This resource is designed to accompany the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino's book On the Home Front with Valentina created in collaboration with Capstone and written by Claudia Oviedo and illustrated by Juan Manuel Moreno.

In 1940, eleven-year-old Valentina lives in El Paso, Texas, with her Mami, Papi, and two older brothers, Hugo and Kiki. Valentina loves reading and learning, and she hopes to go to college and become a teacher and writer someday. Her brother Hugo was in college, but with World War II looming—and Kiki eager to join the military—Hugo decides to join the National Guard with Kiki. Trying to help her family navigate wartime changes, Valentina takes on a lot more at home. She writes to her brothers, keeps her parents updated on news about the war, and helps with the war effort on the home front—all for a country she’s not so sure accepts Mexican American families like her own. In diary format, the Nuestras Voces series profiles inspiring characters and honors the joys, challenges, and outcomes of Latino experiences.

This Learning Lab helps identify objects in the Smithsonian's collection that could be found in On the Home Front with Valentina. They are grouped into themes for easier viewing.

What is in a collection? It has objects that were used or worn by someone. Examples of objects include articles, photographs, artifacts, and videos. Objects can be anything from a baseball to a piece of clothing. It could even be a space shuttle! Objects help museums tell more complete stories. Museums also take care of objects. That way, future visitors can see them, too.

Each Learning Lab includes a thinking routine. They are from the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Project Zero. These questions can help create discussion around the stories and objects here. This Learning Lab can serve middle school and high school students. Especially if they are interested in Latino culture. It can help with a Spanish project exploring family traditions.

For more information on the Nuestras Voces series, please visit www.latino.si.edu.