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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Presidential Sweepstakes

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders visit the National Portrait Gallery to be introduced to politics, portraits, Presidents, and pretenders. They design campaign posters as a follow-up activity.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Edith Wharton's: Portraits of People & Places

For Students 9th - 10th
This is the official site of the National Portrait Gallery's exhibit entitled "Edith Wharton's World: Portraits of People and Places." It contains some information about Wharton's life and career and reproductions of the paintings in the...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Theodore Roosevelt: Icon of the American Century

For Students 9th - 10th
A thorough examination of the life of Theodore Roosevelt and the people and events that influenced him. You'll find photographs of Roosevelt, as well as photos, paintings, and biographies of some influential people in Roosevelt's life.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Eye Contact: Modern American Portrait Drawings

For Students 9th - 10th
Portraits in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery can be seen and understood with excellent gallery notes that also survey the history of portraiture in American art leading up to the modern period.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Philippe Halsman a Retrospective

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution provides an online exhibit of portrait photographer Philippe Halsman who photographed famous people from Presidents to entertainers.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: One Life: Walt Whitman, a Kosmos

For Students 9th - 10th
This multimedia site offers readings of Whitman's poetry, an introduction, a gallery of images and works through the years of his career, and a reflection of Whitman's significance.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Dwight D. Eisenhower

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the National Portrait Gallery explores presidential actions during the Cold War. Click on Dwight D. Eisenhower to see how the Cold War was developing and being handled during his presidency. Find out about the Communist...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Franklin Roosevelt

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive site from the National Portrait Gallery explores presidential actions in relation to the Cold War from the Yalta Conference to the presidency of George H.W. Bush. Click on Franklin Roosevelt to find out about the decisions...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

The National Portrait Gallery

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a great website of portraits of famous people. Includes pictures, biographical information, and general information on artists' techniques. Includes a "Hall of Presidents" and portraits of various celebrities and artists...
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Website
Other

National Portrait Gallery

For Students 9th - 10th
The home on the web of Great Britain's National Portrait Gallery is a repository of the likenesses of famous British men and women. Portraits stretch back in time into the the sixteenth century and run right up to the present. Includes...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Harry Truman

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Portrait Gallery explores presidendtial actions in regard to the Cold War. Click on Harry Truman to see what actions and decisions he made during his term of office. Read about his meeting with Joseph Stalin at Potsdam, the...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: John F. Kennedy

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Portait Gallery explores the actions of presidents during the Cold War. Here find President Kennedy's decisions during the Berlin Crisis, the building of the Berlin War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Watch a video of...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Richard M. Nixon

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Portrait Gallery explores the actions of presidents in regard to the Cold War. Read about the so-called anti-Communist warrior, Richard M. Nixon, and his opening of relations with Communist China. Watch Nixon's speech about...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: George and Martha Washington

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Portrait Gallery provides this opportunity to view 12 portraits of George and Martha Washington from his Presidential years. Information of each portrait is available.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

Nat'l Portrait Gallery: Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition by National Portrait Gallery titled "Let Your Motto Be Resistance" presents photographs documenting notable African Americans and their contributions to American culture. The gallery of portraits offers an impressive...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

Nat'l Portrait Gallery: Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical portraits of African Americans involved in the struggle for civil rights and equality, from the time of Frederick Douglass forward. Learn about the contributions of Edmonia Lewis, Sojourner Truth, Edward Bannister, Octavius...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Inventing Marcel Duchamp:the Dynamics of Portraiture

For Students 9th - 10th
An exhibition delving into the life and works of one of the leading Dada artists, Marcel Duchamp. Includes examples of his alter-ego portraits and videos of interviews with the artist and with experts discussing his art. [Videos are...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Presidents in Waiting

For Students 9th - 10th
Exhibition of portraits of fourteen vice presidents who later became president tells the stories of their careers in pictures and words. Includes videos of taped interviews with four former vice presidents. [Exhibition opening: January...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Zaida Ben Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer

For Students 9th - 10th
Exhibit documents the life and work of early twentieth-century New York portrait photographer Zaida Ben-Yusuf, who broke with many of the conventions of portraiture and, thereby, attracted the attention of prominent artistic, literary,...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Mathew Brady's Portraits

For Students 9th - 10th
Exhibition of photographic portraits taken by Civil War-era photographer Mathew Brady, who made portraits of many illustrious Americans on both sides of the conflict before, during, and after the war. Includes an animated explanation of...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture

For Students 9th - 10th
Visit an example-rich exploration of poster art and learn how famous faces have been used to convey meanings and messages across the decades. An excellent resource for discovering how art can be a window into a particular time, Ballyhoo!...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time

For Students 9th - 10th
Exhibit on Ernest Hemingway includes images and detailed information on his early years, relationships with other authors, the Paris years, middle and later years, and his writings.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: 1846: Portrait of a Nation

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site provides a glimpse into the United States in the year 1846. James Polk was president and the Westward Expansion was in full force. The site has nice historical photographs.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: George Marshall

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a brief but informative piece on George C. Marshall - creator of the Marshall Plan. Includes pictures of most of the world players at the time. Describes his role in formulating the Marshall Plan.