Alyssa Pellegrini

Professor Meyer
CORE II: T/TH ~ 9:35-12:15
4/23/20

A Graph Organizer for Children Museum

Please use this template if you would like to gather information for the different bullet points for our
Critical Reflection Sheet in this way. We will be seeing p-12 grade teaching opportunities so this might
be helpful. I would still encourage you to use the reflection guide as a support for this opportunity for
the whole project. This graphic organizer is not required to use. (Delete, add, or recreate something
else for your learning needs to make your own graphic organizer…..this is just a way to gather
information in a more concrete fashion.) Thanks to the students who asked for something to assist
them in finding their best learning. I think we all benefited Great job!!! We are going to have such a
good time!!!

● What is the Children Museum’s connection to schools? How could/would you use this setting
and its’ resources for future teaching? List below three or more things: (​listen for pieces from
the speakers we have speaking to us for many of these pieces)

The Children’s Museum is not only a great place to take field trips to, but families can take their children
to year round. You can do multiple themed lessons and then focus the visit on certain exhibits. The
Children's Museum also offers a rotating exhibit that changes every once in a while. With my
pre-welcome week program, the Butler students had the opportunity to go to this exhibit (which at the
time was exploring Greece)! It was super interesting and informational, perfect for helping students with
research problems.

● Developmental Growth areas: ​list 2-4 four things (one including social emotional learning) that
is in each developmental level below and how the museum expands on each of those areas in
materials, experiences, or overall exhibits. (you can use the power points on our google slides to
remind you of each developmental level or your class notes)​.

Early Childhood-

1. Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage: kids begin to interact with their environment, the children are always
interacting with and exploring their environment when at the museum.

2. Toddlers begin to strive to become more independent: at the museum, kids are able to decide what
exhibits they want to attend

3. Fine motor skills: examining exhibits and playing with smaller toy’s allow for young kids to develop
their fine motor skills

4. Establishing a positive attitude: All the workers at the children’s museum are very friendly and help to
keep the young kids happy!

Elementary-
Alyssa Pellegrini
Professor Meyer
CORE II: T/TH ~ 9:35-12:15
4/23/20
1. Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Language development (The flight attendant teaching children how to
speak in Greek)

2. Better able to make connections between ideas: at this age, kids can make comparisons between two
seperate exhibits

3. Students seek a sense of belonging: once again, the staff do a great job in helping the kids feel
comfortable and help them to be excited about learning

4. More sensitive to social environment: the children’s museum does a great job in making sure that the
exhibits are not too overstimulating for the kids

Middle Adolescent-

1. Loris Malaguzzi, 100 Languages: not every students can sit in a desk all day while listening into
lectures: the children’s museum adds a sense of interaction with their learning

2. Jean Piaget, Concrete Operational Stage: children at this age are more adept at using logic and they
become less egocentric as they age, the museum continues to offer a team-centered approach to
learning

3. Kids are interested in playing sports and love to stay active: With the sports legend experience area,
children at this age have more than enough room to run around, play sports, and get their energy out

4. Students at this age find learning communities both joyful and challenging: the museum encourages
the use of collaboration through learning, by having their employees engage students in different
exhibits

Young Adult-

1. As a program, we were able to go into the Museum’s archives and see where they store all of their
materials they use for their exhibits!

2. Despite being meant for younger children, the outdoor play area was still perfect for college students
who wanted to exercise by competing in sports

3. Multiple intelligences: by switching from one exhibit to another, young adults are constantly working
on strengthening their different types of intelligences

4. The museum brings out the inner kid in us

● Think about your ​perception of the children museum. ​What did you see come true to

that perception and what did you expand on? List three or more here:
Alyssa Pellegrini
Professor Meyer
CORE II: T/TH ~ 9:35-12:15
4/23/20
My perception of the children’s museum was that it would be similar to the one in my hometown
that I used to go to when I was younger. In a way, this perception was true. Both museums had
very engaging exhibits that are very fun for young kids. However, the Indianapolis Children’s
Museum is at least triple the size of the one in my hometown and offers much more, including an
outdoor sports legend experience area.

● What were you expecting to see? What did you see? What did you feel? What are you
wondering about? Think about perceptions in general. How do perceptions help/hurt
children of different ages? How do perceptions help/hurt schools? Where does this
museum fit into your learning. List thoughts for these answers here:

I was expecting to see different activities or games that would teach children about
various topics while also helping them express their creativity. I clearly saw this
throughout the entirety of the museum. I felt very glad when I visited it for the first time, I
had no idea how big it was. I think trying to compare it to the children’s museum I used to
go to was helpful to make comparisons. I wonder how many kids visit the museum in a
given year. I think misconceptions can lead to perceptions that harm both children and
schools. It is important to realize people need to form their own opinions about topics
that could be controversial, especially with education.

● Think of the impact of ​global awareness​ on young children’s lives. Were you able to find
some similarities in both of your views on global awareness? How does encouraging a
celebration of global awareness build on the needs of this aged child? What does the
Children Museum doing in this area for children? List three or more of your thoughts
here:

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum does a great job on building and expanding the global
awareness of young kids. At this age, it is important that students realize everyone is different
and that cultures play a large role in a person’s identity. When I attended the museum over the
summer with my pre-welcome week group, the featured exhibit was exploring Greece. I vividly
remember us sitting in plane seats listening to a flight attendant tell us facts about the country.
In addition to these facts, she also started speaking Greek. I found this interesting because it is
helping young children with their language development skills, not only with English but with
other languages too. One final thing that stood out to me in this exhibit was a woman who
taught us how to make these Greek cookies. These butter cookies were a popular tradition in
the Greek culture. Demonstrating this process to kids allows them to make comparisons to this
culture and their own.
Alyssa Pellegrini
Professor Meyer
CORE II: T/TH ~ 9:35-12:15
4/23/20
● Really think about the “Other” category. This is what other things do you want to share
with me… what did you take from this overall experience? Did you have fun? What is
your one big personal take away and should we go back to this study trip as a class in
the future? Please list some of your thoughts here:

I know we sadly did not get the chance to visit the museum with this class, however when I went
with my pre-welcome week program it was truly amazing. It was very funny to see a bunch of
college kids running around a children’s museum alongside elementary school field trips. I
definitely will not forget the pure joy on the faces of my six foot tall male classmates when riding
in tiny pedal go karts and slamming into small football mats! I would highly recommend keeping
this place as a study trip to visit in the future. My big takeaway from this experience is that no
matter how old someone is, there is always a small part of them that remains a kid.

Follow the Critical Reflection practice as done with prior study trips. You just need one incident
to write about for this experience.