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Ashley Naranjo

Education and Outreach Strategist
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Staff

Ashley Naranjo, M.Ed. is a museum educator, specializing in the use of digital resources for teaching and learning. She currently manages distance learning initiatives and education partnerships for the Smithsonian. Portfolio highlights have included: the Smithsonian Quests digital badging program, Smithsonian Online Education Conferences, Smithsonian Learning Lab nationwide teacher professional development, Teachers of the Year programming at the Smithsonian, “Explore with Smithsonian Experts” video series, and Smithsonian print publication guides.

Before coming to the Smithsonian, she has had experiences in education in both formal and informal learning spaces: as an ESOL instructor for adults, a middle school teacher in the humanities and a summer programs administrator. She holds a B.A. in Human Development (Developmental Psychology) from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, where she was a research assistant and independent study student in the Laboratory of Thinking, Learning & Cognition in the Arts. She completed a M.Ed. in Learning Design and Technology from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, with a thesis entitled, “Using Digital Museum Resources in the Classroom”. She is a 2019 graduate of the Getty Leadership Institute’s NextGen of Museum Leaders program.

Ashley Naranjo's collections

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collection

Learning from Field Drawings: Fish of the Wilkes Expedition (1838-1842)

<p>This collection explores field drawings from the United States Exploring Expedition, led by United States Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes from 1838-1842 utilizing several resources from the Smithsonian Field Book Project. Students will explore the elements of a field drawing, the information that can be gleaned from these records and consider why a naval scientific expedition might have included artists. To extend the activity, students can also select a fish image from the Smithsonian collection to illustrate and annotate the way that an artist in the field might.</p><p>Keywords: scientific illustration, sketches</p>
Ashley Naranjo
21
 
collection

"...Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!"

This teaching collection includes resources such as postage stamps, artworks and dramatic readings related to Patrick Henry, a Founding Father of the United States, who famously ended his speech at the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, with the phrase "...give me liberty or give me death." Also included are suggested Speech Analysis Questions from ReadWriteThink to support careful examination of Henry's speeches. Guiding Question: How did this speech inspire change in the colonies? Use textual evidence to support your answer.
Ashley Naranjo
8
 
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Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

This teaching collection includes resources such as a dramatic reading, an online exhibition, a postage stamp, and an article related to Thomas Paine, a Founding Father of the United States, who famously authored the influential pamphlet, "Common Sense". Also includes excerpts of "Common Sense" and a Document Analysis Sheet with suggested questions for in-depth examination. Guiding Question: How did this document inspire change in the colonies? Use textual evidence to support your answer.
Ashley Naranjo
7
 
collection

Packing a Space Lunch

In this activity, users will learn how to search and refine their search based on a specific prompt: "Pack a space lunch." Users will select a lunchbox from the National Museum of American History's collections and then consider 3-5 space food images from the National Air and Space Museum that they'd include in their lunch. Here, I've provided an example of what this might look like. Users can customize their included resources with the Learning Lab's annotation tools to provide context for their choices. Users can also experiment with reordering their images based on the logical order of the meal.
Ashley Naranjo
8
 
collection

Narrated Stories from Around the World

This topical collection includes fourteen narrated stories, many include visuals, as well. These stories could be used with young children to compare narrative arcs, identify key elements of storytelling, or simply for enjoyment of listening to short stories from around the world, including tales from the Chinese, Blackfoot, Ho Chunk, Cheyenne, Cree, Anikara, Iroquois, Painte, Popul Vuh, artist Romare Bearden's reimagined version of "Homer's Odyssey", Inka, Tlingit and Ghanaian (Asante, Ashanti).
Ashley Naranjo
15
 
collection

What Makes You Say That?: Interpretation with Justification Routine with an Artwork

<p>This collection uses the Harvard Project Zero Visible Thinking routine, highlighting interpretation with justification. The strategy is paired with an artwork from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Once you have examined the artwork and answered the questions, view an archived webinar with a museum educator to compare your interpretation. How does viewing the artwork with the museum label change your interpretation? How did what you noticed in the artwork compare with what the educators shared?<br /><br />Suggestions for teachers regarding visual clues for this image are in the "Notes to Other Users" section.</p><p><em>#visiblethinking</em><br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
3
 
collection

See Think Wonder: Exploring an Artwork, "Men of Progress"

This collection uses the Harvard Project Zero Visible Thinking routine, "See Think Wonder" for exploring works of art. The strategy is paired with an artwork from the National Portrait Gallery entitled "Men of Progress", which features nineteen American scientists and inventors of the 19th century who "had altered the course of contemporary civilization." . Once you have examined the artwork and answered the questions, view the additional videos and artifacts from the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of American History included to learn more and see how your interpretation compares with that of the experts. <br /><br /> (Videos of each of the sitters are arranged in order from left to right.)
Ashley Naranjo
29
 
collection

What makes you say that?: Marian Anderson in Concert at the Lincoln Memorial

<p>This collection uses the Harvard Project Zero Visible Thinking routine for interpretation with justification. This routine helps students describe what they see or know and asks them to build explanations. The strategy is paired with photographs from the National Museum of American History, an artwork from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and a video from the Smithsonian Music initiative, featuring a curator from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Using guided questions, students will look at a single event through multiple media formats.</p> <p>Tags: William H. Johnson, Robert Scurlock, Marian Anderson, Easter 1939 concert, Lincoln Memorial<br /></p> <p>#visiblethinking #BecauseOfHerStory #SmithsonianMusic<br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
5
 
collection

Presidential Legacies through Inaugural Speeches and Related Objects

This collection includes resources to support students' understanding and analysis of inaugural speeches by United States' presidents. Since the days of George Washington, American presidents have begun their terms by taking the executive oath of office and delivering an inaugural address. To a historian, inaugural addresses of the past give an idea of what the leader hoped to accomplish. They also shed light on what were the most important issues of the time.
Ashley Naranjo
7
 
collection

Jazz Resources for Preschool Students

<p>Resources to support two year olds learning about jazz music and musicians. Includes portraits of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. Students connect the musician to their instrument, identify the parts of a trumpet and listen to Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" to identify specific instruments in the song. Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center's blog includes an interview with the teacher who originally created and implemented the lesson. Included here are supporting resources of the elements mentioned in her interview.</p><p>#SmithsonianMusic<br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
13
 
collection

Snowflakes in Wilson A. Bentley's Collection

<p>This topical collection includes images from Wilson A. Bentley's snowflake photography collection, which was donated to the Smithsonian in 1903. Bentley used a bellows camera that had a microscope inside to capture these small and unique natural objects. Also included in the collection is the original correspondence between Bentley and the Smithsonian, as well as ideas for using these sources in the classroom from the Smithsonian Institution Archives.</p>
Ashley Naranjo
26
 
collection

Image Analysis: "Girl at Gee's Bend, Alabama" by Arthur Rothstein

<p>Developing an inquiry-based strategy to support students can allow them to investigate objects and images as historians do. In this example, students try to reveal the story behind the image. They raise questions for their own further research. Because the image has only a title, the photographer's name, the "sitter"'s name, the place and the date, students have to rely on their own analysis of evidence in the image, rather than someone else's interpretation. When they read the expert's analysis, they will have already considered many of the elements that the expert highlights and can compare their interpretations. </p><p>"Girl at Gee's Bend, Alabama" is a provocative photograph that can be used in discussions ranging from history of the South during the Great Depression, to social justice. </p>
Ashley Naranjo
3