hist.g3.f.lesson_07
Source Type 2 - The Historic Photograph
- Students apply the Wineburg 4-question routine to a historic photograph.
- Students introduce the framing question - 'what does the photographer choose to show?'
Lesson plan
Warm-up
5 min30-second silent noticing of one historic local photograph projected.
- Set silent-noticing norm
- Affirm one specific noticing
Direct instruction
14 minToday we meet Source Type 2: the historic PHOTOGRAPH. A photograph is a primary source - made by someone who was there. But the photographer CHOSE what to show. They chose where to stand, what to point at, when to click. Today we add a NEW question: what is at the EDGES of the frame? What might be JUST OUTSIDE the frame, that we cannot see? Roxane Orgill's Jazz Day shows how ONE famous photograph - Art Kane's 1958 'A Great Day in Harlem' - was MADE. Behind every photo is a choice.
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Framing is a choice.model Three brick storefronts on the south side of the street. The photographer stood across from the bakery.prompt Look at this 1880s street photograph. What did the photographer CHOOSE to show?
- What does a photographer CHOOSE?
- What might be at the edges of this frame?
M-3-F-HIS-07-A
Photograph
8x10 print of one historic local photograph from 1880s-1960s. Teacher-localized via local historical society or Library of Congress digital collection. Example: a Main Street block in 1900 showing storefronts, pedestrians in period clothing, horse-drawn wagons. Source line: '[Local Historical Society / LOC Prints & Photographs Division], [Date].' Preserved with original tone and grain.
Guided practice
16 min-
In pairs, examine 1 historic photo. Apply MG-3.
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Sketch what might be JUST OUTSIDE the frame and explain your reasoning.
Formative assessment
4 min- What did this photographer CHOOSE to show? Sketch what might be outside the frame.
Closure
4 min- Add 'framing' and 'composition' to Word Wall
- Preview: tomorrow we meet Source Type 3 - oral history
Homework
8 min- With a family member's help, use Google Earth time-slider (MG-13) on one local landmark. Compare today's image with the oldest available.
M-3-F-HIS-07-B
Interactive
Physical / non-image
4-step laminated card 5x7: (1) Open Google Earth Pro; (2) Type the landmark address; (3) Click the clock icon (top toolbar); (4) Slide the time bar from today back to earliest year (~1985). Companion 6-minute screencast captioned and audio-described. Privacy protocol on card: 'Use ONLY teacher-approved addresses (landmarks, public buildings, parks).'
MG-13
Interactive
Physical / non-image
Used in lessons 7 and 18. Children use the school's tablets or computers to apply the Google Earth time-slider routine to ONE chosen local place from the walking-tour list. Privacy protocol: children only use teacher-approved addresses (landmarks, public buildings, parks) - not personal residences. The 6-minute video is captioned and audio-described.
Exercises in this lesson
Differentiation
- Audio-described photo
- Magnification
- Compare 2 photos of the same place from 2 different photographers
- Bilingual vocabulary
- Picture-supported response
- Tactile photo enlargement
- Verbal-only response
Teacher notes
PROTOCOL: the 30-second silent noticing is essential - children practice the historian's discipline of slow looking before talking. Teacher Localization Note: select 1 photo that connects to the layered settlement (e.g., a 1920s Black-neighborhood photo, an immigrant-community photo, a working-class labor photo). Orgill's Jazz Day is the model text for understanding photo-as-constructed-source.