Vol. 3 Welcome to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Spring 2007

Classroom Connections

FREE in-service while scheduling times 

permit. 

 Education staff is happy to work with 

administrators or coordinators to offer 

valuable curricular programs to show 

teachers how to use our free resources in the 

classroom. As always, we strive to make 

this programming relevant and helpful to 

some of our most important constituents 

...YOU! If this type of in-service program 

interests you, please contact 

SAAMEdStaff@si.edu to set up a 

consultation. 

In This Issue... 

Our Space Professional Development 

Opportunities 

Writing Workshop in the Galleries 

Your Space Teacher Features: George Catlin 

and Civil War Activities 

 New Resource Feature 

Cyberspace Docent Feature: History of 

Videoconferencing at SAAM 

Podcasting Program 

In-Gallery Workshops 

Looking the Write Way: Reading Art 

as a Catalyst for Writing 

Date: Saturday, August 25, 2007 

Time: TBD (approximately 9:30–1 p.m.) 

Good writing comes from meaningful 

experiences. In this program, we show 

how art can spark the imagination while 

at the same time encouraging analysis 

and critical thinking. This workshop 

explores visual literacy and writing by 

first analyzing art for depth of 

comprehension. That experience then 

becomes the foundation for writing in a 

poetic, expressive way. This strategy 

has proven effective for all types of 

learners, including those who are 

Learning Disabled and those studying 

English as a Second Language. The 

workshop is free, but registration is 

required. 

Send an e-mail to SAAMEdStaff@si.edu. 

Workshops are held at the Donald W. Reynolds 

Center for American Art and Portraiture, 8th

and G Streets NW, Washington, D.C. 

Smithsonian Art Museums 

Back-to-School Nights 

Date: Thursday, August 30th 

Time: TBD (approximately 4:30–8 p.m.) 

PRE-REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED 

SAAM is collaborating with the 

National Portrait Gallery to offer a 

Back-to-School Night for educators on 

August 30th. Join us for workshops, 

tours, performances, and resources. 

This event is held in conjunction with 

the Back-to-School Night held by the 

Freer and Sackler Galleries, the 

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture 

Garden, and the National Museum of 

African Art on Thursday, August 23rd. 

Professional Development Opportunities 

Twelve Weeks Left...Think Summer!

Posters to Go! 

The Archives of American Art, the 

National Portrait Gallery, and the 

Smithsonian American Art Museum 

have received funding to create 

teaching posters based on objects 

from their collections. Each set of 

three posters will match an archival 

document, portrait, and other artwork 

on a specific theme. The reverse side 

of each poster will have background 

information, a suggested activity, and 

a timeline. The posters will be aimed 

at middle- and high-school 

audiences. We are currently seeking 

input on poster themes so that we can 

best serve your classroom needs. 

Please take a minute to fill out our 

brief survey by following this link: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp

?u=805443538480

While it is only spring, it is time to start 

thinking about summer professional 

development. In our first issue, we 

highlighted the Smithsonian American Art 

Museum’s videoconferencing program for 

in-services. Fifth-, eighth-, and eleventhgrade social studies teachers from Texas 

participated in that event. Videoconferencing is a cost-effective way to 

include SAAM’s programs in your summer 

workshops. Any school district with 

enough planning time and videoconferencing equipment can schedule a 

Smithsonian American Art Museum www.americanart.si.edu/education
Our art, your classroom Spring 2007 

OUR SPACE

This year my third grade students and I 

have been exploring how to use art to 

inspire poetry writing. The highlight of 

this exploration was our field trip to the 

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 

where we were able to look closely at 

original works of art and spend time 

drafting poetry in the gallery itself. My 

students and I were inspired by this 

experience of using original works of art 

as a catalyst for poetry. We had explored 

both the elements of art and poetry and 

were ready to integrate the two in an 

authentic way. 

 Our preparation for the trip began in 

the classroom, where students each 

chose two reproductions of paintings 

from the modernism and Southwestern 

galleries and the hallway in between the 

two. We chose these spaces because 

they offered a wide variety of abstract 

and realistic paintings in which many 

different artists and cultures were 

represented. This selection was 

important because it provided our 

diverse group of students with 

opportunities to see themselves in the 

art. Before going to the museum the 

students spent time analyzing the 

reproductions and recording their 

observations, interpretations, and 

questions. They then imagined 

themselves in the painting to determine 

smells and sounds. There was a sense of 

anticipation as the students analyzed the 

reproductions because they knew that 

they would soon be seeing the original 

works of art. 

 When we entered the gallery the 

excitement was tangible as the students 

came upon the original works of art with 

which they had become so familiar. 

Some reacted with gigantic smiles, 

while others quietly squealed with pure 

excitement. The first part of our field 

trip was structured so that students could 

talk with a partner about what they 

noticed about the art they had been 

studying. The students had a lot to say 

about the colors, texture, size, and 

details of the paintings as they compared 

the original works to the reproductions. 

Many were surprised to see that some of 

the original works of art were partially 

3-D, something they never would have 

known had they only seen the 

reproductions. 

Cylinders as white as a polar bear’s fur

While the sun rises

Shadows start to fade away

A dazzling sunset to see

Shades of pink, yellow, and orange

When the sun fades away

The sky turns as blue as the ocean

The moon rises

Night will be cold

When the sun sparkles again

A new day will be born

When the Sun Rises

By Francis

 

 

For the second part of the field trip the 

gallery became a setting for writing 

workshop, as each student picked one 

piece on which to focus their attention. 

They spent time sketching the paintings, 

recording additional observations and 

interpretations, and drafting poems. As 

I circulated and conferred with students, 

I was impressed with the high level of 

focus and engagement that everyone 

displayed when concentrating on their 

selected work of art. The words seemed 

to flow effortlessly as the students 

looked back and forth between the 

artwork and their paper. I was delighted 

to see how the original works of art 

generated a new level of enthusiasm for 

both art and writing. On our way back 

to school, several students even asked if 

they could continue writing their poems 

on the bus! 

Back in the classroom we reflected 

on the process of going to the museum 

and seeing the original works of art. 

Enthusiasm from the trip was still 

present as the students shared what they 

noticed about the original works of art. 

Many students commented on how they 

enjoyed seeing “in real life” the art they 

had studied so closely in the classroom. 

They were amazed to see how big the 

paintings were and noticed many details 

that were hard to see in the reproductions. They also enjoyed writing in 

the gallery and commented that sitting in 

front of the original artwork gave them 

new ideas for writing. One student 

described the experience saying, “ideas 

were just running in my brain and I just 

had to write them down. All of a sudden 

I had a poem!” 

Overall there was a definite sense 

of momentum in the class after our field 

trip to the museum as students worked 

to revise and publish their poems. My 

students and I look forward to visiting 

another area of the Smithsonian 

American Art Museum as we take 

writing workshop out of the classroom 

and into the world of art. 

—Daisy Bokus 

3rd Grade Teacher 

Bailey’s Elementary School for the Arts 

and Sciences 

Falls Church, VA 

Visiting SAAM for a 

Writing Workshop 

Students from Daisy Bokus’s class write in 

the galleries. 

Sample of Student writing shown with Ralston 

Crawford’s Buffalo Grain Elevators, 1937, 

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1976.133 

Smithsonian American Art Museum www.americanart.si.edu/education 
Our Art, Your Classroom

YOUR SPACE

Our art, your classroom Spring 2007

Linda McAnarney with Julington Creek first-grade class. 

First Graders Meet 

George Catlin

Adventure! Excitement! Thrills! 

Discovery! 

These are all words that come to mind 

whenever I think of George Catlin, 

the American painter who traveled 

into the American West in the 1830s 

and ‘40s to paint Native Americans. 

Almost certainly, I must have heard or 

learned about Catlin’s adventures in 

my own early student days. I’m sure 

then as now, I felt their power—

pulling at me to get up, get out, and 

get exploring. Catlin’s story is one of 

dreams and imagination, and it was 

definitely a story for me. 

 In thinking about how or why I 

would have chosen George Catlin as 

the subject for a series of art lessons 

for first-grade students, well – 

adventure, excitement, thrills, and 

discovery do seem to be pretty good 

motivators. First graders can move on 

out with the best of them. 

 At the same time, Catlin’s art is 

also quite remarkable. While it 

records the dress and decoration of 

Native American culture of the early 

1800s, its attention to detail, 

composition, and color are superb. 

Not only could lessons be developed 

around the ideas of ceremony and 

decoration, but also around elements 

of art and principles of design. 

 The Smithsonian American Art 

Museum helped to make this project 

possible. They had developed a 

remarkable educational web page

(http://catlinclassroom.si.edu) loaded 

with big ideas and follow-up lessons, 

costumes, sounds, and more than 

seventy pieces of art representing a 

historical view of the early American 

West – including the art of George 

Catlin. As a resource for my own 

planning and delivery, I utilized a CD 

containing this information and 

images of George Catlin and his 

images of the Native American 

Indians. Names like Buffalo Bull’s 

Back Fat, Four Bears, and Pigeon’s 

Egg Head immediately fueled the 

imaginations of our first graders. 

 As is always the case, introduction 

of content and ideas, student inquiry, 

and art-making were subject to time 

limitations and constraints. Each 

first-grade class gets art instruction 

only once every two weeks, and a 

two-month period would allow for 

only four classes. The lessons were 

developed around storytelling 

(introductions utilizing storylines, 

maps, and prints of Catlin’s art); 

inquiry and exploration (discussion 

of customs and ceremonies, 

sketching imagined self-portraits, 

and taking on Native American 

names); and art-making (pencil 

sketches of people and places, with 

a follow-up exercise in adding 

watercolor to the sketches). Each 

student was praised and encouraged 

along the way. Students produced 

multiple sketches showing riding or 

standing figures, with vivid colors, 

and in different settings. 

Linda McAnarney

Art Educator

Julington Creek Elementary School 

Jacksonville, FL

TEACHER FEATURE

Smithsonian American Art Museum www.americanart.si.edu/education 
Web LaunchOur art, your classroom Spring 2007

Smithsonian American Art Museum www.americanart.si.edu/education 

Imagine a painting of the Civil War and 

subjects like soldiers, horses, cannons, 

smoke and combat probably come to 

mind. Take a look at Aurora Borealis by 

Frederic Edwin Church (shown right) 

from the Smithsonian American Art 

Museum’s collection and imagine 

connecting it to the Civil War. That is 

just what fifth-graders were challenged 

to do as they looked at the painting 

through the eyes of a writer, historian, or 

artist. This lesson, which occurred at the 

end of the Civil War unit, provided 

students the opportunity to further 

inquire, research, and transform their 

understanding of various perspectives 

during the Civil War through art 

analysis and writing. The results were 

quite amazing. 

 Students began by observing the 

elements and principles of design of the 

painting before rushing to any 

interpretations. Then a “frame” was 

established around the work of art that 

provided a common point of entry for 

the class. They were told that the 

painting was about various perspectives 

during the time of the American Civil 

War. The students proceeded to pick a 

perspective from which to interpret the 

painting. For an assessment, I was 

thrilled that they considered the 

perspectives of Union and Confederate 

soldiers, family members of soldiers 

(wives, sisters, brothers, parents, 

children), abolitionists, slaves, 

plantation owners, Civil War leaders 

(Grant, Lincoln, Lee, Davis) and the 

artist, Frederic Edwin Church. After 

discussing the art with various partners, 

students began to write fictional journal 

entries and letters from their chosen 

perspective. The narrative explained 

how the visual properties of the artwork 

represented the causes leading to the 

secession of the southern states, and the 

causes of the Civil War that emerged 

between the northern and southern 

states. See examples of student work 

below. 

AHOUSE DIVIDED

 This lesson not only served as an 

assessment of social studies content, art 

criticism and narrative writing, but was 

also a great catalyst for conversation and 

deepening understandings, so students 

explored new perspectives on an 

important period of American history. 

-- Melanie Layne 

Arts Integration Resource Teacher 

Bailey’s Elementary for the Arts and 

Science, Fairfax County, Virginia

Frederic Edwin Church, Aurora Borealis, 1865, 

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1911.4.1 

PERSPECTIVE: WIFE OF A UNION SOLDIER 

Dear Journal, 

 I am standing here, watching the violent 

explosions of blue truth and gray lies bursting into 

the sky, calling...calling. The smell of gunpowder 

will awake all, and bring them to the horrid sight I 

see here before me. I can see the cries of the 

slaves flying up with the explosions, but the cries 

cannot be heard over the violent deaths. I pause 

just to look. I will never get the explosions of death, 

the cry of the poor souls or the light of hope out of 

my mind. Faces seem to be rising out of the earth. 

The faces of the leaders. But who will rise and who 

will fall? That is the question. The questions and 

answers drop silently into the cool reflection. The 

worst is yet to come, the worst is yet to come. 

Sincerely, 

J. D. 

PERSPECTIVE: ARTIST, FREDERIC CHURCH 

March 5, 1861 

I am exploring the freezing land of the North Pole. The aurora 

lights are extraordinary. I seem to yearn to dance with them, in 

their bright colored ball gowns on the dance floor of the sky. 

April 26, 1861 

I am overwhelmed with the thought of a Civil War beginning. A 

rock of pain is thrust to my chest. How can it be half of my 

country is against the North and the lights within them? 

April 27, 1861 

Civil War reminds me of the northern scene, a rough ocean 

looking as destructive as a war with a sky full of pain, waving for 

help. 

The sky moans in a gasp of pain, 

The aurora lights know the Civil War has begun. 

The last embers of light burn away, 

Leaving a blackhole sucking in murdered souls. 

Streams of light evoke pain, 

While the crashing waves lash out in sorrow. 

Death swallows the air, 

It looms everywhere, 

Like pebbles on a deserted road. 
Our art, your classroom Spring 2007

Smithsonian American Art Museum www.americanart.si.edu/education 

RESOURCE FEATURE: PICTURING THE CIVIL WAR

Mathew Brady’s photographs of the 

Union army brought “home to us the 

terrible reality and earnestness of war,” 

according to The New York Times. That 

marked the first time that citizens saw 

war with the realism of photography. 

immigrants at war, and more. 

Seven photographs and 

matching documents are used in the 

activity that comes, as all of our 

resources do, with correlations to 

national standards, key vocabulary, 

and suggested use in the curriculum. 

SAAM’s photography collection 

from the Civil War provides a glimpse 

into the period through what was then a 

new media. Now that same photography can be used very easily in your 

classroom! 

We encourage you to look at 

the Civil War activity at 

http://americanart.si.edu/education/

resources/civil_war_photo.pdf. 

Also, check out all of our online 

resources, which you can browse or 

search by keywords at 

http://americanart.si.edu/education/

resources.index.cfm. 

 

Education staff has created a 

classroom resource for teachers to match 

Civil War era photographs with primary 

and secondary sources to provide some 

context. Students can take part in 

matching the image with the selected 

text to form a better understanding of 

key concepts like General Sherman’s 

campaign, the siege of Vicksburg, 

Studio of Mathew Brady, The Sick Soldier, 

1863, Smithsonian American Art Museum

CYBERSPACE

DOCENT FEATURE

As part of our continuing series 

profiling knowledgeable docents who 

lead our Artful Connections videoconferencing program, Diana 

Voorthuis recently agreed to sit down 

and chat after leading a tour. 

“My love of art came from the books 

my parents had around,” she said. 

“For whatever reason, my Catholic 

schooling didn’t provide much in the 

way of art classes.” But 

Northwestern University did, and 

Diana graduated with a degree in 

art history in the shadow of the Art 

Institute in Chicago. She recalls 

marveling at the artworks there and 

was later able to see many of the 

works she studied in her travels to 

Europe. 

Education has been a large part 

of Diana’s life. She was introduced 

to it when she taught two years of 

middle school in Australia. She 

found it rewarding and kept a love 

for passing on knowledge. 

Diana went back to school to 

achieve her CPA and worked with 

the family business for some time 

before returning to school again to 

receive a master’s degree in early 

childhood development. She spent 

two years teaching in Montessori 

schools and still returns to those 

schools today to teach about art to 

young children. 

Diana’s involvement in the 

videoconferencing program grew 

out of a curiosity about the 

technology. She also saw it as a 

way to stay familiar with the 

museum’s collection during the 

building renovations that occurred 

from 2000 to 2006. “It’s been 

exciting for me to see the growth in 

the technology of the program.” 

Look for Diana or another of 

her esteemed colleagues next time 

you sign up for a videoconference

at our Web site 

http://americanart.si.edu/education/

programs/artful_connections.cfm. 
Our art, your classroom Spring 2007

Smithsonian American Art Museum www.americanart.si.edu/education 

The following article chronicles the 

beginning of our distance learning 

program and is the first in a two-part 

series. A special thanks to the contributing 

writer and current docent in charge of 

distance learning, Phoebe Kline, for 

writing this article. Her contributions to 

the beginning and to the continuing 

evolution of this program are 

immeasurable. 

When Woody Dowling, SAAM’s head 

of distance learning, returned from a 

James Webb fellowship at Harvard’s 

Kennedy School of Government in the 

early 1990s, he was filled with 

enthusiasm for a concept called 

strategic computing. He saw that by 

applying this concept to the museum 

environment, we could extend the 

boundaries of our offerings and enlarge 

the audience for educational programs. 

We were, at that time, dependent upon 

a local audience and the technology of 

the internal combustion engine 

powering school buses, but strategic 

computing could allow us to offer 

more. 

 Working with a series of grants, 

the museum began to work with 

teachers in Texas and Nebraska, to 

move into the realm of computer 

technology developed for the 

classroom. As technology moved 

ahead, Woody and other staff 

members worked on creating a 

vibrant Web site for the museum. 

They soon realized that for this 

outreach to be scaleable, (i.e., 

increased to fill demand) they would 

need staff for presenting content. The 

docents worked on a variety of 

programming and knew the collection 

and the outreach audience. They were 

a natural fit. It was only a matter of 

familiarizing them with the new 

technology. With the physical 

museum scheduled to close for 

renovation, this program would 

guarantee docents continued contact 

with the art audience, too. 

This newsletter is designed to inform teachers of our programs and showcase activities that integrate our materials in

classrooms around the country. Please share this newsletter with teachers in your faculty lounge. To give feedback on this 

issue, ask questions about any of the programs highlighted, or pose questions about the Education Office itself, email us at

SAAMEdStaff@si.edu. 

The earliest attempts involved 

email, which docents were familiar with, 

and chat rooms, which turned out to be a 

source of frustration for the docents and 

the audience. Fortunately, with the 

advent of videoconferencing, these 

frustrations were resolved. Calling our 

work “the bleeding edge” of museum

education, docents were encouraged to 

improvise, just as they had in gallery 

tours, and to use their creativity to

develop and customize tours for

classrooms around the world. Since 

then, the videoconferencing program has 

evolved into a valuable working

relationship between education staff,

docents, and the public. If you’d like to

schedule a videoconference, visit us at 

VIDEOCONFERENCING AT SAAM: HOW IT ALL BEGAN

http://AmericanArt.si.edu.education/pro

grams/artful_connections.cfm. 

Next issue, Phoebe will interview new 

education specialist Ellen Kovacs, who

will help chart the future of the distance 

learning program.

STUDENTS HAVE THEIR SAY ON ART

For two years, seniors at the HoltonArms School in Bethesda, Maryland, 

have produced electronic audioguides—or podcasts—based on

artworks at SAAM. Teachers 

Christopher Wilson and Brad

Rathgeber said the project had several

goals: to teach students about writing 

succinctly and about audio expression

as well as to empower them by 

publishing their work. Students are 

graded in such areas as depth of 

interpretation, quality of research, and 

their use of personal voice. Holton-Arms students will be

interning at the museum this spring, 

so that SAAM’s education department

can provide this kind of programming 

to interested schools in the future. 

 “I wanted the podcasts to be 

grounded in a solid art-historical 

approach and to use the tools of 

analysis they’ve learned,” Wilson 

said. “At the same time, I wanted

their personal voice to come through.”

The best of the podcasts are posted on

SAAM’s Web site. Six created by last

year’s students can be found at

To read more, visit the Washington

Post article at the following URL: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR20

http://eyelevel.si.edu/2006/05/a_soun 07032101135.html?sub=AR

d_take_on.html. Look for this year’s

efforts to be posted by June.