Learning with Architecture
Looking to inspire a student at home? We have Gordon House coloring and activity sheets! Share pictures of your creations and tag @the_gordon_house on Instagram or @theGordonHouse on Facebook for a chance to be featured on our profile.
- Gordon House Coloring Sheet [Printable PDF]
- Gordon House Activity Sheet [Printable PDF]
More Architecture Resources for Students at Home:
- The Architecture Foundation of Oregon has an excellent list of resources for 3rd-5th Grade Students, and you can join the 2023 Design Challenge!
https://www.af-oregon.org/architects-in-schools/#student-parent-resources - The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has a 3D Virtual Tour of Taliesin West and pre- and post- tour activities
https://franklloydwright.org/k12-education/#pre-post-activities/ - Teaching by Design provides a 21st-century platform for educator online resources that are aligned with STEAM goals and emphasize cross-curricular themes:
https://www.teachingbydesign.org/lessons/ - Adult Learners can immerse themselves in this Architectural Imagination course from Harvard:
https://online-learning.harvard.edu/course/architectural-imagination
Have a resource you’d like to see listed here? Let us know! Contact info@thegordonhouse.org
Ready for a Challenge?
Flex your knowledge of Oregon Historic Properties with our crossword puzzle competition. You’ve got answers, we’ve got prizes. For a chance to win, send your completed crossword to info@thegordonhouse.org.
Guided Tours
Guided tours are appropriate for students in grades 3 through post-graduate. These tours can be adapted to your curriculum goals, and are guided by Gordon House staff and volunteers. To learn more, email events@thegordonhouse.org.
Learning Laboratory Experience
Use the Gordon House as a setting to explore, support, and enhance your curriculum in math, art, design, science, history, social studies, and more. Please email events@thegordonhouse.org to coordinate your learning laboratory experience.
- $3 per student K-12, $5 per college student
- For every 10 students K-12, one adult is required; limit three adults for classes of up to 25 students
- One free professor admission for every 10 students
- Limit 25 students per tour
Salem-Keizer CTEC Construction Class Field Trip
CTEC Students Start the School Year Wright
In 2023 the Gordon House hosted 25 students studying at Salem-Keizer 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 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.
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 info@thegordonhouse.org
For more information about CTEC: https://ctec.salkeiz.k12.or.us
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 3 mystery.
- 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.
- Available free of charge.
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.”
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 understanding of geometry and his gift of design. The Froebel Gifts proved to be one of the most important influences in Wright’s development as one of the world’s greatest architects.
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.
Links to other Froebel resources:
Overview of Froebel Gifts and Resource Lists
Froebel Conferences
Other Interactive Materials Available
The following materials are available to educators on loan:
- Nature Pattern Blocks, The Frank Lloyd Wright Collection. Includes laminated activity sheets.
- The Prairie House Block Set, The Frank Lloyd Wright Collection.
- Interactive Timeline of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Life Span Includes: 16 metal stands that can be arranged chronologically to represent Wright’s life span and 6 boxes of significant events mounted on magnets that can be affixed to the stands: World Events, US Events, The Arts, Science & Technology, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gordon House
- Gordon House Coloring Sheet Click on the link above for a printable copy.
- Gordon House Activity Sheet Click on the link above for a printable copy.
- Frank Lloyd Wright Finger Puppet
Books for Children
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 Library 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 purchase 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 available 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
Curriculum Materials in Gordon House Resource Center
The following materials are 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+)
Links to Curriculum Guides and Other Resources for Educators
A Plan for Teaching About Architecture, Grades 6-12
Architeacher
Architecture: It’s Elementary Curriculum (PDF), Grades K-5
Center for the Understanding of the Built Environment
Introducing Architecture, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Grades 4-6.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Windows, Chicago Architecture Foundation, 2002. Grade 5.
Salvadori Center
Teaching with Pentominos, Karen Carlson. Grades 2-5.
Supported generously by:
Safeway Foundation
Marion County Cultural Trust
Marion Soil & Water Conservation District
Individual Donors
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 nurture continued appreciation and care of our historic home, and for enriching the general education of our youth in and out of the classroom.