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
The Civil Rights Movement and Persuasive Messages
In this learning resource collection, take a look at six persuasive messages that addressed civil rights issues in very different forms: a speech, a song, a button, a protest sign, a poster, and an artwork.
Ashley Naranjo
9
"How to" Strategies for Use with Smithsonian Collections
Here are several teaching strategies to help you examine and analyze primary sources.
Ashley Naranjo
39
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
Student Activity: Investigating Human Impact on Water Resources
<p>In this activity, students will investigate human impact on our most essential resource, water and discover what they can do to make a positive difference.</p>
Ashley Naranjo
10
Highlights Collection: National Oceans Month (June) Learning Resources
<p>This is a Smithsonian Learning Lab topical collection, which contains images, text, and other multimedia resources that may complement the Tween Tribune feature, <em><a href="https://www.tweentribune.com/article/teen/coastal-cities-ceed-rethink-how-they-deal-rising-waters/">Coastal cities need to rethink how they deal with rising waters</a></em>. Use these resources to introduce or augment your study of this topic. If you want to personalize this collection by changing or adding content, click the Sign Up link above to create a free account. If you are already logged in, click the copy button to initiate your own version. Learn more <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/create" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /></p><p><br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
26
Letters from the Japanese American Incarceration
<p>Teaching guide based on letters from young people in an Arizona incarceration camp to a librarian, Miss Breed, in their hometown of San Diego. Students piece together a story by comparing these primary-source documents—documents that help to show that history is never a single story. Students should consider what life was like for these Japanese American youth as American citizens, whose families were unfoundedly considered a national security threat and lost many of their freedoms during the incarceration era.</p>
<p>Further context for Executive Order 9066 is available in the National Museum of American History's exhibition, "<em><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/righting-wrong-japanese-americans-and-world-war-ii" target="_blank">Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II</a>". </em>Additional historic photographs, documents, newspapers, letters and other primary source materials on this topic can be found via Densho Digital Repository, <a href="http://ddr.densho.org/">http://ddr.densho.org</a>. </p>
<p>Keywords: forced removal, incarceration camp, internment camp, Asian American, Japanese American Internment, 1940s, World War 2 </p>
<p>#APA2018</p><p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p><p><br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
13
Flashcard Activity: Defining Portraiture
<p>This collection can be used online or printed out so that each student receives a portrait to examine. In looking closely at their assigned portraits, students might ask questions, such as: Can a portrait be of a character vs. a real person? Does a portrait have to include a person's face? Does the sitter have to know the portrait is being created? What forms can a portrait take? These questions might help them in creating a list of attributes of portraiture. Students can then compare with their classmates and compare and contrast how their lists of characteristics might differ. By first examining one of the portraits in depth and then examining a breadth of portraits together, the class might work together to create a common definition for "portraiture". Students may be interested in comparing their common definition with a National Portrait Gallery curator's take on "Defining Portraiture: How are portraits both fact and fiction?" in the video included at the end of this collection <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/60783#more-info">https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/60783#more-info</a></p><p>This activity works equally well online or using printed flashcards (see the <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/defining-portraiture/n5fLJjkXzRe4xBd5#r/470937" target="_blank">resource tile</a>). <br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
56
Flashcard Activity: See, Think, Wonder with Science-Related Images
<p>This collection contains illustrations, sketches, paintings, sculpture and photographs representing a variety of science-related concepts, including animal adaptations, the invention process and climate change. </p>
<p>They may be used for a variety of purposes; here, we use them as a catalyst for discussion. In small groups or as a classroom, have students select one artwork they find meaningful or interesting and discuss the following:</p>
<ol><li>Why did you pick this image? </li><li>What do you see? Name specific aspects of the image you notice.</li><li>What do you think about what you see?</li><li>What does this image make you wonder? </li></ol><p>This activity works equally well online or using printed flashcards (see <a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/wCjeBXbgRgExR2Py#r/424391">the resource tile</a>). You may also replace or pair the above activity with a Project Zero Thinking Routine found in the final section of the collection. </p>
<p>Keywords: printable, flash card, project zero visible thinking routine, New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, NJPSA, arts integration, natural history, animals, invention, patent, portraits, weather</p>
Ashley Naranjo
47
Liberty Bonds of World War I (WW1)
<p>This collection presents three different <em>liberty bonds</em> primary sources dating from 1918: a postcard, sheet music/song, and a celebrity aviator's brochure. With these resources students will explore <em>L</em><em>iberty Bonds<span></span></em>, also called war bonds or liberty loans, which were essentially loans from the American people to the U.S. government to fund the Allies' involvement in World War I. Many public campaigns presented purchasing bonds as the patriotic way to support the war from the home front. Carefully chosen words and imagery conveyed this message and persuaded Americans to act quickly, through both subtle and direct messaging. </p>
<p><u>Essential questions:</u> What role did Liberty Bonds play in financing the U.S. WWI effort? How did persuasive language techniques and visuals lead many Americans to see Liberty Bonds as part of their patriotic duty on the home front? </p>
<p><u>Keywords:<span></span></u> primary source, secondary source, soldiers, World War I, Great War, Ruth Law, "What are you going to do to help the boys?", army, military, Uncle Sam, WWI, persuasion, advertising</p>
<p>This collection was created in conjunction with the National Postal Museum's "My Fellow Soldiers: Letters from World War I" teacher workshop (July 19, 2017). It focuses on one of the many postcards from <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/my-fellow-soldiers-postcards-from-world-war-i/HPrCVWkR1wqjpK3k#r" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">this topical collection</a> to demonstrate its use in the secondary classroom. #NPMTeacherPrograms<br /></p><p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p><p><br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
6
Photograph Analysis: "Moon Man" Image of Buzz Aldrin
<p>This topical collection includes the iconic "Moon Man" image of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, a National Air and Space Museum “expert annotation” video featuring a curator highlighting specific details, and other resources about the space suit and the Apollo 11 mission. </p>
<p>Teachers and students may use this collection as a springboard for classroom discussions about the mission to the moon, for analysis of photographic details, or in biography projects about the astronauts. <br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
11
Latino Family Stories through Art
<p>Student activity collection analyzing the work of two very different Mexican American artists, identifying aspects of culture and exploring expressions about Latino experiences in art. Included in this collection, are five paintings highlighting Latino families, paired with observation and analysis questions and interviews with the artists, Carmen Lomas Garza and Jesse Treviño, as well as podcast analyses of the paintings from the museum's director. As a supplement, students could read a book by Garza depicting her childhood memories of growing up in a traditional Mexican American community, or lead a discussion comparing this artwork with other images of families found in the Smithsonian collections. #LatinoHAC</p>
Ashley Naranjo
16
Exploring Simple Machines and the Complexities of Rube Goldberg Inventions
<p>This collection explores the concept of Rube Goldberg inventions and their use of multi-step processes to complete an action. Often Rube Goldberg inventions utilize a series of simple machines to cause a chain reaction for a task. Using an image of a comic that features one such invention, students can analyze the parts, purposes and complexities of the object and its processes. Additional resources are included to support the further exploration of these inventions and the identification of the simple machines (levers, pulleys, wedges, screws, wheels, axles and inclined planes). </p>
<p>This collection complements an in-person visit to the <em>Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention! Exhibit</em> at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>#PZPGH</p>
Ashley Naranjo
15
The Four Freedoms
The "Four Freedoms" speech, as the 1941 State of the Union address came to be known, were goals outlined by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on January 6, 1941 to Congress and the American people. He proposed four fundamental freedoms that people everywhere in the world should enjoy and described the "unprecedented" threat that Nazi domination of Europe presented to the security of the United States. This Learning Lab collection includes four Norman Rockwell paintings, alongside a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a stamp with this iconic phrase. An audio excerpt of the speech is available via the National Archives and included here.
Ashley Naranjo
11
Looking Closely at Surrealist Art: Cundo Bermúdez's "Cinco Figuras"
<p>This teaching collection focuses on the surrealist artwork of Cuban artist, Cundo Bermúdez (1914-2008), entitled "Cinco Figuras" from the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum's collections. By applying the Project Zero Visible Thinking Routine, "See, Think, Wonder" to the artwork, teachers can lead students in a discussion that allows them to make observations and support interpretations with details, while noting areas for further exploration. </p>
<p>Additional resources are included in this collection to help contextualize the artist, his life and other related works. </p>
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<ul><li>For more information about Project Zero routines and to add them to your own Smithsonian Learning Lab collections, please visit <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/project-zero-thinking-routines/oWYbEjpf19oxcFUp#r" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/project-zero-thinking-routines/oWYbEjpf19oxcFUp#r</a></li><li>For more artwork from the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum's collections, please visit <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/latin-american-artists/aEFC5NX6L38A31L5">https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/latin-american-artists/aEFC5NX6L38A31L5</a></li></ul><p></p>
<p>Keywords: surrealism, Latino, painting, symbolism, ladder, mirror, clock, five figures</p>
<p>#LatinoHAC #VisibleThinking</p>
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Ashley Naranjo
8
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
Artists, Actresses and Performers: Women Who Shaped History
<p>This topical collection includes resources related to featured women artists, actresses and performers. This collection includes portraits of the artists, actresses and performers, related artifacts, articles, videos with experts, and related Smithsonian Learning Lab collections. Use this collection to launch lessons about the women's life stories, primary source analysis, and examination of the context in which these women lived and made their contributions. This collection is not comprehensive but rather provides a launching point for research and study. <br /></p>
<p>Keywords: Hattie McDaniel, Aretha Franklin, Frida Kahlo, Anna May Wong, Selena Quintanilla, Maria Tallchief, Maya Lin, Gladys Bentley, #BecauseOfHerStory<br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
81
The Invention of Thanksgiving
<p>This collection explores the evolving history of how Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. The introductory video, podcast and lesson in the collection help provide context for the complicated portrayal and depiction of what actually happened at the first Thanksgiving and how it is celebrated today.</p>
<p>The images in this collection are different portrayals of the holiday over time. They have been grouped in order of publication from 1863 to 1994. As you look through them and complete the activities, think about these three key questions:</p>
<ul><li>How does the context in which an image was produced affect the result? Meaning, how does what was happening at the time affect what kind of picture of Thanksgiving we see?</li><li>What do the images say about our national identity: who is welcome in the United States? What do we celebrate and why? Whose version of the Thanksgiving story does each image tell?</li></ul><p>This collection was adapted from Kate Harris' collection, <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/thanksgiving-a-reflection-of-a-nation/b8W1UbCW2mhRrra5" target="_blank">Thanksgiving-- A Reflection of A Nation</a> and supplemented with the National Museum of the American Indian's<em> <a href="https://nmai.si.edu/americans/#stories/queen-of-america" target="_blank">Americans</a></em> online exhibition. <br /></p>
<p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p>
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Ashley Naranjo
19
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
Activists: Women Who Shaped History
<p>This topical collection includes resources related to featured women activists. This collection includes portraits of the activists, related artifacts, articles, videos with experts, and related Smithsonian Learning Lab collections. Use this collection to launch lessons about the life stories of activists, primary source analysis, and examination of the context in which these women lived and made their contributions. This collection is not comprehensive but rather provides a launching point for research and study. </p>
<p>Keywords: Fannie Lou Hamer, Ida B. Wells, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Edith Windsor, Wilma Mankiller, Grace Lee Boggs, Pauli Murray, Shirley Chisholm, Rachel Carson, Zitkala-Sa, #BecauseOfHerStory</p>
Ashley Naranjo
70
Scientists, Inventors, and Entrepreneurs: Women Who Shaped History
<p>This topical collection includes resources related to featured women scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs. This collection includes portraits of the scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs, related artifacts, articles, videos with experts, and related Smithsonian Learning Lab collections. Use this collection to launch lessons about the women's life stories, primary source analysis, and examination of the context in which these women lived and made their contributions. This collection is not comprehensive but rather provides a launching point for research and study. <br /></p>
<p>Keywords: Mae Carol Jemison, Grace Hopper, Ellena Ocha, Maria Sibylla Merian, Madam CJ Walker, Charlotta Bass, Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, Ursula Marvin, Valentina Tereshokova, #BecauseOfHerStory<br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
62
Second Opinion: Forging the Future – Smithsonian Resources
<p>This is a Smithsonian Learning Lab topical collection, which contains interdisciplinary education resources, including student interactives, videos, images and blogs to complement the Smithsonian's national conversation on global climate change, highlighted on <em><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/second-opinion/second-opinion-education-resources-180963599/">Second Opinion</a></em><strong>. </strong> Use this sample of the Smithsonian's many resources to introduce or augment your study of this topic and spark a conversation. </p>
Ashley Naranjo
29
Student Podcasting: Exploring the "Nature of Science" through Podcast Development [TEACHER TEMPLATE-- MAKE A COPY]
<p>[DESCRIBE YOUR STUDENTS' PODCAST TOPIC HERE; INCLUDE ANY IMAGES, NOTES OR DOCUMENTATION ABOUT THEIR PROCESS. </p>
<p>EXAMPLE (3-4 sentences): <em>Sixth grade students conducted research about our community's access to clean drinking water, electricity, and roads over the past fifty years. St</em><em>udents identified subject matter experts, refined interview questions, conducted interviews and produced the episode included here. This collection includes the completed podcast episode, alongside text and images documenting the students' research and production process.</em>]</p>
<hr /><p>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection includes examples of student-created podcast epsidoes, in response to prompts from the <em><a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/63455" target="_blank">Sidedoor for Educators</a> </em>collections. After listening to <a href="https://www.si.edu/sidedoor" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">Sidedoor</a><em></em> podcasts to set context, gain background knowledge from Smithsonian experts, and initiate a local dialogue on the topic, students engaged in community-based scientific research to explore and collect evidence about how this topic and the content within the episode is defined locally.<br /></p>
<p>To find additional student podcast collections, search the Smithsonian Learning Lab for <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/search?st=%23YAGSidedoor2019&st_op=and&item_type=collections">#YAGSidedoor2019</a>.</p>
Ashley Naranjo
4
How might we re-design our classroom?
<p>This collection begins with the analysis of a series of images from 19th and 20th century classroom settings. Next, learners will apply <em>Agency by Design</em> thinking routines to explore elements of their own classroom that could be re-designed. Learners will go through the design process to: </p>
<ul><li>identify the precise challenge</li><li>brainstorm a solution, and</li><li>create a prototype.</li></ul><p>This lesson introduces the design process to learners through a familiar system, the classroom. It allows for learners to collaborate in the improvement and re-design of their own learning environment, while taking into account the needs of other users of the space. </p>
<hr /><p><em>This collection was created as an example used in the "Smithsonian Learning Lab, Focus on Design" session at the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA) Arts Integration Learning Institute. </em><br /></p>
Ashley Naranjo
21
Comparing Musical Arrangements and Interpretations of "The Star Spangled Banner"
<p>This collection about the National Anthem of the United States includes more than 10 performances of it, the story of Francis Scott Key’s inspiration and the British tune to which he set his lyrics. The suggested instructional strategy is a comparison/contrast exercise, with "Close Listening" questions.</p>
<p>This collection was created for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Arts Professional Development Day. #SmithsonianMusic</p>
Ashley Naranjo
18
