Teacher's Guide for Mrs. Brown on Exhibit
(Mrs. Brown jacket illustration copyright 2002 by
R. W. Alley)
![[Mrs. Brown
on Exhibit cover]](browncover.jpg)
This teacher's guide was written by children's author
Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.
Comprehension Guide
Pre-reading:
Have you ever been to a museum? What types of museums are there? What is the
neatest thing you've ever seen in a museum?
Knowledge:
1. Count the number of museums that Mrs. Brown's class visits.
2. Make a list of the topics the students learned about.
Comprehension:
1. How could you classify the types of museums that the children visited?
Are there any other ways to classify them?
2. Predict which museums you think the kids would want to take their parents
back to visit again. Explain why you think so.
Application:
1. Write five interview questions for Mrs. Brown about her museum experiences.
2. Discover what museums are available in your area to visit, and then make a
list of them in the order in which you would like to go see them with your
most favorite first.
Analysis:
1. Of all the museums in the book, which one would you most like to visit and
why?
2. Examine the faces of the children in the book. What do you think each of
them is feeling by their expression?
Synthesis:
1. Imagine you were NOT assigned to Mrs. Brown's classroom. Write a letter
explaining why you should be moved into her room.
2. Imagine you got the chance to work at one of the museums. Which one would
you choose and why?
Evaluation:
1. Which poem is your favorite? Why?
2. Which picture is your favorite? Why?
Multiple Intelligence Projects
Verbal/Linguistic
Write a poem about a museum (or other great place) that you've seen. You
can pick out one item within the museum or do an overall picture.
Logical/Mathematical
Math Brain teasers:
1. If the Egyptian museum costs $2.00 per ticket and there are 22 kids in the
class, how much money does Mrs. Brown need to get her students in?
2. If at the dinosaur museum only five kids can go into the TV room at a time,
how many groups will there need to be?
3. At the candy museum, each child can have five samples. How many pieces of
candy is that all together?
4. If there are 198 butterflies in the arboretum, how many butterflies could
each child have if they were allowed to take them home? (Which, of course, you
just can't do!)
5. If there are ten bugs for every kid in Mrs. Brown's class at the insectarium,
then how many bugs are there in total?
Visual/Spatial
Using Sculpey (or other permanent material), create a sculpture of your
favorite item found in one of the museums Mrs. Brown visited. Or visit a new
museum yourself, and create a replica of a masterpiece or specimen you see!
Body/Kinesthetic
Play museum:
Find artwork around the classroom (or your house) and create categories for
the items. Decide, as a class, what type of museum you will curate, and then
split into groups to develop different "rooms." When your work is complete,
invite another class over to experience your museum.
Musical/Rhythmic
Brainstorm a list of musical types (and listen to the various ones, if
possible). Then make a list of all the museums you can think of and decide
if music would be appropriate to play over their loudspeakers and what type
should be played. (Example: country music in a museum about the South)
Interpersonal
Make a list of all the museums that you'd like to visit in your lifetime.
or
Research one museum in a city at least 100 miles from your home. Make a
travel plan for a visit. Estimate how much the trip would cost, and what else
you might see while in that location. Create a pamphlet or travel brochure
about what you learn.
Intrapersonal
Pretend that you are going to be a curator of a museum. Decide first what
type of museum it would be, and then make a list of at least fifty items that
you would like to put inside it. Draw a floor plan for your museum, give it
a name, decide ticket prices (if any), and your location.
Teacher's guide provided by www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com
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