PBS
Baker's Gold
Students examine art of the California Gold Rush. For this visual arts lesson, students analyze the photography and art of Isaac Wallace Baker. Students also conduct further research about the miners of the era in order to create...
Curated OER
Historic Wilkes County
Third graders visit their local historic buildings. In this local history instructional activity, 3rd graders take a trip to their local Heritage Museum and visit a historic building. While on the trip students take pictures. Students...
Curated OER
My Family - Bookmaking for Social Studies
Students create family histories. In this book making lesson, students take digital cameras home for the night and take family members' photographs. Students use the photographs and text they write about their families to create a family...
Curated OER
T-shirts Build School & Community Pride
Learners explore ways to promote community pride by creating t-shirts. In this community lesson, students utilize a digital camera to take photographs of their hometown and transfer them to a t-shirt. Learners complete a...
Curated OER
Family Interviews: The Grandparent/Elder Project
Students explore key concepts/facts in 20th Century history, develop interview questions, and produce master list of questions that can be used in project. Students then interview grandparent, great-grandparent, or other elder about...
Curated OER
Photographs and History
Students prepare for a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, to preview a photo exhibit (specifically of James Van Der Zee). This lesson could be adapted when viewing any photo exhibit.
Curated OER
Photographic History Timeline
High schoolers view the series "American Photography". They research information to create their own timeline to show milestones in photography. They share their timeline with the class.
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American History Digital Movie
Fifth graders create a video. In this historical presentation, 5th graders watch a video clip of a dramatization of a historical event in American History. Students discuss how this video was put together. Students divide into small...
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Depicting Motherhood in Family Stories
Learners explore triptychs. In this art history lesson, students define the terms "photograph" and "triptych". Learners discuss changes that occur between mothers and daughters and create an original triptych using...
Curated OER
History And Tradition of Seminole Patchwork And Clothing
Students interview Seminole patchwork makers to find out about the history behind patchwork, how patchwork is made, and the meanings of various Seminole patchwork. Then they create some patchwork of their own.
Curated OER
The Holocaust in Art, Photography and Writing
Students explore paintings, photographs and writings about the Holocaust using the internet. Researching the various websites, they will discover different human experiences of Holocaust victims. After researching, students write about...
Curated OER
Family History Through Art
Learners discuss various ways families and communities pass down oral and visual art forms to younger generations. This multi-subject introductory activity prepares students to create a project about their own families.
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ourney Through Time: Art Tells the History of Nebraska
Fourth graders discuss early Nebraskan history. They view and discuss the painting "Sodhouse Family." Students are directed to the artistic elements of the painting, such as the horizon line. They follow a prescribed procedure to create...
Curated OER
Digital Photography Project: My Special Place
Students read an except form, "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros, as a prompt for a family discussion about the history of their name. They use this discussion to express their personality by creating a Power Point slide...
Curated OER
The Photographs of Dorothea Lange
Students examine theme in the photography of Dorothea Lange. For this photography lesson, students analyze photography taken by Dorothea Lange and identify themes that run through each. They design an exhibition that shows how the theme...
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Building A Portfolio
Students gather images that are part of portfolio to be shared throughout the course of one school year. They complete written reflections based upon the images that are attained. The primary sources for the images is using a digital...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Writing the Artist's Statement
Learners read and write an artist's statement. In this artist's statement instructional activity, students read Dorothea Lange's artist statement before writing one of their own about their photography. They examine their own photography...
National First Ladies' Library
The Power of Images in Shaping Ideas
Learners examine the role of photography in recording and sharing history. They view online photos that Life magazine has identified as changing the world, then conduct research on one of the photos. Students create and present an oral...
Curated OER
Breaking the Chains: Rising Out of Circumstances
Study history through photographs. In this visual arts and history activity, students learn to analyze photographs to discover details about life during the Civil War era. Students write journal entries as if they are the...
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Photo Scavenger Hunt
Students celebrate Earth Day by applying what they've learned about studying the natural world. In this Photo Scavenger Hunt lesson plan, students use a digital camera to capture outdoor imagery and to help them understand the...
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Photojournalism
High schoolers choose a historical or present-day event to portray through photographs. They narrate this event with photographs and text to communicate its significance in history or our current daily lives.
Curated OER
U.S. History: Technology of the 19th Century
Eighth graders, working in pairs, explore the technological advances of the 19th century particularly photography. Researching on the Internet, they find the earliest photograph and prepare to use notes to answer questions about the...
Curated OER
Photography in the Holocaust
High schoolers analyze photographs for the use of propaganda. They explore the idea of having photos used as historical documents. Students realize the importance of having photos to tell stories.
Curated OER
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...