Classroom Resources | National Portrait Gallery

Interested in the presidents and the role of the presidency in the United States? Want to learn more about the lives of remarkable Americans, past and present, who have contributed to the nation’s history and culture? The Portrait Gallery has a variety of resources for the classroom that have been developed to complement our exhibitions.

Young African American woman seated in a green chair surrounded by stringed instruments

Learn with Google Arts & Culture: Portraiture and Identity

In partnership with Google Arts and Culture, the Portrait Gallery has developed new online curricula that explores identity through portraiture and the ways in which artist and sitters use portraiture as a means to convey individual, community/cultural, national and global identity. Students will explore the Portrait Gallery’s Google Arts and Culture exhibitions and images related to the lesson topic.

Introduction to Portraiture (pdf)
Individual Identity (pdf)
Community and Cultural Identity (pdf)
National Identity (pdf)
Global Identity (pdf)

Learning Lab Collections

The National Portrait Gallery is meeting teachers and students where they are! Check out more than 125 Learning Lab collections created by Portrait Gallery educators and classroom teachers. The Learning Lab is a free, interactive platform for discovering millions of authentic digital resources, creating content with online tools, and sharing in the Smithsonian's expansive community of knowledge and learning.

>> Visit the Learning Lab

Teacher Playlist on YouTube

Integrating portraiture into the classroom can provide exciting opportunities to connect students with history, biography, visual art, and many other subjects. Check out the Teacher Playlist on the National Portrait Gallery’s YouTube channel for videos highlighting strategies on how to "read" artworks and ways of bringing portraiture into the classroom.

>> View the playlist on YouTube

View and print our online materials or download them as PDF files. Visit our online collections to search, browse, and augment your lesson plans.

Teacher Guides

"Reading Portraiture" Guide for Educators

Portrait “reading” encourages the visual analysis of a piece of art as if it were a historical document.

America's President's Educational Resources

Do you teach about the US Presidents in your classroom? Visit the America’s Presidents online exhibition and discover the breadth of the museum’s collection of portraits of the Presidents.

Elements of Portrayal: Definitions

Learn how to analyze a portrait by observing various elements

Portraits of the Presidents: Teacher Resource Guide

Through activities, games, and puzzles, this Teacher Resource Guide will introduce students to the Presidents and the role of the presidency in American history.

Self-Guide/Elementary School

This guide will help you facilitate Reading Portraiture experiences and Looking Strategies with your students as you explore our collection.

Self-Guide/High School: Art History

This guide will help you and your students think about how we perceive and commemorate people from our history and will ask you to consider how portraiture has changed and remained the same over the past two centuries using highlights from the National Po

Self-Guide/High School: English Language Arts

This guide will help you facilitate a rich gallery visit that supports English Language Arts standards of learning.

Self-Guide/High School: U.S. History–1600 to Gilded Age

This guide will help you facilitate “Reading Portraiture” experiences with your students as you explore our American Origins and America’s Presidents exhibitions.

Self-Guide/High School: U.S. History–20th Century

This guide will help you facilitate “Reading Portraiture” experiences with your students as you explore The Struggle for Justice and 20th Century Americans