Introduction to photo analysis
In classroom or lab
Teacher should select and print out copies of photos or film frames as directed for each activity and distribute to the class. Many photos can be found at Heritage Colorado and American Memory.
Building Observation and Descriptive Skills (Group Activity)--Use a historic photograph or film of a street scene. Give an oral description of the sights, sounds, and smells that surround the scene, presenting evidence from the photograph itself and other sources about the time period. Examine the image to find clues about the economics and commerce of the time.
Predicting the Past (Group Activity)-- Select a historical photograph or film frame. Predict what will happen one minute and one hour after the photograph or film was taken. Explain the reasoning behind your predictions.
Recalling Detail (Group Activity)-- To encourage focus on detail, show a photograph or film frame to the classroom for three minutes and then remove it. Have students draw the contents of the image on a piece of paper divided into a grid of nine sections. Repeat this exercise with new images and watch students' ability to recall detail improve.
Analyzing Photos of Grand and Larimer Counties (Small Group Activity)--Teacher makes copies of a variety of photos of Grand and Larimer Counties, and the metadata (bibiliographic-type information about the photographs). Teacher distributes copies of photos to the students. Students begin to analyze the photos through observation and interpretation using the Photo Analysis Worksheet or the Further Photo Analysis Worksheet.
Students present their observations and inferences to the class. With each discussion, the teacher emphasizes that after initial observation and interpretation, there is research to be done. Students begin that research, beginning with metadata (bibliographic-type information) attached to the photos, and going on to other research options, both print and online. Students begin to assess whether their observations and inferences were similar to the published information.
Introduction to Heritage Colorado and American Memory as sources of photographs, in lab if possible
With student internet access, teacher introduces the Heritage Colorado and American Memory websites using multimedia projector, demonstrating the search and browse capabilities contained therein; upon finding an image of interest, demonstrates the use of the metadata as first step in researching the digital images.
Deciding on Search Terms (Group Activity)--Brainstorm with the class about suitable search terms: town names, land form names, cultural feature names, names of famous people. Students search for materials related to Grand and Larimer Counties, analyzing the photos, hypothesizing about the situations photographed, and verifying their hypotheses through further research.
If students do not have internet access, teacher should find and print copies of images and local photos from the database and prepare to analyze the hardcopy prints with the students, using the Photo Analysis Worksheet or the Further Photo Analysis Worksheet.
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Kathy Ziegler, East Grand School District
