Teacher Resources

What can American Art teach us about the transformative impact of the Civil War on the country? This teacher guide provides background information, key images, activities, and lesson plans inspired by The Civil War and American Art exhibition that can be used either in conjunction with a museum visit or in the classroom.

What can George Catlin's artworks and other primary sources reveal about the natives of the Great Plains and their interaction with nineteenth-century white culture? This information-packed teacher guide incorporates numerous primary sources that complement the artworks and writings of George Catlin and detail his interaction with the Native Americans of the Great Plains.

How can we look critically at a piece of art and use it to learn about the political, social, and geographic environment it which it was created? This teacher-developed graphic organizer instructs middle-schoolers to look at art critically and contextually. Students compare and contrast two works of art from selected time periods.

How can we look critically at a piece of art and use it to learn about the political, social, and geographic environment it which it was created? This teacher-developed graphic organizer instructs elementary-schoolers to look at art critically and contextually. Students answer Who, What, When, Where, Why and How questions about one or two key works of art relating to their chosen tour theme.

What can a work of art reveal about a period of American history? This set of fifteen teaching posters features selected artworks from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and Archives of American Art on five historical themes.

How can we look deeper to get more meaning out of visual images? This basic visual literacy activity takes students through ways to look at selected images with the idea that they can begin to construct meaning from images and artworks.

How can an image inspire a poem? This lesson plan guides students to write a ten line poem inspired by a work of art.

How do museum conservators apply science to analyze the condition of an artwork? This lesson will help students understand applications of electromagnetic radiation in art conservation.

What can American landscapes and other paintings tell us about the evolution of democracy in the United States? This portion of the Land and Landscape module focuses on the influence of land ownership and the evolution of American civic ideas through landscape.

What did Manifest Destiny mean to the United States? How did Native Americans and African-Americans fit into Westward Expansion? This lesson plan compares Emanuel Leutze's 1861 study of Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way to the final mural in the United States House of Representatives. Analysis of the artwork and the changes made to the final version teach the history of Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny.

What can we learn about leadership from writings about and images of George Washington? During and after the American Revolution, as the new nation was struggling to define itself, George Washington emerged as a leader. Although he expressed reluctance to enter public life, he played a significant role in setting precedents for the infant government. In this lesson, students use a combination of artwork, everyday objects, and primary sources to learn about George Washington's life and leadership.

How might history have been different if alternate plans for the Reconstruction of the South had been put into practice? Political leaders and parties in the tense time after the Civil War proposed various plans for Reconstruction. By observing artwork of this period, students will learn how these plans affected the South (and North) and relationships between people of different races and geographic regions.

What can photographs of the Civil War tell us about the conflict and developments in the documentation of war? This lesson plan looks at numerous aspects of the Civil War through period photography.