Real World Learning Objects
The Grapes of Wrath - Using Historic Photos as Literary Symbols
Here's a great resource packet to use with a study of The Grapes of Wrath. Individuals select historic photos from the Library of Congress's American Memory Collection and create a photo report album to represent a scene from John...
Curated OER
Family Animals: Reading Historic Photographs
Students read photographs. For this social studies lesson, students "read" historic photographs and discuss what they learned from looking at the photographs. Students look at the pictures and write a caption.
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Examining Women's roles in education through images from the Appalachian State University Historical Photograph Collection
Eleventh graders analyze images from ASU's Historical Photograph Collection. In this American History lesson, 11th graders examine the achievements of the women's movement.
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Ecology Explorers: Historical Air Photo Interpretation
Students identify and analyze land use changes over time with historic aerial photographs, and classify different land use into categories.
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Journal of Time: A Historical Perspective
Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the era. Each...
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Analyzing Visual of Samson and the Lion
What strategies do historians use for interpreting visuals? This simple worksheet lists four questions that learners can use to approach and analyze historical photographs, fine pieces of art, etc., as well as an opportunity to apply the...
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Piqua Historical Area State Memorial
Here is an outstanding field trip guide to the Piqua State Historical Park in Ohio. If you happen to be an Ohio teacher who is planning a trip to the park with your class, this guide will be invaluable. In it, there are suggestions for...
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Arkansas Photographs as Research Tools
Middle and high schoolers look at historical photos and written materials, and they develop questions which they use to interview an elder in their community. Learners are divided into groups and given sets of historical family photos...
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The Treaty Trail: U.S. - Clothing That Talks: Meaning and Material Culture
Students investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing. In this photograph analysis lesson, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and how it signifies...
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Seeing/Reading Photographs Lesson Plan: An Interactive History Discussion
Students analyze and read historic photographs. In this historic photographs lesson, students explore history and writing by looking at photographs. Students discuss the photographs and produce a written record of the historical photograph.
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
Photographs as History
Imagine being a war photographer embedded in World War I. How do you see your role? How might your photos influence that study of the war? Of history? Class members select a photograph, adopt the perspective of the photographer, and...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why Are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Students investigate the importance of food surpluses to the historical development of urban ecosystems.
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How Do Artists Effectively Relate Historic Events?
Young scholars explore African American migration. In this black culture and history lesson plan, students use a map to identify northern and southern states in which African Americans lived in the 1900s. Young scholars observe and...
US House of Representatives
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
As part of a study of women in Congress, groups analyze historical photographs associated with women's history and with women senators and representatives.
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Old Photographs: Windows to the Past
Young scholars examine several types of old photographs and compare them to photography today. Students search for historical photographs and draw conclusions about the time period from the subject matter. Young scholars explain how a...
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Put Yourself in the Picture Photo Analysis
In this primary source analysis learning exercise, students select historical photographs and then respond to 25 analysis questions that address the senses regarding the photograph they select.
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A Lens into the Past
Explore the history of immigration through photographs. Scholars will view and discuss photographs depicting the culture and lifestyle of late 19th and early 20th century immigrants. They take pictures of current examples of culture in...
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THE GREAT DEPRESSION THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHS
Middle schoolers, investigating and analyzing the period known as the Great Depression, view and critique photographs of the agricultural Acadian community in the St. John Valley. They assess the photographs to make conclusions about the...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Newspaper
One photograph can represent so much more than the images on the film. Eighth graders select a photograph from the Civil War era and conduct additional research based on the subject matter from the picture. Once they complete the...
PBS
1000 Words
A picture really can speak a thousand words—no matter how old! Scholars become history detectives as they learn how to analyze historical photos and evidence to uncover the past. The fun hands-on activity makes history come alive through...
US Holocaust Museum
Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story
Imagine being a child forced from your home and into a concentration camp during World War II. Scholars prepare for a visit to the United States Holocaust Museum by researching the children of the horrible event. They analyze...
Stanford University
Migrant Mother Photograph
A picture often has hidden stories to tell. Looking at the iconic Migrant Mother photography by Dorothy Lange, individuals examine the human toll of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression at large. Other documents, including a statement...
Curated OER
Analysis of Dorothea Lange's Photographs
Students analyze a photo of Dorothea Lange and make connections to its historical context by creating a written and visual response. In this photograph analysis lesson, students analyze Lange's photograph and explain the historical...
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Using Historical Photographs to Help Students "Live History"
Third graders grasp a deeper understanding of historical time periods when vicariously experienceing the situations and circumstances of real-life individuals and responding to them.