooked – to create a project of any dimension, scope or scale that explores some aspect of their current course of study. Learn ways to coach your students to take an idea through the creation, review, and revision process, following the engineering/design model.
- Learn to model the Use Your Noodle curriculum
- Discover ways to use this lesson plan to reinforce aspects of your own curricula
- Practice improvisational skills and theatrical play techniques for the classroom
- Use your noodle to brainstorm how this dynamic new 'design challenge' curriculum will get kids thinking critically.
- Take home the curriculum for free!
“The program clearly adapted to all learning styles and levels, and the improvisational activities served as a good transition into the lessons. Students showed a true understanding of innovation and the process in their reflections!”
- Judy Rush, Elementary Math Coach.
“The cooperation, excitement, and creativity students used to come up with an idea, then to design and build it, was great!” - Lynn McDonnell, Science Specialist.
Living Landscapes: Teaching in Nature
For teachers grades K-5
Saturday, June 14
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Advanced Registration Required
Course Fee: $75 (includes a copy of the Living Landscapes curriculum guide)
Contact: Curtis Asch, Education Program Manager (413) 443-7171 ext. 19
Location: Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary
472 West Mountain Road
Lenox, MA 01240
Make outdoor learning meaningful, manageable and fun with ready-to-use outdoor math, science, language and art lessons for grades K-5. Continue your exploration with the Living Landscapes online activities:
www.berkshiremuseum.org/living_landscapes/index.html
- Explore outdoor education as a context for hands-on, interdisciplinary learning
- Participate in outdoor activities and discuss ways to incorporate them into any curricula
- Practice a variety of tactics for outdoor classroom management
- Take home the curriculum for free! (Includes lesson plans, worksheets, and applicable Massachusetts' frameworks.)
“Excellent! The teacher-friendly and knowledgeable lesson plans and website are incredibly useful. Very helpful and great materials! GREAT RESOURCES!”- 2007 Massachusetts Environmental Education Society conference participant
 Museum Institute for Teaching Science
Professional Development
For PreK-8th grade Educators
July 7-18, 2008
The Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) is dedicated to promoting inquiry-based, hands-on learning in the classroom through collaboration with Museums and other institutions.
MITS provides Summer Institutes for educators, with a different focusing topic each year. This summer’s central topic is Headline Science. Participating educators will visit several sites including Williamstown’s Sheep Hill, Hancock Shaker Village and the Berkshire Botanical Garden, while gaining new ideas from workshop presenters and other educators.
Sessions will cover a wide variety of subjects, including:
- Inquiry-based learning
- Forensic science experiments
- Renewable energy, from the Shakers to today
- The chemistry of food
- Digital media in the classroom
… and many more! PDPs and graduate credits are available. The Berkshire Museum is proud to continue serving as the coordinator for the Berkshire region's Summer Institute.
For more information, call MITS at (617) 695-9771 or go to their website, www.mits.org.
Massachusetts
Teachers Association Summer Conference
The Berkshire Museum's workshop in the annual MTA Summer Conference gives educators the opportunity to discover the new Use Your Noodle curriculum in depth. You will also learn inquiry-based teaching strategies, using curricula and exhibition materials to enhance classroom learning.
Click
here for more information about MTA and its professional development
offerings.
Arts Immersion Teacher Institute
For teachers grades 3-12
June 30-July 3, and July 10, 2008
Focus on an innovative approach to narrative exploring photographer Gregory Crewdson’s “Untitled (Beneath the Roses).”
- Connect with dynamic educators and artists
- Experience inquisitive, hands-on learning; engage in art-making
- Discover connections between visual art, dramatic art, language arts, and social studies
- Explore the artwork using techniques that promote critical thinking skills ad cultivate visual literacy
This program is free. Receive a $200 stipend to design and implement a five-lesson, standards-based curriculum unit. Register by June 16, as space is limited. RSVP: 413-443-7171, ext. 18.
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