Samantha Matalone Cook, MAT,  is an educator, historian, writer, maker, and speaker. She has almost three decades of experience in education, program development, and the arts and has worked with both small and large organizations to create educational programming that centers and connects the learner to concepts and skills. She has taught in classrooms and in private workshops, mentored other educators, and worked for and with many museums including the Smithsonian. Samantha recently released her co-authored book, Project-Based Learning: Creating a Modern Education of Curiosity, Innovation, and Impact, and she is currently working on a new world history curriculum for Pandia Press as well as a collection of project-based book studies centered on the Harry Potter series. Samantha has two teens and one preteen, all home educated; the oldest of whom has recently fledged into college. To see her past and current projects, including her blog, please visit www.samanthamatalonecook.com.

Art was one of the first forms of non-verbal communication, a precursor to writing, and an important threshold in human evolution. Over thousands of years, art has continued to represent the values, innovation, environment, political and social climates, and even trends of every culture in the world. Including art in the study of history offers a visual source of research and evidence that students can use to support their understanding of times, places, and people. Join Samantha Matalone Cook, MAT, for an interactive overview on how to incorporate more art history into your learner’s study of history, the language of art, ways to analyze art both online and in a museum, extending art history into other subjects, and connecting historical thinking, research, and writing skills to art. Emphasis will be on middle and high school age learners, but creating a foundation for younger students will be discussed. Please bring the tools of your choice to do a small sketch during this session.