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Wright in School

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CHILDREN & STUDENTS LESSONS

Kathryn Collins, retired elementary grade teacher and Gordon House docent::

1.  Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest architects.

2.  Wright was influenced by Froebel Gifts which are block sets that you can learn to use and explore.  Like Wright, these lessons will influence you greatly as an adult.
3.  What is a cantilever and how are they used in the Gordon House design.
4.  How and where is the horizontal line used in the Gordon House design.

5.  If the student was to build their own house, what one or two Frank Lloyd Wright Gordon House elements will they be sure to incorporate into their house?

Lisa Hilster, OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry) educator:

1.  House is USONIAN design [United States of North America].  Student can use the word USONIAN to make an acrostic poem about the Gordon House.
2.  Make an outline of one of the perforated wood window screens and fill in the outline with words describing the Gordon House.. Make a second outline and fill in with new that describe the words used in first outline.
3.  Use masks of Evelyn and Ed Gordon to give a five minute skit of what a day was like for the Gordon’s (working in a state of the art 1963 kitchen or sitting in the office reading a farm journal.

4.  Talk about how it feels when outside the house looking in.  How does it feel when inside house looking out.

5.  Draw a 15 degree angle and measure three things in the house that are 15 degrees.  Now measure three things found in the natural area surrounding house with other angles.  Label each angle with the name of the item measured.

Molly Murphy, Gordon House General Director

1.  Frank Lloyd Wright is a famous American architect who designed buildings all over the world including houses, offices, factories and even a gas station and a dog house.
2.  Wright believed that all people should have beautiful houses with all the luxuries and conveniences they wanted.
3.  Ed and Evelyn Gordon asked Wright to design a house for their Oregon farm along the Willamette River.
4.  Wright thought buildings should naturally integrate with the terrain of their site just like any other natural element.

5.  The Gordon House is the only building Frank Lloyd Wright designed in Oregon, so it is a state treasure that had to be saved from demolition by moving it to The Oregon Garden where people can see it forever.

More ideas for learning:
1.  Draw a line on a map showing the trip the Gordon House took to get from the Gordon farm site to Silverton.
2.  Find and use Froebel and Tangram shapes to create puzzles
3.  Use graham crackers to design a house on a grid.
4.  Create your own fretwork window screen design.  Now make a second different design.
 
THANK YOU MCDC !!
Visit our booth
Marion County Water & Soil Conservation District
CLEAR Grant Award
Thank you for helping us print our Treasure Hunt books for our young Outdoor Seekers.
visit ourdoorseekers.com now
ORPA Outdoor Seekers

We have partnered with the Oregon Recreation & Parks Association’s (ORPA) Outdoor Seekers Program for 6 to 12 year olds and their parental units.  The program will encourage more youth and families to get out, be active, and participate in a list of 10 recreation activities (including the Gordon House opportunities to follow a trail and explore Oregon's culture and history).

There are prizes at ORPA and the GH.  Visit www.outdoorseekers.com and select History & Culture on the passport.

The GH Treasure Hunt workbook that follows a foot path around the Historic Site and the Marion County Water & Soil Conservation District Upland Oak Savannah restoration acreage perimeter. The hunt includes 11 learning stations located on the foot path to make the connection between the organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and the natural site environment that was an important part of his architectural design and living concept.

Children are introduced to the integration of nature and living spaces. They are encouraged to observe and create their own spaces through the inspiration of the Wright designed house and the natural designs of the oak woodland.  Architectural and environmental preservation and conservation are showcased as part of an enjoyable educational experience.
Teach Wright News
     An Archive of Communications to Teachers

CONGRATULATION!  WE HAVE A $25 WINNER!

Barnabas Wong, Silverton High School Counselor, will receive a $25 gift certificate for a Gordon House Education Resource Center purchase.  All attendees at the October 11 Workshop & Reception were entered in a drawing.  The winner was selected at the November Volunteer Circle meeting.  The volunteer docents have been the strongest advocates for the Education Outreach Program.  Please recall that the definition of the word docent is teacher.

The Wright in School Pilot Project has received interest from a wonderful cross section of educators in the Silver Falls Public School District.  With the support of Assistant Superintendent, Eric Swenson, Andy Bellando, District Superintendent, and thier school principals, Silverton High School, Butte Creek Middle School, and Bethany Charter School are each planning a field trip to the Gordon House to teach a class in 2012.  We are looking forward to their visits.

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EDUCATORS WORKSHOP & RECEPTION #2

Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Come to learn how to apply Wright's lessons to your lessons:

Architecture is "applied math, science, and art".

A lesson at the house can be a part of your core curriculum requirements.

Use the Gordon House as your Education Resource Center.

PLAY  Explore the Gordon House

             Experience learning with architecture
             Enjoy wine, cider & light hors d'oeuvres
LEARN About resources available to educators

  About field trip opportunities

  About one educator's experiences

RSVP to Molly Murphy, Gordon House Director

    gordonhouse1957@frontier.com or 503/874-6006

   with your name, school, grade level and/or subject

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INVITATION TO ALL
We hope you can attend the short workshop about Dr. Froebel?s famous blocks that teach manipulation and spatial skills.  We invite and any principle or teacher who has time during this very busy week.

FROEBEL FUN AT THE GORDON HOUSE

JUNE 2, THURSDAY, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Gordon House, 869 W Main St, next door to The Oregon Garden

Learn how the Froebel Gifts are being used in schools across the country to teach applied math, science, and the arts.Introduce your students to the excitement that these blocks inspire.Presented by Wally Rogers of SAMARA [FLW?s house in Indiana] http://www.samara-house.org
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EDUCATORS WORKSHOP & RECEPTION #1

Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 3:45-5:30 p.m.

ENJOY a walk about at the Frank Lloyd Wright's Gordon House.

EXPERIENCE wine & cider & mid century modern fare.

EXPLORE educational opportunities in math, science, language arts, history, art, and architecture. 


From Eric Swenson: Today you?ll receive an invitation in your mailbox to an event at The Gordon House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, located at The Oregon Garden.  It will take place on Wednesday, November 17th beginning at 3:45.

There will be a reception with wine, cider and light hors d?oeuvres.  Their staff will offer a short presentation at 4:15 about the plethora of educational connections and opportunities available through this unique Silverton resource. 

They have not only great field trip ideas, but on-site and follow up educational activities for students at all grade levels, from kindergarten to high school in the areas of math, science, language arts, history, art and architecture.

They are providing children?s activities so that you are able to bring your own children to the event.

You can rsvp to Molly Murphy, the Gordon House General Director at gordonhouse1957@frontier.com or call her at 874-6006  with your name, grade/subject and school.

A short presentation will be made at 4:15 p.m. by Gordon House staff and volunteers about educational possibilities & grant funding opportunities.
Silver Falls Public School District
THANK YOU MCDC !!

TEACH YOUR CLASS AT THE GORDON HOUSE
Your class can learn surrounded by the lesson you're teaching.  Imagine that!

Make a reservation now for a class field trip.  Call 503.874.6006.

Fee is $3 per student.  One adult is needed per each group of ten students - free.  Additional adults cost $5.

Bus stipends are offered by the Gordon House Conservancy.  $100 per school per year.
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Here is a language arts class teaching a vocabulary lesson:

A carport is a covered area for parking cars.  Can you find a carport at The Gordon House?  Draw a car or a truck in the carport.

Fretwork is the name of the wood and glass panels that are used to control light in the house.  The special designs cut into the wood are repeated.  Put an X on a fretwork panel.

This is a horizontal line: ____ Can you find a horizontal line in the house?  Trace the horizontal line that you find.  Write an H at each end of your horizontal line.

This is a vertical line:   |    Find a vertical line in The Gordon House.  Trace it and put a V at each end.

Frank Lloyd Wright played with blocks when he was a child.  He created house designs with his blocks.  Can you find a shape in Gordon House that looks like a block?  Trace the block shape that you see and write a B inside.

This is a column: (Draw column here.)  Columns support the roof of The Gordon House.  Number the columns that you find in the picture of The Gordon House.

A terrace is a paved area next to a house that is open to the sky.  Write a T on The Gordon House terrace.  What color is it?

A balcony is a platform that sticks out from a building on an upper floor.  There are railings around a balcony for safety.  Draw a person on a Gordon House balcony.

The Gordon House balcony is a cantilever.  A cantilever is an object that extends out into space with support at only one end.  A diving board is another example of a cantilever.  Frank Lloyd Wright was famous for using cantilevers in his building designs.  Find another cantilever in the photo and circle it.  Hint:  It is part of a tree!

WRIGHT IN SCHOOL

PROJECT OVERVIEW


I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

a. Hand held objects made available to demonstrate the basic educational concepts needed for lessons to:
  1. Provide meaningful field trips that:
    1. Link math and science to architecture and design.
    2. Explore principles of sustainability using house model.
  2. Improve our site’s capacity to support educators in developing curriculum incorporating architecture and design by providing a real time experience space.
  3. Increase the number of grades 1-12 youth that experience the Gordon House and Frank Lloyd Wright’s concepts as a multi-disciplinary learning environment.
  4. Better fulfill the Gordon House Conservancy mission of education by outreach to a currently underserved population.
b. A use summary will be compiled.  Teachers will complete a survey of use and experience, and students will complete a short test of understanding.

c. The objects will be stored in a clean designated area in the Gordon House.  Objects will be checked out as needed by class field trip educators.  Objects will be examined prior to storage for cleanliness, integrity, and completeness.  Collection type records will be kept by database and hard copy files.  It is expected that the longevity of these objects will be measured in decades as described by the manufacturers and experienced by other Wright sites and educational institutions.

II. A RELEVANT PROJECT

a. A natural evolution of the Gordon House Conservancy mission will extend educational opportunities to our least served population, K-12 youth.  Local and regional students lack experience away from school to apply their learned skills in math, science, and art. This is the same population that is experiencing the consequences of budget cutbacks in its schools, including fewer opportunities for educational field trips to significant historic sites.To improve educational opportunities, resources, and core curriculum support for K-12 students, the Gordon House Education Committee has developed and is implementing a plan to link classroom study to experiences in an historic site of high architectural significance, the Frank Lloyd Wright Gordon House. A high priority is to partner with local and eventually regional educators to address real classroom needs and support student achievement of state requirements.

b. Heritage resources will be preserved and developed by an improved understanding of the connection between historic sites and classroom curriculum.  Young citizens and educators will increase their support of these important sites after they experience the site lessons.

c. Real experience at the site and within the building will provide the actual application of the rather abstract lessons of mathematics and sciences.  When students are able to use their education to create and experience the results of their knowledge, they will embrace the understanding and remember it as a useful and valuable part of their learning and future work through school and their lifetime.  Physically handling and arranging the manipulative objects as representatives of the spaces and dimensions they are visiting further cements the lessons taught in the classroom.  There is no doubt in our minds that this will encourage further discovery at other historic sites and museums.  It will give them a reason to seek out and visit other sites to apply their new found knowledge.

d. Silver Falls Public School District Pilot Project will immediately contact up to 150 students from grades 1 and 2, 5 through 7, and 9 through 12.  The materials funded will then continue to be available to the district of 3,600 students, the state of over 500,000 students, and eventually to the region of over one million students as well as adult educators and staff.  Lebanon, Corvallis, Salem Schools and others are already joining in the K-12 field trip class tours.

III. PROJECT DETAIL

a. Collection database records showing manipulative objects obtained for the Gordon House Education Resource Center.  Provide educators with curriculum development activities (learning stations) and measure rate of materials use and students served.  Educational program is intended to be continuous and for the long term.

b. Learning stations at the historic site are developed around Oregon core curriculum standards needs as identified by Oregon professional educators at two introductory workshops.  Class tours will be presented by teachers and teaching assistants with Gordon House staff support.

c. Molly Murphy is the site General Director for ten years and oversees the educational programs including school tours.  She has a Master of Agriculture degree from Oregon State University in Extension Education including adult and youth teaching experience.  Kathryn Collins, retired Oregon elementary educator, and Dr. Peter Scott, retired university engineering professor, comprise the Education Outreach Committee to develop and coordinate the project and the extended planned program for the Pacific Northwest region.

d. Dr. Wally Rogers, Froebel children’s education coordinator at Samara, and Scott Bultman, Froebel USA, are available for expertise at no cost on an as needed basis.  Their expertise and experience using Wright in the K-12 classroom has been of great value as our program for the Gordon House is developing.  Eric Swenson, Assistant Superintendent, provides liaison coordination with the Silver Falls School District, principals, and educators.

Copyright 2009 - Frank Lloyd Wright - The Gordon House - All Rights Reserved