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This resource takes students beyond lessons and lets them investigate. There are videos, images, and many other resources that students can use for research or to create something for a project.

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Smithsonian

Learning Lab

Discover the digital education platform that connects people to Smithsonian objects, resources, and stories.

Collections by Grade

Explore some of our most popular Learning Lab Collections. Use them as a springboard to continue your exploration of the many collections available on the site.

Talk with Me!
Learn about your community and neighborhood. In this Toolkit, leaners explore different homes, shops, and people in your neighborhood and have fun with related activities.

Talk with Me Toolkits provide you with chances to talk with your children to improve thinking, vocabulary, and language development. Talking with your child is great-and research shows that the quality of words children hear matters more than how much you talk.

Talk with Me Toolkits give you ideas to begin conversations that are organized around a theme. The Toolkits feature videos, photographs, paintings, and artworks along with questions to talk about with your child. At the end of each toolkit there are more activities to do and books to read together. Go through this toolkit with your child and see how many topics there are to talk about!
This toolkit was adapted with a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Links to third-party websites and videos are included in this Toolkit for informational purposes only. They do not indicate the Smithsonian's endorsement, sponsorship of, or affiliation with the third party or content of the linked site, including any advertisements that might be posted.

Learn More

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

What inspires you? Get to know Alma Thomas, (b. Columbus, Georgia; lived and worked in Washington, DC, 1891-1978), an American artist and educator known for her signature painting style using bright colors and patterns inspired by nature. She became a full-time artist late in her life. Born in a time of horses and buggies, she lived through big advancements in technology, such as the space race and moon landing. Her art was inspired by the nature she saw outside her home studio, and awe for the exploration of our vast universe.
Get To Know Alma Thomas Use it in the classroom to teach:
is part of the Hirshhorn KIDS About the Artist series. About the Artist biographies are designed for kids under age 12. Modern and contemporary artists' lives reflect recent human history and events. Sharing these life stories and artworks can help kids see their own potential and better understand the world and their place in it. It is our goal to inspire future generations of artists, makers, and creative problem solvers-sharing artists stories is one way Hirshhorn KIDS realize this goal.
Art classroom: Color Theory, Pattern

Language Arts classroom: Biography

Social Studies classroom: 20th century

Learn More

National Museum of American History

In this playlist you will learn about how three of the first presidents shaped the executive branch of the United States government.

Start by clicking on the first tile in the upper left hand corner. Then move through the playlist by clicking on the ">" symbol at the bottom of the page. Look for the information and paperclip icons to provide more information about selected resources. There are 34 tiles in this collection.

Learn More

Educator Programs

Cultivating Learning is a professional development series where Smithsonian educators model teaching techniques for using digital museum resources to support student learning. This year's series celebrates America at 250. Programs are free and accessible to anyone.

Wednesday, April 15, 4:00 PM EST

Join Phoebe Sherman of the National Postal Museum to explore how postage stamps can be used in the classroom to encourage civic awareness and engagement. We'll examine how stamps can spark curiosity and deepen understanding of civics, American history, national identity, and commemoration by using thinking routines that focus on both subject matter and artistic design. You'll see how these approaches come to life with students and leave with classroom-ready resources and fresh ideas for incorporating postage stamps into your teaching practice.

Watch

Wednesday, May 20, 4:00 PM EST

Join Nyssa Buning of the National Museum of American History's Spark!Lab and Carol O'Donnell of the Smithsonian Science Education Center to explore strategies for cultivating an inventive mindset in your students. We'll discuss the history of STEAM innovation in America and try an open-ended invention challenge that uses object-based learning techniques to encourage creative problem solving and support curiosity and perseverance, skills essential to inventors throughout history. You'll leave with a set of facilitation tools to support students as they develop their own inventive identity and become future problem-solvers. You'll also receive access to a newly released e-book from the Smithsonian Science Education Center, STEAM Innovation: Celebrating Our Nation's 250 Years.

Register

Wednesday, June 17, 4:00 PM EST

As America turns 250 in 2026, young people are writing its next chapter. Join a group of educators who apply interdisciplinary approaches to learning to engage young people in civic dialogue tied to their communities.

Register

What will you find in the Smithsonian Learning Lab?

Resources

Millions of Smithsonian digital images, recordings, texts, and videos in history, art and culture, and the sciences

Collections

Thousands of examples of resources organized and structured for teaching and learning by educators and subject experts

Resources

Millions of Smithsonian digital images, recordings, texts, and videos in history, art and culture, and the sciences

Collections

Thousands of examples of resources organized and structured for teaching and learning by educators and subject experts

Browse individual resources by type

Browse model collections on different topics

Tips

Tips

Create collections of resources to engage learners, or freely adapt ones already made by Learning Lab users like you.

Use Learning Lab tools to customize and enhance your collections.

Browse ready-to-use model collections by educational use

Browse ready-to-use model collections by learning strategy or theme

Tips

Tips

Subscribe to our Bright Ideas newsletter

To learn more about the Smithsonian Learning Lab and to read about strategies, approaches, new features, and more, subscribe to the Bright Ideas newsletter. We'll be sending out a new issue every few weeks.

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Smithsonian Learning Lab: Discover, Create, Share

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Smithsonian Learning Lab Discover the digital education platform that connects people to Smithsonian objects, resources, and stories. Explore some of our most popular Learning Lab Collections. Use them as a springboard to continue your exploration of the many collections available on the site. Talk with Me! Learn about your community and neighborhood.

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This resource has information for teachers of all disciplines. They have created a place teachers can go and find information or lessons that they can use in their classroom.

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Multimedia resources for K-12 classroom instruction and teacher professional development Join us for conversations that inspire, recognize, and encourage innovation…

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This is mainly for social studies teachers, but the standards available can be used for cross-curricular lessons.

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National Council for the Social Studies is pleased to offer a limited number of registration scholarships to educators who have never been able to attend the NCSS Annual Conference in the past for lack of financial support. Teachers from across the United States and its territories are welcome to apply.

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This is a great way for students to write and gain information about how they write from others. This puts their work out for others to see and comment on (this is for an older audience since not all content is acceptable for younger audiences.)

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Glogster is an interesting way to get students to create posters. It takes the 1D poster boards and transforms the work into 3D multimedia work that can be shared.

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Services provided by Glogster.com have been temporarily disabled for operational reasons.

We are in the process of disabling all recurring payments, but we do recommend that you contact your bank or credit card company directly to halt them.

We would welcome the opportunity for investors who are interested in partnering with Glogster to contact us so that we are able to resume providing services to our customers who we have proudly served since 2008. Interested investors may contact the Glogster team here.

We apologize for the inconvenience that we know this disruption in service will cause and we hope to have Glogster back up and running better than ever in the near future. Thank you for your support over the last 14 years.

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Services provided by Glogster.com have been temporarily disabled for operational reasons. We are in the process of disabling all recurring payments, but we do recommend that you contact your bank or credit card company directly to halt them.

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This is another great online resource for social studies but has a lot of close reads that could be used for any of the humanities. Lessons, management, and workshops are available.

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In addition to all the literacy resources that they have to offer they also have a plethora of workshops and online classes that can be taken for PD hours.

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Scholastic Education : Professional Learning

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Educators need the right professional learning partner to help create the highest quality instruction for students and build effective family-school partnerships. With more than 95 years of real-world classroom experience, Scholastic Professional has the complete ecosystem of services, books, and curricular resources for a school's or district's needs.

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This is the education section of the popular Huffington Post News. They have a lot of interesting articles about education to keep up-to-date with information. Follow them on Twitter at

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This online resource has some great ideas for project-based learning. Also resources for classroom management, literacy and technology integration.

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

The benefits of movement in the classroom aren't limited to younger students. Pairing new words and concepts with gestures or dance moves locks in understanding-and active brain breaks prime students to learn even more.

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A free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education.

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By following them on Twitter at @GoogleForEdu you can get articles and ideas. They have online workshops and classroom ideas that incorporate Google.

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NPR Ed has some great articles that can be used among staff, or in class. They can be followed on Twitter at @npr_ed or by signing up for the weekly newsletter online.

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We've been to school. We know how education works. Right? In fact, many aspects of learning - in homes, at schools, at work and elsewhere - are evolving rapidly, along with our understanding of learning. Join us as we explore how learning happens.

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This website has many tools, articles, ideas, etc. You can find articles about things going on in education, or online resources for classroom management, or lessons.

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The National Education Association (NEA) is more than 3 million people-educators, students, activists, workers, parents, neighbors, friends-who believe in opportunity for all students and in the power of public education to transform lives and create a more just and inclusive society.

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This resource helps teachers explain and teach difficult issues. They have many events, online resources, and workshops available for teachers who want to find the best way to teach hard things.

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"I believe in the power of Facing History."

-Durias D., Facing History Alum

"I went to a Facing History workshop and it opened my eyes."

-Tareeq R., Educator

Facing History & Ourselves
uses lessons of history
to challenge teachers
and their students
to stand up to bigotry and hate.

Facing History & Ourselves is more than our name. It is an active and continuous process that calls on each of us to connect the choices of the past to those we face today. To build a more just and equitable future, we must face our history in all its complexity, Are you ready to face history with us?

Learn how you can experience Facing History

Facing History has thousands of research-based resources and professional learning events to support Social Studies and English Language Arts education.

Not in the United States?

Sign Up

And hopefully, they will always remember what happened to us and make sure that it won't happen again.

Sonia Weitz, Holocaust survivor and poet

Sign up to download the PDF version of our textbook, Holocaust and Human Behavior.

Facing History students are 94% more likely than their peers to report that their class motivated them to learn.

92% of Facing History teachers agree that Facing History helps their students stand up for what they believe even when others disagree.

91% of elective teachers agree or strongly agree that their Facing History course promoted their students' abilities to ground reading, writing, and speaking in evidence from text.

Demand for our work is greater than ever. Make a 100% tax-deductible donation today and you'll help us reach even more teachers and students around the world, giving them the tools to stand up to bigotry and hate.

Gift Amount

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Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.

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SHEG is a great resource for social studies teachers, but can also be used to help teachers of different disciplines. They have great essay assignment and JIGSAW ideas that teachers can use.

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We're committed to providing educators accessible, high-quality teaching tools. That's why all our lessons and assessments are free. Please consider donating to SHEG to support our creation of new materials. All gifts are made through Stanford University and are tax-deductible.

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This site has invaluable information for all disciplines. They have ideas, lessons, pacing charts, events, etc. They can help any new teacher find a starting point, and veteran teachers the ability to find some new ideas.

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Teaching STEM is an online and Facebook community, filled with resources for and from teachers about STEM education. Many teachers want to find ways to incorporate STEM into their curriculum and this resource can help with that.

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Teaching STEM. 6,839 likes · 27 talking about this. Teaching STEM's aim is to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education around the World. Use this page to share ideas and...

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Newseum focuses on the historical importance, literacy education, and civic responsibility of each student. This source is great for social studies teachers, but it is a resource that can be used throughout any discipline.

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Sign up to get the most out of Newseum ED 's resources. Being a registered user gives you complete access to our library of primary sources, artifacts and videos, including copyrighted materials. Registration is free, secure and only takes a minute.

Once you've registered, you'll discover how Newseum ED makes history, civics and media literacy relevant to students' lives. Our approach begins with using the First Amendment as a springboard to illuminate the challenges and ideals of our democracy and to cultivate the skills needed to make informed decisions in a diverse and demanding world. Leveraging the museum's collection, we provide rich content, interactive tools and lesson plans that help students make historical connections to topics of high relevancy to them, notably current events.

NewseumED.org at a glance

Optimized for mobile devices, tablets and desktops

Hundreds of historic front pages, videos and artifacts

230+ lesson plans and activities

Curated, standards-aligned content

Interactive timelines and maps

Thematic suites of resources on the civil rights and woman suffrage movements, Election 2016, and balancing individual freedoms and public good.

New content added frequently

Learn more about NewseumED on our About Us page

making a difference

We often get emails and comments from teachers, thanking us for our quality online resources and classroom-ready lessons. In an effort to quantify the impact on students' learning, we hired the education nonprofit organization Project Tomorrow to survey teachers who used NewseumED.org resources in spring 2016. Here's what they told us.

Tips and Treasures

Looking for ways to incorporate NewseumED resources in your classroom? Check out these guest blogs from teachers and others for ideas and inspiration.

Meet the NewseumED team and discover our favorite artifacts.

Track the growth of Newseum Education from 1997 to today in our timeline of milestones.

Need help with NewseumED content, website or registration process? Contact us.

"The depth of questions to spark curiosity, discussion and research are very beneficial. ... Your focus on primary source documents is right in line with Common Core and research - love it!" Michele Galla, teacher, Wrangell, Alaska

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Sign up to get the most out of Newseum ED 's resources. Being a registered user gives you complete access to our library of primary sources, artifacts and videos, including copyrighted materials. Registration is free, secure and only takes a minute. Once you've registered, you'll discover how Newseum ED makes history, civics and media literacy relevant to students' lives.

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The Society of Health and Physical Educators is a great resource for health and PE teachers, however, it also very useful for many other disciplines. There is options for early elementary, and could easily be used to help in a science class. This is a great way to make physical health important through a cross-curricular outlook.

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FREE Physical Education Tools and Activities

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Free #Physed activity ideas, classroom resources and physical activity calendars in the PE teacher's toolbox every month to download. Available for early childhood physical education, elementary physical education and secondary sch

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The Teaching Channel has videos, events, and articles for many subjects, and levels. There are articles and ideas to talk about things going on in society, or in a specific community. They can also be accessed from their Twitter handle @TeachingChannel, where you could receive daily items from them.

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The ASCD is on online resource that focuses on the whole child development. It is comprised of many nonpartisan members of teachers, administrators, and families. The site helps teachers with things such as, classroom management, differentiated instruction, bullying, and poverty to name a few.

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We create practical, timely, affordable professional learning to help educators and instructional leaders provide students with a modern, equitable, and quality education.

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This online resource provides teachers with standards, events, professional development, and more for new and veteran teachers. It is an important resource for any teacher to keep up-to-date with the newest information that the state has to offer.

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The educators' portal contains the information, guidance and resources for our teachers and leaders in New Jersey to: