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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

 

Women's Roles During the Civil War

Learning resource collection, in which students identify women's homefront and battlefront roles during the American Civil War, as depicted in Harper's Weekly and a short video from the Smithsonian Channel.
Ashley Naranjo
11
 

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
 

Niagara Falls: Investigating Change Over Time with a Body of Water

<p>Learning resource collection, which highlights several artworks and photographs of Niagara Falls as early as 1820 to today. It introduces close-looking strategies, with a consistent set of guiding questions to analyze each image and discover changes of a place, specifically three waterfalls on the United States-Canada border, over time.</p>
Ashley Naranjo
19
 

"How to" Strategies for Use with Smithsonian Collections

Here are several teaching strategies to help you examine and analyze primary sources.
Ashley Naranjo
39
 

Spotting Symbols in the Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington

Learning resource collection, which includes an iconic portrait of George Washington, filled with symbols that tell a story about early America and its first leader. Explore the ways that the artist uses symbols in the portrait to tell about the subject’s life, personality, and achievements.
Ashley Naranjo
7
 

National Letter Writing Day- December 7

Learning resource collection introducing some letters in the Smithsonian's collections to provide inspiration for celebrating National Letter Writing Day! Letters can be written for a number of purposes. Here, a few examples are explored including a professional inquiry, a condolence letter, opinion sharing and a love letter. You’ll have access to the transcript of the text, as well as the primary source. Highlight some key facts about each letter to determine its main idea and purpose, by answering some guiding questions.
Ashley Naranjo
8
 

Forensic Anthropology Case: Discovering Jane

Teaching guide introducing a forensic case file from 2012, when Jamestown archaeologists excavated fragments of a human skull and leg bone dating to the winter of 1609-1610. This collection was created with the Anthropology team at the National Museum of Natural History. <br /> (<a href="http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/Jane.html">http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/Jane.html</a> )<br />
Ashley Naranjo
21
 

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
 

World War II Homefront Posters

Using these wartime posters, students will identify the message of each poster. They will determine the effect of the posters on daily life and the way that average citizens were being called to action to help in the war effort. Finally, students should consider the following questions: Why was it important to have a united homefront during the war? What roles do these posters depict for Americans supporting the war? How did these posters affect opinions and actions during wartime?
Ashley Naranjo
11
 

Astrophotography: Student Activity in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics)

In this student activity, you’ll use specialized image processing software to bring out visual details from images of objects like the Moon, Sun, star clusters, nebulas, and galaxies. After you analyze your own image(s), you’ll have an opportunity to research related astronomy information and to share your scientific and artistic interpretations of your telescope data.
Ashley Naranjo
15
 

Santa Claus: Comparing Evolving Imagery and Text

<p>This collection gathers depictions of Santa Claus from ads, paintings, photographs, stamps from 1837 to today. Also, includes analyses of his evolving image from the Smithsonian Magazine and the National Museum of American History blog. How does the description of Santa in the Christmas poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" compare with the images that follow? Includes a discussion question extension: How might you revamp Christmas stories to better reflect the time and country that you live in?</p> <p>Keywords: Saint Nicholas, holidays, poetry</p>
Ashley Naranjo
26
 

U.S. Presidential Inauguration Resources

This teaching collection includes resources, such as video interviews with expert historians, artworks, memorabilia and photographs of the American tradition of presidential inaugurations, including the Oath of Office, the Inaugural Address, the Inauguration Parade and the Inaugural Ball. Discussion Questions: -How does a U.S. presidential inauguration compare to a royal coronation? -How are these events populist (for ordinary citizens)? How are they elitist (for the high class elite)? -Where can inauguration traditions be traced? -What is required by the Constitution to occur at a presidential inauguration? -What events have become a tradition over time? -What objects help tell the story of inaugurations over time?
Ashley Naranjo
36