A Picture Says 1,000 Words

In Thursday's class we each brought in a picture that we personally felt was connected in some way to social studies. We took a look at each other's pictures in a small group and analyzed them while taking into consideration six questions. The questions we asked ourselves were:

1. What do you see? (These included facts that we could determine just from looking at the picture.)



2. What can you infer?



3. What is the "story" from looking solely at the picture?



4. What or how does it relate to your life?



5. What would you want to inquire about from analyzing the picture?



6. What standards could you meet with this photo?

Personally, I brought in a picture of the devastation in Nags Head, North Carolina from the recent Hurrican Irene that hit the East Coast. I talked with my group about facts that I could gather from simply looking at the picture. I stated that the road had flooded over and that many houses had water underneath them. I could infer that there would be a lot of time needed for clean up in this area. The story that I felt was behind this picture was that some major occurance had caused this devastation. In terms of how this picture relates to my life I reflected on how my family was planning on visiting Nags Head and the Outer Banks in North Carolina next summer in 2012. When I was younger we also frequently vacationed there as well. I wanted to inquire about how many people lost their homes, who would help with clean up, and how would the city rebuild after this horrible event. When thinking about standards in context with this picture I brainstormed that I could talk about economics as many people had damage to their homes while the city had damage to the streets and other buildings. We could also talk about community as people need to work together to help clean up the area. This would also provide jobs for individuals as well.

The use of analyzing pictures can serve many purposes in the classroom. Having students work in groups can increase participation and collaboration. Students could be involved in many different types of writing such as a friendly letter to the people of Nags Head, a persuasive piece to others who can help during these hard times, or a poem about what they see from the picture.

I found a great blog entry involving how pictures by themselves can make such a strong statement. The particular book in this entry talks about earthquakes but we can also use the pictures for social studies. Just like with my picture of the devastation from the recent hurricane, we can use those pictures to go beyond the idea of the natural diaster itself and think about how it will affect our society and history. The blogger adds how including interesting pictures into our teaching can keep our students engaged and excited about learning.

Feel free to check out the effects of integrating pictures in our classroom by clicking on the following link. Notice how the blogger states that pictures can be "powerful". This is such a strong idea as we reflect on how we can incorporate pictures into many of our classroom lessons.

http://blog.richmond.edu/openwidelookinside/archives/2619

In addition, I found another blog by Keith Schoch where he focuses on the Civil War and how pictures can bring out feelings in children and make those times come to life so many years later. The images in the books he selected are very vivid and almost look like they were taken with a camera. The information he provides about the role of pictures in social studies is exciting.

Feel free to check out his blog at the following web address:

http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/nation-divided-exploring-civil-war.html