Strong National Museum of Play - Strong National Museum of Play recognizes the value of play as a means of encouraging student learning, creativity, and discovery. Plan a visit!

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Strong National Museum of Play

Strong National Museum of Play®
One Manhattan Square
Rochester, NY 14607
Phone: 585-263-2700

Professional Development Workshops for Teachers

The following teacher workshops are offered by advance registration only. Payments must be received one week prior to the workshop. Registrations not paid one week prior to the workshop are subject to cancellation. All workshops include exploration time in the galleries. To register, please call 585-263-2700.
(Workshops with fewer than 10 registrants are subject to cancellation.) Registration fees are only refunded if workshop is canceled.

Differentiating Assessment

How do you know if your students really understand something? Learn evaluation strategies that are meaningful, adaptable, and fun! In this hands-on workshop, learn the strategies of Tic Tac Toe, RAFTing, and Multiple Intelligence Prompts (MIPS) that you can use with any grade level and any content. Practice by applying these strategies to a learning center within the museum. Be prepared to think outside the box, to move, and to interact.
Instructor: Dr. Ellen Arnold, who works nationally to provide training and materials that support students and educators in learning more about their brains’ efficiency and effectiveness.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:00–7:00 p.m.
Cost: $35 per registrant

Using Drama, Drawing, and Movement to Deepen Student Understanding

How can you use art and artifacts to support and extend your curriculum? Using drama, drawing, and movement techniques developed by Harvard University’s Project Zero, experience engaging new teaching strategies to deepen student understanding of academic content. This workshop is intended for teachers and administrators of all grade levels.
Instructor: Paul Hetland, Project Zero Summer Institute instructor at Harvard University and social studies teacher at School of the Arts in Rochester, New York
Saturday, February 9, 2008, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Cost: $35 per registrant

 

Play in the Classroom: Using Play to Enhance Your K–6 Curriculum

Play is essential for children. Research shows that without time for play in many forms, children suffer deficits later in life. Yet new academic and societal pressures on children and families have led to a dramatic decrease in the amount of time children spend playing. Hear the latest research on play in the school setting and learn strategies for harnessing its power to help your students learn.
Instructors: Museum education staff
Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 4:00–7:00 p.m.
Cost: $35 per registrant

If Toys Could Talk: Using Toys as a Gateway to History

What better way to engage students in historical discovery than through toys? Toys reflect the politics, values, gender roles, and technology of the period in which they were popular. Come and play with toys—old and new. Learn about toys from museum staff and experience activities you can use with your students to help them discover the history that toys reveal.
Instructors: Museum education staff
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 4:00–7:00 p.m.
Cost: $35 per registrant

Reggio Ideas for Traditional Classrooms

The Reggio Emilia model of early childhood education builds on the belief that deep learning and understanding need time to develop and can be fostered by following a child’s interests. The model balances child-led and teacher-designed projects. This workshop gives educators opportunities to engage in roundtable discussions, projects, and strategies that further knowledge of the Reggio Emilia approach. Leave with ideas of ways to implement Reggio concepts in your classroom. Handouts and bibliographies will be provided. This workshop is for Pre-K through second-grade teachers.
Instructors: Betty Bordner, Director, The Woodbury Preschool, and Stephanie Oldfield, Pre-K teacher at Seton Catholic School
Saturday, March 15, 2008, 9:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Cost: $35 per participant

Children’s Literature Across the Curriculum

Enjoy exclusive access to the amazing Reading Adventureland exhibit where you will expand your knowledge of children’s literature and imagine new possibilities for including it in your curriculum. Participants work together to develop an idea bank to take back to the classroom. Comfortable clothing and a playful spirit are encouraged.
Instructors: Museum education staff
Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Cost: $25 per registrant

Identifying Student Learning Preferences: How to Do a Strength-Based Interview with Your Students

Learn to ask questions that lead you and your students to a better understanding of their natural cognitive strengths. Learn how to analyze their responses and design strategies that match their learning strengths. Learn the language of “mirror talk” to connect faster and easier with students. This interview process is being used as a pre-referral strategy in many schools across New York State. Hear how this process has helped many learners, and participate in the interview yourself.
Instructor: Dr. Ellen Arnold, who works nationally to provide training and materials that support students and educators in learning more about their brains’ efficiency and effectiveness.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 4:00p.m.–7:00 p.m.
Cost: $35 per registrant

Teaching with Music in Mind

Sing math! Chant history! Create a sonata for science! This workshop provides new and innovative strategies for you to infuse music into your curriculum. Enhance your students’ understanding in any subject area with these simple and highly effective techniques. A background in music is not needed. This workshop is designed for, but not limited to, Pre-K through third-grade teachers.
Instructors: Sarah Peters, musician and music educator
Saturday, May 10, 2008, 9:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Cost: $35 per registrant

Multiple Intelligences: Theory and Practice

Dive into Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences! Put it into practice through the discovery of your own learning preferences and of ways that these preferences influence your teaching. You will leave this workshop with new insights into your own learning and activities that can be adapted in your classroom.
This 3-hour workshop, facilitated by museum education staff, is available upon request to any group of 10 or more.
Cost: $35 per registrant

Special Offering for Colleges and Universities

An Educator’s Curriculum Guide to Play: Activities for Students
Strong National Museum of Play makes it easy for college-level students to learn about the power and importance of play in the lives of children. Designed specifically to complement education and psychology courses, these self-guided activities will turn college students into active researchers at Strong—the only museum in the world dedicated to the study of play. Using the museum as their lab, students may choose from (or can be assigned) different interactive experiences that engage them in observation and analysis of important play concepts. Strong’s curriculum guide includes ten activities (brief descriptions follow).

  1. The Whole Child. Observation and explanation activities to build understanding of the cognitive, physical, social, and affective domains of children.
  2. Boy-Girl. Observation, recording, and discussion activities about ways play may differ by gender.
  3. Elements of Play. Observation, charting, viewing, and writing activities around the museum’s theory of the Elements of Play.
  4. Parent-Child Interaction. Observation, recording, and writing activities about the role of parents in child play.
  5. Why Children Play. Observation and discussion activities about why children play and what they learn through play.
  6. Literacy. Investigation, hypothesizing, and discussion activities about how language deepens the complexity of play and how play enriches literacy.
  7. I Spy Multiple Intelligences (MI). Exploration, survey, and writing activities about multiple learning preferences as observed through children’s play.
  8. Let’s Pretend. Role-playing and discussion activities about make-believe or fantasy play and its relationship to learning.
  9. Numbers. Observation, play, discussion, and writing about the role of play in developing math skills and understanding.
  10. What Can I Learn? Observation, discussion, and writing activities around Piaget’s theory of intellectual development, exploring functional play, symbolic play, and games with rules.

This opportunity is available only to groups of five or more. Groups must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance of the visit. Admission fees: Unguided experience, $7 per student; Experience guided by museum staff, $10 per student; College instructor, free. Admission fee includes the curriculum guide for one of 10 activities. Each additional curriculum guide is $3 per student per visit.

Please share information about this new offering with any colleagues who may be interested. Or to learn more, call 585-263-2700.