Teacher Programs & Resources
Teachers’ Guides
Bring the Museum into your classroom with Teachers’ Guides that include background information, images of art, and suggested in-classroom activities. Prepare your students for their visit with these lesson plans and full-color images, or modify the lessons for use after your visit.
Most lesson plans include relevant background information about art history, vocabulary terms, a list of materials needed for activities, and questions to assess knowledge gained. Images of objects can be printed from the free PDF onto transparency film for use on overhead projectors.
Permanent Collection Teacher’s Guides
Suitcase Museums
Bring a Museum docent into your classroom for an interactive, hour-long presentation of one of our Suitcase Museums. Designed for kindergarten through 6th grade students, these presentations can prepare your students for their visit, or complement your existing curriculum.
Topics
- Native American Art (Columbia River Region): Discover the art and artistic processes of the indigenous people native to the Columbia River region.
- Faces: Examine ways artists use different mediums to portray the human face. Combine your tour with an optional art-making experience, on request.
- Native American Art (Northwest Coast): Explore the art and media of the indigenous people native to the coastal region of the Pacific Northwest.
Fee: $25 for one hour. Add a 30-minute extension to the Faces Suitcase for an additional $10.
Registration: Suitcases must be scheduled three weeks in advance. Call 503-226-2811 ext. 4546 or download the Suitcase Request Form and mail it to: Portland Art Museum, Attn: Education, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205-2430.
Evening for Educators
The Museum holds free seminars for K-12 and college educators several times a year. In these informal evening gatherings, the Museum presents new and existing Museum resources for use in the classroom. Educators learn about upcoming exhibitions and opportunities for their students, such as free school group tours, docent-led tours, discounted admission for students, and other resources. Evening for Educators includes an informal networking session over light refreshments to allow attendees to talk with their peers about integrating art into curriculum. Please visit the events calendar to search for upcoming Evening for Educators programs. To receive news and e-mail notifications of upcoming events like these, join the Museum’s Educators Mailing List by e-mailing education@pam.org.
