Step inside the Renwick's Wonder-filled, room-sized sculptures for a workshop focused on inspiring meaningful student inquiry. Explore artworks that pique your curiosity. Peel back their layered meanings to discover how humble, workaday materials build bridges to issues of global significance. Meet the mastermind behind Wonder, curator Nicholas Bell. Collaborate with other educators: how can you integrate visual thinking routines, environmental themes, and artists’ creative approaches into your curriculum? Learn by doing: no prior knowledge of art required. This collection was created to support the 2016 CCSSO Teachers of the Year Day at the Smithsonian.

Artists express powerful opinions about defining moments and movements in American history. Their images may help raise public awareness or call the viewer to action. Zoom in on postage stamps and stand back from wall-sized murals to see how design, social issues, and persuasion come together in meaningful ways. Take home strategies for engaging students in evidence-based reasoning, argumentation, and persuasive writing.

<p>Resources supporting the February 2016 Google Hangout facilitated by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in coordination with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access.</p><p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p><p><br /></p>