National Endowment for the Humanities
Seeing Sense in Photographs & Poems
Learners analyze photographs and poetry as forms of each other. In this poetry and photography analysis lesson, young scholars use the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz and poetry from William Carlos William to explore how poetry and...
Curated OER
James Hopkinson's Plantation. Planting Sweet Potatoes
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students analyze the photograph that features freedmen planting sweet potatoes. Students respond to 1 short answer question about the photograph.
Curated OER
Visual Learning: Gone Fishing
Students complete visual learning activities using a photograph of a fisherman. For this photograph analysis lesson, students analyze the photograph and the facts within the picture. Students read a quote and caption for the photograph...
Curated OER
Exhibiting Common Threads
Students analyze Dorothea Lange's photographs and identify key themes in her work. In this photograph analysis lesson, students discuss and analyze the images of Lange and identify her themes. Students research the historical contexts...
Syracuse University
World War I
World War I was known for its gruesome battlefields and horrific injuries. Using photographs from a battlefield surgeon's scrapbook, scholars see first-hand what life was like in the trenches. After creating a timeline of the war using...
Stanford University
Great Plains Homesteaders
"Westward, ho!" may have been their cry in spite of the hardships. Using a series of photographs by Solomon D. Butcher of those who ventured west, class members consider what life was like in the 1800s for those who embarked on the...
Center for History Education
Dust Bowl Story
Images of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression are haunting in the suffering they show. Young historians use photographs—both iconic and lesser known—to tell about the human experience during this time. A series of photographs, as...
Stanford University
Chronology: Civil Rights in the 20th Century
Test pupils' knowlege of history and the way civil rights movements unfolded using a series of images. With a primary source analysis activity, scholars practice their chronology and deductive reasoning skills. They use their knowledge...
Library of Congress
The Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment
How did the Emancipation Proclamation lead to the Thirteenth Amendment? Middle schoolers analyze primary source documents including the text of the Emancipation Proclamation, political cartoons, photographs, and prints to understand the...
DocsTeach
Analyzing an Allegorical Statue
Everyone sees art differently. An informative resource focuses on the image analysis of an allegorical statue. Scholars study the photo of the statue and complete a worksheet based on their findings. To finish, academics participate in...
Curated OER
Analyzing Photographs: From Theory to Practice
Learners analyze photographic images and use cameras to document their own life. In this analyzing photography instructional activity, students apply formal analysis techniques to images, then create a documentary of photographic images...
Curated OER
Working in Photographs
Students analyze illustrations of workers in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this social science lesson plan, students examine photographs of workers and identify the types of work that were available in the 19th century compared to the...
DocsTeach
Women of Color and the Fight for Women's Suffrage
Introduce young historians to primary source analysis with a lesson that teaches them how to use a four-step process to analyze a photograph of a 1913 Suffrage Parade. Groups practice the process and share their observations with the...
Center for History Education
Civil War Weaponry and Medicine: A Disastrous Mismatch
Ironically, science was the reason why the Civil War was so deadly. Despite the use of medical practices now considered barbaric—such as conducting surgery with bare, dirty hands—developments in weaponry meant that more men died on and...
Curated OER
What We Eat, Where We Sleep: Documenting Daily Life to Tell Stories
This is not just a New York Time article to read, this is a set of amazing activity ideas all related to the slide shows "Breaking Bread Everywhere" and "Where Children Sleep." Your class can view each show, read about what they mean...
Curated OER
Exploring Photographs
Students explore the basic tools for analyzing images using description, reflection, and formal analysis. In this photography analysis lesson, students analyze a photograph as a class and then in small groups. Students write descriptions...
Curated OER
Photo Analysis Worksheet
In this art worksheet, students use this worksheet to analyze any photograph. Students learn how to study a photograph carefully, dividing it into quadrants and studying each section. Students then make a chart of the people, objects and...
Curated OER
ABC Photo Analysis
For this historical analysis worksheet, students select a photograph to analyze and then record descriptions of the photograph for each letter of the alphabet, a-z.
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
The More You Look, the More You See Photo Analysis
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students select historical photographs and then respond to 9 analysis questions about the photograph they select.
Curated OER
The Photographs of Dorothea Lange
Young scholars research social-documentary photography using Dorothea Lange’s documentary projects. In this photography analysis lesson plan, students analyze examples of photographs by Dorothea Lange and research one or more of Dorothea...
Curated OER
ANTICIPATORY SET
Students are be able to analyze primary sources (photographs and speeches) and write a definition of American Democracy. They are shown a photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. by Ben Fernandez, students are asked what is happening in the...
Curated OER
The See Family
Third graders examine photographs as primary source documents. Students are broken into groups and are given photographs of the See Family.
Curated OER
Document Interpretation Exercise
Dorothea Lange’s photograph, Migrant Mother, and The Paycheck by Rick Nahimias, provide learners with an opportunity to practice their document interpretation skills. After a careful study of the images, class members develop a detailed...