In early September, the Gordon House hosted 90 high school juniors and seniors studying at SalemKeizer School District’s Construction and Technical Education Center (CTEC). By the end of the school year, these students will complete the construction of a house. So, to start the school year, they were challenged by their teacher Alex Olson to think about the psychology of a house. To jump start their thinking, they visited the Gordon House to learn how Frank Lloyd Wright approached home design.
Divided into small groups and led by Gordon House docents, students learned how the exterior, the interior spaces, the floor plan, and design details express Wright’s organic philosophy of architecture. Additionally, they had time to think and work individually, sketching the house and its details and responding to questions about the house in a packet provided by their teacher. They also enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sunshine on the Gordon House lawn.
Staff at the Gordon House enjoyed working with teacher Alex Olsen to tailor experiences to meet his learning objectives for his students. And it was a pleasure to observe students engaging with the architecture of the house and thinking about house design in new ways.
To discuss how the Gordon House can provide experiences that address the learning goals for students in grades 3 and above, call 503.874.6006 or email gordonhouse1957@frontier.com
For more information about CTEC: www.ctecsalemkeizer.com
EXPLORE & LEARN
"People do not stop playing because they are old; they grow old because they stop playing."
"Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn;
and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking;
learning naturally results."
John Dewey
GORDON HOUSE EDUCATOR RESOURCE CENTER
The following materials are available to educators on loan and free of charge.
Traveling Architecture Trunk
Grades 3-5
Read The Wright 3, a mystery set in Chicago at the Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Learn with pentominoes, used to solve The Wright 3mystery.
Read Frank Lloyd Wright and his New American Architecture.
Curriculum guides for The Wright 3 and Pentominoes are provided. All materials are stored in a sturdy, rolling case easily transported to your classroom.
30 copies and a Curriculum Guide
30 sets and a Curriculum Guide
30 copies
Froebel Gifts
The Froebel Gifts are a set of educational materials designed in the mid-19th century by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a German educator who founded the kindergarten movement. The Gifts are one component of a developmental system of learning through play that Froebel created for children.
When Frank Lloyd Wright was nine years old, his mother Anna presented him with a set of Froebel Gifts. Through play and learning with the Gifts, Wright developed his understnading of geometry and his giftof design. The Froebel Giftsproved to be one of the most important influences in Wright's development as one of the world's greatest architects.
Wright wrote in his Autobiography, "For several years I sat at the little Kindergarten table-top . . . and played . . . with the cube, the sphere and the triangle. . . These primary forms and figures were the secret of all effects . . . which were ever got into the architecture of the world . . . these smooth wooden maple blocks . . . All are in my fingers to this day."
Available on loan to educators to use with their students are sets of Gifts 3, 5, and 6. Also available are the definitive guides to Froebel methods, The Kindergarten Guide: Volume One: The Gifts and The Kindergarten Guide: Volume Two: The Occupations by Maria Kraus-Boelte & John Kraus.
Educators of children preschool through third grade will find the book Blocks and Beyond by Mary Jo Pollman helpful in integrating spatial learning into their curriculum using Froebel and other materials. This book is also available on loan from the Gordon House.
The following books are available on loan for classroom use. The ages are only suggestions.
50 Architects You Should Know Isabel Kuhl, Kristina Lowis, & Sabine Thiel-Siling, 2008. Ages 11-adult. 13 Buildings Children Should Know, Annette Roeder, 2009. Ages 9-12. A Children's Book of Houses and Homes, Carol Bowyer, 1990. Ages 9-12.
American House Styles, William Morgan.
An Architectural Alphabet, The Libary of Congress, 2000. Ages 9-12.
Architects Make Zigzags, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1986. Ages 4-8. Archi-Doodle: An Architect's Activity Book, Steve Bowkett, 2013. The Aspiring Architect; An Activity Book for Kids, A Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Francis D.K. Ching, 1996.
Frank Lloyd Wright and His New American Architecture, Bob Kann, 2010. Ages 9-12. (Also available for puchase at Gordon House.)
Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids, Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen, 1994. Ages 8+. From Mud Huts to Skyscrapers, Christine Paxmann & Anne Ibelings, 2012. Ages 8-12+. How a House is Built, Gail Gibbons, 1990. Ages 5+. If You Lived Here: Houses of the World, Giles Laroche, 2011. Ages 8-10.
Iggy Peck, Architect, Andrea Beaty, 2007. Ages 4-8.
Roberto the Insect Architect, Nina Laden, 2000. Ages 3-8.
simply Wright, Diane Bresnan Fleming, 2004. Ages 6-12. The Story of Buildings, Patrick Dillon & Stephen Biesty, 2014. Ages 8-adult.
Under Every Roof, A Kid's Guide to the Architecture of American Houses, Patricia Brown Glenn, 1993. Ages 9-12.
The Wright 3, Blue Balliett, 2007. Ages 8-11. (Also availabe for purchase at Gordon House.)
The Art of Construction by Mario Salvadori
Classroom set of books available on loan, free of charge.
Contents:
1. From Cave to Skyscraper
2. Building a Tent
3. What is a Bean?
4. What Do We Build Structures With?
5. The Floor of Your Room
6. A Steel Frame
7. Park of a Building You Don't See
8. What Tornadoes, Earthquakes and Temperature Can Do
9. How to Fight Tornadoes and Earthquakes
10. Ropes and Cables
11. Sticks and Stones
12. Strings and Sticks
13. Shape and Strength
14. Barrels, Dishes, Butterflies, Bicycle Wheels and Eggs
15. Balloons. . . and Back to the Tent
Links to Curriculum Guides and Other Resources for Educators
Curriculum Materials in Gordon House Resource Center
The following materials are in notebooks and available to educators on loan:
A Plan for Teaching About Architecture (Lessons, Grades 6-12)
Art of Bridge Construction (Lessons and Handouts, Grades 7-12)
A Special Structure for a Special Client (Lesson and Handouts, Grades 3+)
Frank Lloyd Wright's Windows(Lessons and Handouts, Grade 5)
Higher and Higher: Amazing Skyscrapers (Lesson, Grades 6-8)
Introducing Architecture (Activities and Handouts, Grades 4-7)
Teaching with Pentominos (Lessons, Grades 2-5
Visual Survey Form (Handout, Grades 4+)
VISIT
"Now the outside may come inside and the inside may and does go outside."
Frank Lloyd Wright
Field Trips to Gordon House
For more information or to arrange any of the following experiences, contact:
Gordon House
503.874.6006
gordonhouse1957@frontier.com
Tours
Appropriate for Grades 3-Post-graduate
Adapted to your curriculum goals
Guided by Gordon House staff and volunteers
$3 per student
One adult required for every ten students K-12, free. $5 per additional adult
Some transportation stipends available from The Gordon House Conservancy; $100 maximum
Teach your own class
Use Gordon House as the setting to teach your own class. The site is a learning laboratory that can support and enhance lessons in math, art, design, science, history, social studies, and more.
$3 per student
One adult per ten students K-12, free. $5 per additional adult
Some transportation stipends available from The Gordon House Conservancy; $100 maximum
Faculty Meetings and Inservice
Have your faculty meeting at Gordon House
Tour provided prior to the start of the meeting upon request; free
Learn about Gordon House Resources for Educators before and after your meeting
Visit the Gordon House Education Resource Center
View materials available for classroom use
Play
Be inspired
THANK YOU
The Gordon House Conservancy Education Committee gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support of the Safeway Foundation, the Marion County Cultural Trust, the Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District, and individual donors.
With your support, we have established an Education Resource Center at Gordon House filled with books, interactive materials for students, and curriculum guides for educators. We have also created a Traveling Architecture Trunk. All of these materials are available to educators and their students on loan free of charge. In addition, we can offer a few transportation stipends to support field trips to Gordon House.
Thank you for making it possible for us to engage students with learning about architecture at Gordon House, for helping to nuture continued appreciation and care of our historic home, and for enriching the general education of our youth in and out of the classroom.
Copyright 2009 - Gordon House Conservancy - All Rights Reserved
