<p>According to <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms/detail/ekphrasis" target="_blank">the Poetry Foundation</a>, "An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the "action" of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning"</p><p>This collection is based on a lesson plan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which guides users through the process of using artwork to inform and inspire poetry. Strategies for developing original poems, sample ekphrastic (art-inspired) poems, and suggested artworks are included to stimulate thinking.</p><p>tags: creative writing, art, poetry, poems</p>

<p>This student activity asks students to develop a story about a mystery artifact, editing and adjusting their narrative as they discover more information. Students will develop historical thinking skills while learning more about the experience of living in a specific time and place.</p> <p>tags: Japan, internment, incarceration, Manzanar, World War II, World War 2, WW2, Executive Order 9066, Roosevelt, FDR</p> <p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p><p><br /></p>

<p>This student activity includes a set of archival documents from the United Shoe Machinery Corporation. These documents can be used as resources to help students investigate the relationship between industry, education, and immigration in the early 20th century. </p><p>As students explore the collection, they should consider how each document helps them answer the following questions:</p><p>-Is it in the best interests of business to encourage citizenship and education? Why or why not?</p><p>-What do these materials say about what it means to be considered "American" in the early 20th century?</p><p>tags: school, learning, English, language, migration, Ellis Island, manufacturing, Progressives</p>

<p>Wounded Knee is often portrayed as the closing point of the wars between Native Americans and the United States government in the late 19th century. However, the place also marks a moment of historic protest. This collection can be used to explore the importance of place in protest movements as well as the history of violence and resistance for indigenous people in the United States. </p><ul><li>How should the site of Wounded Knee be remembered?</li><li>Why did the activists choose to occupy Wounded Knee? What is the significance of that place?</li><li>How were the actions of the American Indian Movement activists similar or different to their ancestors? Consider motives, strategies, and successes, and partnerships.</li></ul><div>tags: Sitting Bull, Oglala, Sioux, Lakota, occupation, massacre, DAPL, Dakota Access, Red Cloud, Kicking Bear, Ghost Dance, cavalry</div>

<p>This collection of artifacts, photographs, texts, and historical markers is intended to help students explore the history of the Mormon religion in America. </p><p>Each of these items is intended to spark inquiry, following the process below: </p><ol><li>Students should choose one artifact on which to focus. </li><li>Have them use the artifact analysis PDF (last resource) to begin their study of the artifact. </li><li>Next, have students generate questions about the artifact? What do they wonder about? What does it tell them about the Mormon religion or its history within the United States? </li><li>Have students complete some general research on their artifact that will help their classmates piece together the story of the Mormon experience.</li></ol><p>As a collaborative project, students should use the PBS Forced Migrations map/timeline as a model for a class map/timeline of their own. </p><ol><li>Project an image of the map on a class whiteboard or create your own basic outline using large paper. </li><li>Have each student present their research findings. The main questions they should answer are: What does it represent about the Mormon experience? Where would the artifact they chose be placed (geographically and in terms of chronology)? </li><li>Students should then place place their image on the map with significant dates noted. </li><li>After all groups have presented, review the narrative of the Mormon experience with the class. What would they identify as critical moments in Mormon history? What questions do they still have?</li></ol><div>Tags: religion, Moroni, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Mormon, New York, Utah, Illinois, gold plates, inquiry</div>

<p>The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival movement in the first half of the 19th century. It emphasized emotion and enthusiasm, but also democracy: new religious denominations emerged that restructured churches to allow for more people involved in leadership, an emphasis on man's equality before god, and personal relationships with Christ (meaning less authority on the part of a minister or priest). There was also a belief that the Second Coming was imminent, and society must be improved before that time. Women were heavily involved in the 2nd Great Awakening movement, converting in large movements and taking on leadership roles in service committees and reform work. </p><p>Students and teachers might use this collection as a topical resource to explore:<strong> Why and how did the Second Great Awakening inspired a range of antebellum reform movements?</strong></p><p>Other questions that might support this inquiry include:</p><ul><li>How are concepts of democracy and equality important to both the Second Great Awakening and the rise of reform movements?</li><li>Why do you think women were often leaders in antebellum reform movements?</li><li>More Americans were moving westward during this period. How do you think that impacted the religious revival movement?</li><li>Can you hypothesize a connection between the increase in utopian societies during this time and the growing reform and religious movements?</li></ul><p>Tags: abolition, temperance, women's rights, women's suffrage, second coming, antebellum reform, asylum and prison reform, education, 2GA</p>

<p>This collection includes three photographs by Farm Security Administration artists that use language and image to create an American scene in the late 1930s-early 1940s. The first has become an iconic image of the Great Depression by Margaret Bourke-White, although it has a more specific history that users will learn about. Students will be asked to consider why the first image became so closely linked with the Great Depression, how the artist and author used irony to make a statement, and how different groups may have experienced the Depression in different ways. After reading a passage from Bud Not Buddy (by Christopher Paul Curtis) and answering reflective questions, students will write their own passage about one of the remaining photographs.</p><p>Essential Questions:</p><p>-How do these artists use images and language to create rich portraits of America?</p><p>-In what way do these images suggest divisions or unity within America during hte 1930s and 1940s?</p><p>Tags: Bud Not Buddy, Margaret Bourke White, Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, Farm Security Administration, soup kitchen, bread line, hobo, hoboes, comparison, irony, descriptive writing</p>

<p>This is a topical collection of items relating to red caps and Pullman porters, positions associated with train travel during the 20th century.</p><p>Teachers and students might use this collection to explore how these jobs reinforced the social status of African-Americans while at the same time ensuring steady, reliable work and the rise of an African-American middle class. They also might consider the impact of A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. How did the development of this labor union later impact the Civil Rights movement?</p><p>tags: amtrak, railroad, trains, sleeping car, segregation</p>

<p>This collection includes a variety of photographs taken by Lisa Law. Students will examine the photographs and a few artifacts and try to draw conclusions about the ways in which the commune or back-to-the-land movement challenged the norms of traditional United States society in the 1960s and 1970s. A link to an exhibit website is include and allows students to check their assumptions, and students are asked to compare elements of the counterculture with that of mainstream 1960s and 1970s culture. </p><p>Tags: counterculture, commune, hippie, granola, back to nature, communal living, co-op, cooperative, sixties, seventies, Woodstock, change over time, compare, ashram, silent majority</p>

The best selection of coffee makers, urns, and mugs to be found in the Smithsonian collection. The best thing about waking up...

<p>This collection is an example of how the Learning Lab could be used to create number or alphabet books for younger students. Students can search for the numbers and letters represented in the art, sculpture, and artifacts that exist throughout the Learning Lab. </p><p>Alternatively, students could be given a specific theme (animals, for example) and be tasked to find images representing the theme for each letter or number. Annotation (notebook tabs) can be used to include additional text or explanations. Quiz questions could be used to ask "how many ________ are in this image?".</p><p>Have fun!</p><p>Tags: reading, books, alphabet, numbers, counting, math, young learners, early childhood</p>

<p>This collection invites users to explore how Americans have voted throughout our history and the innovations that have improved the voting process. Students will closely investigate images from the 19th and 20th century in order to determine potential flaws and improvements in the democratic process. Links to websites for additional reading are included as well as assessments and a possible extension activity. </p><p>Guiding questions:</p><p>-How has the process of voting changed in the last two centuries? Consider who, what, when, where, why, and how when answering this question.</p><p>-How have technological changes enhanced voting? What challenges remain?</p><p>Tags: civics, elections, campaigns, vote, ballot, ballot box, democracy, electoral process, change over time, cause effect</p>