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This is an awesome sight to use for ancient world studies. By clicking on the "new site" button, you can view a virtual tour of the La Grotte de Lascaux, in France....the site in in English and offers french and spanish as well. The tour is about 6 minutes or so. Anyway, I used this for my 7th grade class yesterday and they really got into it. They had all sorts of questions about the paintings, the lifestyle, etc.

The students were surprised to be able to see something that was written by humans nearly 17,000 years ago and 3000 miles away.

This is the front page of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This website is a lot more than just the site for an art museum. Inside, you can find information about current exhibits, collections, upcoming events, teacher resources, and much more. Over the next few months there are also some special events for high school teachers, including one on October 16th titled "Teaching History through Art." I think it is easy, in most high schools, to forget the importance of art in our society and how it can give a glimpse of our cultural history.

How might teachers use this site?

Art can define elements of our history. I would probably be better able to answer this question if I could attend the seminar on October 16th. Taking a look at a few of the featured exhibitions on the main page of the site, we can already make some history connections. Consider the current Norman Rockwell exhibition. Rockwell provides excellent visualizations of idealized, traditional American society in a broad period, roughly 1913 to shortly before his death in 1978. Rockwell paintings could be used in any kind of lesson plan dealing with either of the World Wars, the Boy Scouts, or the rise of middle-class America in the 1950s. Another lead exhibit on the page is titled The Pond, by an artist whose name currently escapes me. Taking a look at the photos of a pond somewhere in Maryland in the 1980s, the pictures tell a story of forgotten parts of the American wild that are surrounded by urbanization and industry.

AWESOME civics and citizenship lesson plans. High school level but very cool. Lots of stuff where you apply Rousseau's theories to paintings from the 60's etc. Lots of multimedia type fun stuff. Love them. A part of the "Youth Leadership Initiative"

Unfortunately, the four that I clicked on are dead links now. This site has not been updated.

"Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities Teaching History Through Art Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010 Time: 10:00a.m.-1:00p.m. Cost: $10 (more information) Learn how to use artworks as primary sources to teach American history and critical thinking. This workshop brings together the highlights of the collection used in American Art's history tours, including Young America, Lure of the West, and A House Divided. Come and get activity ideas to use in preparation for a tour or as stand-alone classroom lessons. This workshop will be offered again on February 12, 2011 and is available, by request, for groups of fifteen or more teachers. E-mail AmericanArtEducation@si.edu for more information."

I can't make this event, but it could be really interesting!

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