This all-day Lincoln symposium celebrates the 148th anniversary of Lincoln's first inauguration and features six award-winning scholars: William Lee Miller, on presidential morality during the Lincoln administration; James M. McPherson, on Lincoln as commander-in-chief; Douglas L. Wilson, on Lincoln and the power of words; Lucas Morel, on Lincoln and race; Harold Holzer, on Lincoln as President-elect; and Elizabeth D. Leonard, on Lincoln and justice.

The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center is offering a one-day training seminar to examine how educators can use collections to enrich classroom experience. Young children are natural-born collectors. Toys, dolls, coins, or nature's treasures such as rocks and shells appeal to young children and help them understand the world around them. Educators can develop this innate curiosity by creating collections and exhibits that combine literature, art, and objects to introduce children to the magic of museums. Through hands-on experiences and museum visits, this one-day seminar will show educators how to use collections to help children develop skills to sort, classify, observe, and analyze. Participants will learn to enhance their teaching by developing collections that incorporate math, science, history, and language arts.

The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center is offering an innovative training program for museum professionals and early childhood educators interested in using objects to teach young children. Participants will learn how a host of museum objects—including paintings, sculptures, an African headrest, and an old-time chestnut roaster—can help children, as young as two or three, understand their world. The program, featuring hands-on exercises with museum objects, lectures, discussions, and gallery experiences, is designed to help museum educators forge more creative encounters with young museum-goers, and to introduce early childhood educators to the magic of museums. Participants will be encouraged to think expansively about using children's literature, art, and objects to create explorations of thematic topics. By tapping resources in their own communities—resources such as objects in local museums and community centers, statues, public art, bridges, buildings, and more, participants learn to bring the world of museums to young children in their communities.

The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center offers a morning seminar to examine how educators can enrich infant and toddler programs with art and objects. Very young children thrive in an environment that is rich in exposure to everyday objects, stories, and visual images. Age-appropriate books, art prints and objects can appeal to infants and toddlers and help them to understand the world around them. Participants in this seminar will learn how to develop this innate curiosity by creating an environment that supports arts-rich learning in the classroom as they nurture the growth of each child. They will learn how to choose exhibits, have successful outings, and build a classroom community that parents, teachers, and children will love.

Participants in this workshop will learn how to use artworks as primary sources in their classrooms to teach American history and critical thinking. This workshop brings together the best of the Young America and Westward Expansion eras featured in SAAM's school programs. Both activity ideas as preparation for a tour or as stand-alone classroom lessons will be covered.

This workshop will provide educators with resources and ideas for Heritage Month programming. It will explore works by African-American artists such as Joshua Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, and Sam Gilliam. Each teacher will also receive an African-American Artists: Affirmation Today kit for their classroom.

This two-day workshop will bring up to 25 teachers from many western states schools to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Social studies and Language Arts teachers of grades 6-12 with five or fewer years of experience in teaching about the Holocaust are encouraged to apply. Educators from suburban and rural schools in these states are eligible: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY.

Teachers will use the Museum's exhibitions as their primary classroom as they learn the history of this tragic human event. Museum staff and scholars will then assist participants in exploring questions of rationale, content, and methodology in teaching the Holocaust.