Classroom Activities: 

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Lesson Overview

Overview: Students will use a photograph from the Library of Congress website to generate questions and observations about the picture.
Grade Range: 6-8
Objective: Students will generate a list of ten observations and five questions.
Time Required: One class period of 42 minutes
Discipline/Subject: Social Studies/English
Topic/Subject: War, Military
Era: Great Depression/World War II, 1929-1945
Illinois Learning Standards: Language Arts:
3-Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
A-Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure.
B-Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences.

Social Studies:
16-Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations.
A-Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation. 

 

Materials

Handouts: LOC Primary Source
Analysis Tools: The More You Look, the More You See
PowerPoint Slides: Available on PDF
Library of Congress Items: Mustang on Iwo Jima. Maintenance men of 72 fighter squadron, 21st group upload auxiliary fuel tanks for Mustang on Iwo Jima.

Procedures

1. Put students in groups of four or five.
2. Have the photo on the SmartBoard and have each group with a copy of the picture. PowerPoint is on page 1 and 2 of PDF.
3. Give each group The More You Look the More You See photo analysis sheet
4. Generate a list of ten questions about the primary source image.
5. Discuss as a class.
6. Exchange and answer another groups questions.

 

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on the completion of ten generated questions and class discussion. 

Author Credits:

R.Walsh
Cumberland Elementary