Six Reasons to Plan a Visit – or Return Visit – to the Mariposa:
One
Our Featured Exhibits Transform the Museum from Top to Bottom. From The World of Chocolate to Fairy Tales, Heroes and the Wisdom of Stories to The Big Book: Pages for Peace, our rotation of featured exhibits means there is always something new to discover and explore at the Mariposa, whether this is your first visit or your fifth.
Two
Our Educational Programming Aligns with Core Curriculum Standards. Concerned about meeting a particular standard? Our wealth of materials in fiction, nonfiction, visual and data-based sources allows students in our Learning Lab programs to work towards mastery of standards in the Reading Literature and Reading Informational Text strands (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2 specifically references “folktales from diverse cultures”), while Writing, and Speaking and Listening standards at all grade levels can be met in many of our traditional programs or through follow-up activities. The Core Curriculum emphasizes literacy in the mythic traditions of the world as an essential part of general literacy, and this is a niche that the Mariposa is uniquely positioned to fill. Or, if you are looking for an exciting and different way to explore STEM, consider our programs on The Physics of Sound or The Science of Chocolate!
Three
We are Pushing the Boundaries of the Museum Format, with Native American Teaching Boxes and Artifact Loans that bring the Museum’s resources to you and allow your students to curate their own exhibits, or Learning Lab programs which turn our space into your classroom for extended hands-on research projects. Your students can earn community service hours by reading and reviewing the books in our Immigration Teaching Trunks through our Middle School Read-In, or by writing for our Kids’-Eye-View Blog.
Four
We Still Offer All of Your Old Favorites! If you have been bringing your students to a Festivals of Light, a Day of the Dead, or a Children Across Cultures program for the past decade, your tradition is in safe hands as we will continue to offer all of our seasonal programs as well as the option of creating something new to meet the needs of your curriculum. Past offerings include: Ancient Egypt, Africa, Animals, Artifacts: Every Object Tells a Story, Butterflies, Chinese New Year, Creation Stories, Islam, Children Across Cultures, Clothing, Day of the Dead, Europe, Festivals of Light, First Peoples, Foods of the World, Francophone Countries, Hats, Homes, Immigration, India, Japan, Kites, Latin America, Life Passages, Geomythology, Origami, The Physics of Sound, Puppets, and The Science of Chocolate!
Five
The Mariposa is for High School Students Too. Our Latin America and Francophone Teach-Ins immerse high school students in the cultural artifacts, food traditions, music and dance of broad regions of the world with a shared history of colonization by Spain or France. Appealing to teachers of foreign languages, these day-long programs are also a vivid illustration for history classes of the ways that colonialism has shaped the modern world. Closer to home, our Dreaming Again Immigration Teaching Trunks, available to Middle and High school teachers free for 30 days, provide a way into understanding the changing face of New Hampshire through a comprehensive classroom library of fiction and nonfiction books, films, lesson plans and artifacts exploring immigration to the Granite State. Finally, our Youth Empowered Through Service (YES) Program, now operating in the Contoocook Valley and Keene School Districts, provides a classroom-ready curriculum to foster compassionate citizenship, as teams of students research a local nonprofit, then present their findings in competition for a $3,000 charitable grant to the organization of their choice. Your school could be next!
Six
Your Visit is Free During the Month of October! All you need to do is fill out the coupon with your name, the name of your school, the grade you teach and an email address where we can reach you, and present it at the front desk for a free admission. Click here to download the Coupon. You can print as many copies of the coupon as you like to share with your colleagues. We are a great destination for informal teacher workshop or staff days! Or contact our education department at education@mariposamuseum.org if you would like to set up a teacher workshop for your group providing Continuing Education Units. We specialize in preparing teachers to meet the increasing diversity of New Hampshire’s student body through techniques that use differences in life experience and background as a resource to build empathy and community in the classroom!