Kindergarten Fall History — Family, School, Community Helpers, and the First Sense of Past, Present, and Future
Lesson 2 25 min hist.gK.f.lesson_02

Photographs tell stories — NOTICE / WONDER / ASK with my family photo

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students can apply NOTICE / WONDER / ASK to a family photograph in three steps.
  • Students can articulate that a photograph is a SOURCE — something a historian uses to learn about people.
Vocabulary
photographsourcehistoriannoticewonderask

Lesson plan

Warm-up

4 min

Quick sing-and-do: 'I'm a historian, yes I am, I notice and I wonder' (TPR — point to eyes for notice, point to head for wonder, point to mouth for ask).

Teacher moves
  • Lead the chant twice
  • Pre-teach 'source' by holding up the day's photo and saying 'this photo is a SOURCE'
  • Affirm: 'today YOU are historians'

Direct instruction

8 min

Yesterday we said historians find out about people. Today we'll meet our first tool: the family photograph. I'll show you my own family photo. Step 1: I NOTICE — what do I see? I see my brother, a cake, the number 7 candle. Step 2: I WONDER — what do I want to know? I wonder why we had a cake. Step 3: I ASK — who can I ask to find out? My mom! Now you try with your photo.

Key examples
  • Notice that I AM NOT GUESSING — I am saying what I SEE, then what I want to KNOW.
    model Teacher narrates NOTICE (3 things), WONDER (1 question), ASK (one person to ask)
    prompt Teacher's photo on document camera
Checks for understanding
  • What is the difference between NOTICE and WONDER?
  • Show me with your hand — eyes for notice, head for wonder, mouth for ask.
Sourcework
Source type
family photograph
Routine
NOTICE / WONDER / ASK three-step (anchor chart MG-5); recorded on 3-box sheet
Details
Each child's own home-supplied photograph (or school-archive 'mystery photo' for children without home photos).
Media
MG-5 Chart Physical / non-image

Family-Photo Source Routine anchor chart — three numbered steps with icons: 1. NOTICE (eye icon: 'What do I see?'), 2. WONDER (thought-bubble icon: 'What do I wonder?'), 3. ASK (speech-bubble icon: 'Who can I ask to find out?'). Same routine card duplicated for OBJECT-NOTICE-WONDER with a magnifying-glass icon.

M-K-F-HIS-02-A Chart
24x36-inch poster, three vertical bands. Band 1 NOTICE: large eye icon, sentence 'What do I see?' in 32pt sans-serif, ph

24x36-inch poster, three vertical bands. Band 1 NOTICE: large eye icon, sentence 'What do I see?' in 32pt sans-serif, photo example of a child noticing. Band 2 WONDER: large thought-bubble icon, 'What do I wonder?' in 32pt, photo of a child with a wondering expression. Band 3 ASK: large speech-bubble icon, 'Who can I ask?' in 32pt, photo of a child speaking to a grandparent. Color-coding: NOTICE blue, WONDER purple, ASK green.

M-K-F-HIS-02-B Photograph
A real or staged photograph: a child blowing out a 7-candle on a birthday cake, with three other family members visible

A real or staged photograph: a child blowing out a 7-candle on a birthday cake, with three other family members visible in the background, kitchen setting, daytime lighting. Used to model that NOTICE statements are concrete (cake, candle, brother) and WONDER statements are questions (why a cake?).

Guided practice

8 min
Tasks
  • With a partner, take turns: one child holds the photo, one child holds the magnifying glass and says 'I notice ___.'
    scaffold Sentence frame written on a card: 'I notice ___' (3x)
  • Now switch — partner says 'I wonder ___.'
    scaffold Sentence frame: 'I wonder ___' (1x)
Media
M-K-F-HIS-02-C Manipulative Physical / non-image

8.5x11-inch landscape worksheet, three horizontal boxes. Box 1: eye icon + 'I notice ___' (three blank lines). Box 2: thought-bubble icon + 'I wonder ___' (one blank line). Box 3: speech-bubble icon + 'I will ask ___' (one blank line with a small portrait box for drawing the ASK-person). Sturdy 80lb paper so it survives manipulation.

Formative assessment

2 min
Exit ticket
  • Tell your shoulder-partner one thing you NOTICED and one thing you WONDER about your photo.
scoring Both notice + wonder = mastery snapshot; one only = practicing; neither = re-teach with photo-card whole-group next session

Closure

Moves
  • Add wonderings to the I-Wonder chart
  • Take-home: ask the person from your ASK step about your wondering

Homework

5 min
Tasks
  • Ask your ASK person about your wondering. Bring back the answer to share tomorrow.

Exercises in this lesson

hist.gK.f.his.photo_as_source.ex_01
Look at your family photo. Fill in the 3-box recording sheet: NOTICE three things, WONDER one thing, decide who to ASK.
 complete notice wonder ask · diff 2
hist.gK.f.his.photo_as_source.ex_02
Look at this UNFAMILIAR photo (a 1950s family at a kitchen table). Apply NOTICE/WONDER/ASK. Who would you ASK if you wanted to know more?
 apply routine to unfamiliar photo · diff 4

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • NOTICE/WONDER/ASK picture-icon card on each desk
  • Sentence frames printed at each table
  • School-archive mystery photo for any child without home photo
  • Verbal scaffolds: 'You're noticing — that's about what you SEE'
Extensions
  • Generate THREE wonderings
  • Write the wondering with invented spelling (English K-Fall tie-in)
  • Try the routine on a SECOND photograph from a classmate
English Learners
  • Bilingual NOTICE/WONDER/ASK card
  • Allow noticing in home language with teacher echo in English
Ieps 504s
  • Allow pointing-only response
  • Pair with a high-verbal peer-buddy
  • ASR for dictating wondering

Teacher notes

This is the unit's keystone lesson — every later sourcing move references NOTICE/WONDER/ASK. Discipline the language: when a child guesses, say 'that's a great wondering — write it in the WONDER box.' Avoid affirming guesses as observations. The take-home ASK creates the first oral-history exchange of the term; it's normal for some children to forget — quietly re-pair them with a school photo the next day.