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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

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      Highlights Collection: Astronomy Learning Resources

      <p>This is a Smithsonian Learning Lab topical collection, which contains images, text, and other multimedia resources that may complement the Tween Tribune feature, <em><a href="https://www.tweentribune.com/article/teen/barns-are-painted-red-because-physics-dying-stars/">Barns are painted red because of the physics of dying stars</a></em>. Use these resources to introduce or augment your study of this topic. If you want to personalize this collection by changing or adding content, click the Sign Up link above to create a free account.  If you are already logged in, click the copy button to initiate your own version. Learn more <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/create" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /></p><p><br /></p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      30
       
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      Highlights Collection: Mystery Learning Resources

      <p>This is a Smithsonian Learning Lab topical collection, which contains images, text, and other multimedia resources that may complement the Tween Tribune feature, <em><a href="https://www.tweentribune.com/article/teen/without-edgar-allan-poe-we-wouldnt-have-sherlock-holmes/" target="_blank">Without Edgar Allan Poe, We Wouldn’t Have Sherlock Holmes</a>.</em> Use these resources to introduce or augment your study of this topic.</p> <p><a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/create"></a></p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      36
       
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      Highlights Collection: National Oceans Month (June) Learning Resources

      <p>This is a Smithsonian Learning Lab topical collection, which contains images, text, and other multimedia resources that may complement the Tween Tribune feature, <em><a href="https://www.tweentribune.com/article/teen/coastal-cities-ceed-rethink-how-they-deal-rising-waters/">Coastal cities need to rethink how they deal with rising waters</a></em>. Use these resources to introduce or augment your study of this topic. If you want to personalize this collection by changing or adding content, click the Sign Up link above to create a free account.  If you are already logged in, click the copy button to initiate your own version. Learn more <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/create" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /></p><p><br /></p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      26
       
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      Statue of Liberty and Symbolism

      <p>This collection includes a variety of representations of the Statue of Liberty--as a protest object, on an environmental campaign poster, on a postage stamp, and as a symbol used on patterned clothing. In small groups, learners will apply three scaffolded Visible Thinking Routines to a resource of their choice. First, they will use a "See, Think, Wonder" thinking routine to note their observations and interpretations as well as anything about which they are curious. Next, they will analyze the resource using the "Layers" thinking routine. As an optional step, they could also consider the artist or creator of the object's point of view/perspective in creating the resource, with the "Step Inside" thinking routine. Finally, they will create an artwork or representation that depicts a cause that is important to a community of which they are a member.</p> <p>A final item from the American Jewish Historical Society includes information on a student contest running from September 2019 until May 2020, where students create a new poem based on Emma Lazarus' s"New Colossus" on the Statue of Liberty.</p> <p>#visiblethinking</p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      27
       
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      Liberty Bonds of World War I (WW1)

      <p>This collection presents three different <em>liberty bonds</em> primary sources dating from 1918: a postcard, sheet music/song, and a celebrity aviator's brochure. With these resources students will explore <em>L</em><em>iberty Bonds<span></span></em>, also called war bonds or liberty loans, which were essentially loans from the American people to the U.S. government to fund the Allies' involvement in World War I. Many public campaigns presented purchasing bonds as the patriotic way to support the war from the home front. Carefully chosen words and imagery conveyed this message and persuaded Americans to act quickly, through both subtle and direct messaging. </p> <p><u>Essential questions:</u> What role did Liberty Bonds play in financing the U.S. WWI effort? How did persuasive language techniques and visuals lead many Americans to see Liberty Bonds as part of their patriotic duty on the home front? </p> <p><u>Keywords:<span></span></u> primary source, secondary source, soldiers, World War I, Great War, Ruth Law, "What are you going to do to help the boys?", army, military, Uncle Sam, WWI, persuasion, advertising</p> <p>This collection was created in conjunction with the National Postal Museum's "My Fellow Soldiers: Letters from World War I" teacher workshop (July 19, 2017). It focuses on one of the many postcards from <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/my-fellow-soldiers-postcards-from-world-war-i/HPrCVWkR1wqjpK3k#r" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">this topical collection</a> to demonstrate its use in the secondary classroom. #NPMTeacherPrograms<br /></p><p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p><p><br /></p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      6
       
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      Second Opinion: Immigration in America – Smithsonian Resources

      <p>This is a Smithsonian Learning Lab topical collection, which contains interdisciplinary education resources, including videos, images and blogs to complement the Smithsonian's national conversation on immigration and what it means to be an American, highlighted on <em><a href="https://www.smithsoniansecondopinion.org/immigration-america/immigration-america-180965144/">Second Opinion</a></em><strong>. </strong>Use this sample of the Smithsonian's many resources to introduce or augment your study of this topic and spark a conversation. If you want to personalize this collection by changing or adding content, click the Sign Up link above to create a free account.  If you are already logged in, click the copy button to initiate your own version. Learn more <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/create" target="_blank">here</a>. </p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      36
       
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      Understanding Intersectionality

      <p>This topical collection includes videos and articles to support teachers in learning and teaching about the concept of <em>intersectionality</em> and being more mindful of <em>intersectionality</em> in their own teaching.  As defined by Teaching Tolerance,  <em>Intersectionality</em> refers to the social, economic and political ways in which identity-based systems of oppression and privilege connect, overlap, and influence one another. </p> <p>This collection begins with a video from the National Museum of African American History and Culture that serves as a  primer on the subject and also includes a TED Talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Washington Post articles on the subject, a Teaching Tolerance magazine article, and Crenshaw's 1989 research article, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics." Teachers and students may use this collection as a springboard for classroom discussions.</p> <p>#APA2018 #EthnicStudies</p>
      Ashley Naranjo
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      "Shimomura Crossing the Delaware" by Roger Shimomura

      <p>This topical collection includes a painting, "Shimomura Crossing the Delaware," by Roger Shimomura, an American artist of Japanese descent, with a National Portrait Gallery "Portrait Spotlight" containing background information and suggested questions for the classroom. Also included are a blog post and video interview of the artist about themes of identity in his work.  </p> <p>Teachers and students may use this collection as a springboard for classroom discussions about Shimomura and his artworks and for further research.  Also included are <em>Smithsonian Learning Lab</em> collections with teaching strategies from National Portrait Gallery educator, <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/436" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">Briana White</a>. </p> <p>Keywords: Asian American, painter, <em>Washington Crossing the Delaware</em>, Claim, Support, Question, Compare and Contrast, Seattle </p> <p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. </em> <br /></p> <p>#APA2018 #EthnicStudies<br /></p>
      Ashley Naranjo
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      Isamu Noguchi

      <p>This topical collection includes a portrait of Isamu Noguchi, a 20th-century Japanese American artist and architect and a National Portrait Gallery "Portrait Spotlight" with background information and suggested questions for the classroom. Additional resources include blog posts from the Smithsonian American Art Museum about his work and a small sample of Noguchi's sculptures from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. </p> <p>Teachers and students may use this collection as a springboard for classroom discussions about Noguchi and his artworks and for further research. </p> <p>Keywords: Asian American, sculptor, landscape artist, public works, <em>Okame</em>, <em>Grey Sun</em>, <em>Lunar Landscape</em>, <em>Composition</em>, <em>Cronos</em>, <em>Akari</em>, <em>Mother and Child</em></p><p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. </em> </p> <p> #APA2018</p>
      Ashley Naranjo
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      The Invention of Thanksgiving

      <p>This collection explores the evolving history of how Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. The introductory video, podcast and lesson in the collection help provide context for the complicated portrayal and depiction of what actually happened at the first Thanksgiving and how it is celebrated today.</p> <p>The images in this collection are different portrayals of the holiday over time. They have been grouped in order of publication from 1863 to 1994. As you look through them and complete the activities, think about these three key questions:</p> <ul><li>How does the context in which an image was produced affect the result? Meaning, how does what was happening at the time affect what kind of picture of Thanksgiving we see?</li><li>What do the images say about our national identity: who is welcome in the United States? What do we celebrate and why? Whose version of the Thanksgiving story does each image tell?</li></ul><p>This collection was adapted from Kate Harris' collection, <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/thanksgiving-a-reflection-of-a-nation/b8W1UbCW2mhRrra5" target="_blank">Thanksgiving-- A Reflection of A Nation</a> and supplemented with the National Museum of the American Indian's<em> <a href="https://nmai.si.edu/americans/#stories/queen-of-america" target="_blank">Americans</a></em> online exhibition. <br /></p> <p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p> <p><br /></p>
      Ashley Naranjo
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      Portrait Analysis: Norman Mineta

      <p>In this activity, students will analyze a portrait of Norman Mineta (b. 1931), a U.S. politician and the first Asian American to hold a post in the presidential cabinet, serving as Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush. The son of Japanese immigrants, Mineta and his family were incarcerated in the Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming under Executive Order 9066 during World War II. </p> <p>This activity can be used to build students vocabulary in discussing visual elements of a portrait or as an entry point for studying Norman Mineta's life and achievements, U.S. history, and more.  Questions from the National Portrait Gallery's<em> "Reading" Portraiture Guide for Educators</em> and a Project Zero See-Think-Wonder routine guide the student inquiry.  The complete guide and instructions are located at the end of the collection. To learn more about other Asian Pacific American activists and leaders, visit this collection: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/asian-pacific-american-activists-and-leaders/MR1jszd7YDA7gujx#r" target="_blank">https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/asian-pacific-american-activists-and-leaders/MR1jszd7YDA7gujx#r</a></p> <p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.</em><span></span> </p> <p>Keywords:  internment; Japanese American; Nisei; San Jose, California </p> <p>#APA2018 #EthnicStudies<br /></p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      10
       
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      "Crossing the Delaware": Who is portrayed in American history?

      <p>This collection highlights variations on a theme through works of art: George Washington Crossing the Delaware, George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware and Shimomura Crossing the Delaware. Comparisons of these works could serve as springboards for discussions about identity, immigration, "master" or dominant narratives in history, and hero myths.</p> <p>#EthnicStudies</p>
      Ashley Naranjo
      8