Most often, newspaper and magazine readers take a quick glance at photos and their captions. With this YES! lesson plan, you and your students can luxuriate—and pause—to truly understand an image, its message, and why it’s interesting (or not).
Download this lesson plan as a PDF
Ask your students to make sense of the image by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the image offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: lots of chickens, red splotches, stacks of cages, broken and bent cage bars, ropes and metal hooks.
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions: Are those chickens dead or alive? Why are they all lying down? Do these chickens lay eggs or are they on their way somewhere to become dinner? Is this a factory farm? This is a good time to reveal the picture’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the image.
is a painting of more than one hundred egg-laying chickens in a truck en route to the slaughterhouse."
The hens depicted in this life-size painting—having exhausted their egg-laying productivity—will be processed into ground chicken for soup, or cat or dog food. Their bodies can’t sell as whole meat because they are so bruised and scarred.
Artist, activist, and writer Sunaura Taylor was born with arthrogryposis—a rare congenital disorder that is characterized by multiple shortened joints or muscles. Taylor uses a wheelchair and paints entirely with her mouth, “When something is carried between one's teeth, it means it must have, at one point, been staring them in the eye. This is how I learned to see detail, to pay attention to my visual world, to, in effect, fall in love with the act of seeing.” She began painting Chicken Truck in Georgia, where chicken trucks are a common sight. An employee at the chicken factory a couple blocks from her home offered to take photos in preparation for the painting—and was fired the next day for taking them.
According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 452 million hens lay eggs for human consumption, and over 7 billion chickens are killed for meat in the United States each year. Ninety-nine percent of factory farm chickens spend their whole lives in confinement—in cages of 68 inches of space where they are unable to spread their wings or move forward or backward.
EXPLORE :: Sustainable Table Curriculum
VISIT :: Sunaura Taylor
READ :: Humane Meat? No Such Thing by Sunaura Taylor
Learning more about an image leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
The above resources accompany the November 2011 Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Understanding Students with Dyslexia :: Doodling Boosts Learning
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Most often, newspaper and magazine readers take a quick glance at photos and their captions. With this YES! lesson plan, you and your students can luxuriate—and pause—to truly understand an image, its message, and why it’s interesting (or not).
Download this lesson plan as a PDF
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: long curving rope-like things, blue space, brown-white chunky coils, rusty orange slab, patterned texture.
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions: Are those snakes or hoses? Are they wet? Are they alive? Is that blue stuff water? This is a good time to reveal the photo’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
June 2010. “Hundreds of feet of booms—large floating barriers that round up and contain or absorb surface oil—lie linked together, waiting to be placed off the coast of Louisiana to protect surrounding fragile islands. The once-white booms absorb oil, while the rust orange boom contains oil.” Photo by Kris Krug.
Vancouver B.C. photographer Kris Krug snapped this picture from a small motorboat in the Gulf of Mexico in June 2010 to document the devastation caused by the BP oil spill. For Krug, capturing the horrifying impact of our dependence on oil was “my chance to take a little bit of my power back.” To those who feel emotionally overwhelmed by the disaster, Krug advises: “Do something. Action is the antidote to that despair you’re feeling.”
On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig resulted in the continuous leaking of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for three months. Between 53,000 and 62,000 barrels of oil leaked from the gushing wellhead every day. It was the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
The absorbent booms used in the Gulf of Mexico worked like sponges and were filled with straw or hair. One pound of hair can absorb one quart of oil in one minute. Pet groomers and salons all over the country donated hair that was stuffed into nylon stockings to make “hair booms.” About 600,000 feet of containment booms were used during the cleanup process.
Some islands affected by the BP oil spill are rookeries for the Brown Pelican. The Brown Pelican was removed from the endangered species list only five months before the spill, and miraculously remains off the endangered species list due to years of successful protection.
EXPLORE :: YES! Recommended BP Oil Spill Curriculum & Resources
VISIT :: Kris Krug
PHOTO ESSAY :: The BP Oil Spill—photos and audio by Kris Krug
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
The above resources accompany the October 2011 Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Occupy Wall Street :: Staying Positive in Wisconsin
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Most often, newspaper and magazine readers take a quick glance at photos and their captions. With this YES! lesson plan, you and your students can luxuriate—and pause—to truly understand an image, its message, and why it’s interesting (or not).
Download this lesson plan as a PDF (130kb)
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: bread, toast, butter, holes, smile, face.
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions: Is that a smiley face in the bread? Did someone carve the smiley face in the bread or was it really just there? Why is this a big deal? This is a good time to reveal the photo’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
Ruth Kaiser, founder of the Spontaneous Smiley Project, sees smiley faces in everyday life: macaroni salad, playground equipment, tree branches, and sourdough bread.
Photo by Ruth Kaiser, from “Spontaneous Smiley Project” photo essay.
The Smiley Project has thousands of people worldwide photographing and posting the smiley faces they find in everyday objects. If the project had a single message, Kaiser says, it would be: "Pay attention, because all the time we're surrounded by stuff that's really great, and all kinds of reasons to be happy and thankful."
If it’s happiness you’re seeking, it’s not the sunny Bahamas but Denmark where you’ll find it. The University of Leicester study used 80,000 responses from people worldwide to create a world map of happiness. Denmark was number one, followed closely by Switzerland and Austria. The US was 23rd. Zimbabwe and Burundi were at the bottom.
Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits include: increased life span, lower rates of depression, greater resistance to the common cold and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Each American consumes, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year.
EXPLORE :: Project Happiness: 7 Doors Project
LEARN :: 10 Things Science Says Will Make Us Happy
READ :: Is Laughter the Best Medicine?
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
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The above resources accompany the May 2010 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Teaching About Race With Zinn Education Project
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Most often, newspaper and magazine readers take a quick scan or snippet at photos and their captions. With this YES! lesson plan, you and your students can luxuriate—and pause—to truly understand an image, its message, and why it’s interesting (or not).
Download this lesson plan as a PDF. 1mb
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture's title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: bike, corrugated metal wall, blue paint.
After you've heard what your students are noticing, you''ll probably hear the peppering of questions (Where is this? What are those blue spots? What’s so special about the bike?) That's curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo's caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
"A bamboo bike in front of the Bamboo Bike Studio where students build bikes in just two days." In addition to running a bike-making workshop, the program is currently working to develop bamboo bike factories in developing countries including Ghana, Kenya, and Ecuador. Photo courtesy of the Bamboo Bike Studio, Brooklyn, NY.
Humans can walk at a rate of about 2 miles an hour and ride a bicycle 10 miles an hour. In developing countries, where basic resources can often be a day’s walk away, bicycling can boost access to crucial needs and economic and social activities like schools, water sources, and food markets.
Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth and is often considered a weed. It can grow up to 60 centimeters or more in one day. Because of its rapid growth cycle, bamboo is considered to be a sustainable resource.
In 1969 about half of all US students walked or biked to school. Today the number is less than 15%. One quarter of all students ride the bus and over half arrive in private vehicles.
One hundred bicycles can be produced for the same energy and resources it takes to build one medium-sized automobile.
Just 3 hours of biking each week can reduced the risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
Other resources around the image:
VISIT Bamboo Bike Studio
READ Brooklyn's Bamboo Bikes
LEARN Sundance Channel's Big Ideas for a Small Planet: What everyday people are doing to
change the planet.
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
The above resources accompany the January 2010 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Great Lessons on Green Schools and Low Impact Living
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Most often, newspaper and magazine readers take a quick scan or snippet at photos and their captions. With this YES! lesson plan, you and your students can luxuriate—and pause—to truly understand an image, its message, and why it’s interesting (or not).
Download this lesson plan as a PDF. 1mb
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture's title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: Ice, Fishing pole, small person, blue water.
After you've heard what your students are noticing, you''ll probably hear the peppering of questions (What's that kid doing? Is this Antarctica? Why is the ice melted?) That's curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo's caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
“A 3-year-old Inuit girl fishes for Arctic char using the traditional method of fishing line wrapped around a length of wood. Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, 2005.” Photo by Chris Bray.
“The struggle for the environment is the struggle for our own survival.” Richard Navarro, founder of the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology.
The Inuit people, who originated from the arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, Russia, and the United States, traditionally hunted sea animals. Inuit hunting methods include waiting at “breathing holes” in the ice to scratching on the ice with combs to signal seals.
In December 2005, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), an NGO representing around 160,000 Inuit in the Arctic regions, filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, claiming that global warming has affected the animals they eat, the land they live on, and, ultimately, the culture they are struggling to maintain.
Since the 80s, Inuit women have been urged not to breast feed their children due to high concentrations of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Arctic. PCBs are a so called persistant organic pollutants, because they are toxic and do not degrade readily. PCBs were once widely used as coolants and added to many products including paints, plastics, glues, and sealants. These PCBs are spread to the Arctic by atmospheric winds and in the droppings of sea birds who eat polluted fish.
Other resources around the image:
Inuit Fight Climate Change with Human Rights Claim Against US.
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
Inuit activists claim that climate change is a human rights issue. Knowing what you do about their lifestyle, why do you think they feel this way?
In comparison to the Inuit, what do you think about your own connection to land? Is your livelihood dependent on the land or is it primarily for your enjoyment? What about Americans as a whole?
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
The above resources accompany the December 2009 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: How to be a climate hero: small steps to living differently
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Most often, newspaper and magazine readers take a quick scan or snippet at photos and their captions. With this YES! lesson plan, you and your students can luxuriate—and pause—to truly understand an image, its message, and why it’s interesting (or not).
Download this lesson plan as a PDF. 1mb
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture's title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: maze, circular symbol, people standing, shadows.
After you've heard what your students are noticing, you''ll probably hear the peppering of questions (What are those people doing? Why are they standing on the maze? Are they playing a game?). That's curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo's caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
Labyrinth Garden, California Pacific Medical Center. Photo by David Razavi.
Medieval labyrinths have become valued features of healing environments. California Pacific Medical Center led the way in 1997 with a replica of a stone labyrinth laid on the floor of the Chartres Cathedral in France over 800 years ago. Since then, more than 60 health care facilities across the country have installed them for use by nurses, doctors, and patients.
The story of the labyrinth originally began with the legend of Minotaur, the half man half bull creature who was trapped inside and eventually captured by Theseus, king of Athens. Throughout time, labyrinths have evolved into a symbol of a pilgrimage where one can walk the path in hopes that the mind can achieve a sense of calm and balance.
Labyrinths appear in a wide range of places, cultures, and religions, from cathedral floors to medieval gardens to modern day computer and video games.
Mazes and labyrinths may look similar, but they are actually very different. A maze confuses, traps, and excites. A meditative labyrinth, with a single path and no intersections or dead ends, calms, heals, comforts, and balances. It is something that medical patients, health care providers, visitors, and local community members can use and enjoy.
The new, more holistic direction of healthcare looks at the color of walls and waiting rooms; the natural view from multiple windows; and architecture that feels like home. Labyrinths are becoming a familiar addition to this approach.
The benefits of walking a labyrinth depends on what you bring into it. It could be an answer to a problem, a new sense of direction, a release of disturbing emotions, or a cleansing of the spirit. In most cases, people experience a sense of peace and wholeness.
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
The above resources accompany the November 2009 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Teaching What Matters: Preparing Your Students for the Real World
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Most often, newspaper and magazine readers take a quick scan or snippet at photos and their captions. With this YES! lesson plan, you and your students can luxuriate—and pause—to truly understand an image, its message, and why it’s interesting (or not).
Download this lesson plan as a PDF. 1mb
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture's title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: sculpture, red mushroom, brown hills, tent.
After you've heard what your students are noticing, you''ll probably hear the peppering of questions (Does someone live in it? Does it move? What's that stuff on top? What is this?!). That's curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo's caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
One of the art cars seen at Burning Man. There are many art cars, ranging from big to small, which ferry Burners around the Playa. Some run on bio diesel, or other renewable fuels. Other forms of transportation include the bicycle and the good old-fashioned foot. Photo by Catherine Bailey.
Burning Man, founded in 1986 by Larry Harvey, has grown from a simple gathering of 20 in San Francisco to an annual festival where 40,000 people flock to the Black Rock Desert of Nevada in search of community and an outlet for radical self-expression.
Black Rock City, Nevada, home of Burning Man, exists only for one week out of the year. The city has a temporary population of around 50,000 and includes a post office, volunteer police department, restaurants, and hundreds of art installations. When the week of Burning Man is over, the city is abandoned. Most of the structures are burned, and the city returns to its natural state as a bare desert.
Cooling Man, a nonprofit based out of San Francisco, works to offset the carbon emissions of art and cultural-related events, such as Burning Man. This year, Cooling Man hopes to encourage 70 percent of Burning Man participants to offset 1 ton each, making Black Rock City the first "carbon negative city" in the world.
It would take the average driver less than 12,000 miles to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool with greenhouse gas emissions.
Trees can absorb about one ton of CO2 during their lifetime.
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
READ NEWSLETTER: Tools for Teaching Beyond the Classroom
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Download this lesson plan as a pdf. 999k
Step One: What do you notice? (before the facts)
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear:bicycle, beach, ocean, mountains, powder, snow, blue sky.
Step Two: What are you wondering? (thinking about the facts)
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions (What is the white stuff in the pile? And what is the bicycle doing there? Is that water or ice? Where is this?). That’s curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
In this photo, something important is invisible: lithium, a rare metal, is dissolved in the mineral crust of the salt flats. Bolivia’s Uyuni salt flats contain almost half of the world’s lithium. This mineral is now in high demand because it is used in the production of electric cars.
The Bolivian President, Evo Morales, seeks to ensure that the profits from mining lithium are reinvested and shared with the citizens of Bolivia—one of the poorest countries in the world. He requires that international corporations that want to mine lithium pay special taxes and build factories to manufacture car batteries in Bolivia itself. This would create jobs for people within the country, and raise money for schools and government programs. Car companies claim that these policies would make lithium too expensive.
There is also a dark side to lithium. To extract it, the bright white surface of the salt flats have to be plowed and the slurry of salty water underneath the surface has to be evaporated and concentrated in huge pools, into which many toxic chemicals are added. Indigenous Bolivians who live nearby would have their water sources polluted by the saltier, toxic slurry.
Step Three: What next? (jumping off the facts)
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
All the salt workers in Uyuni work for the Colchani Cooperative. Do you know any cooperatives in your hometown? How can a cooperative help its members?
In the past many cultures have used salt to trade. Do you know of other alternative currencies today?
How would mining lithium from the Uyuni Salt Flats benefit the people of Bolivia? How would it hurt them? Who (or what) else would suffer?
If you were the president of Bolivia how would you solve the dilemma: Can you protect the salt miners and their environment and still make litium available to electric car manufacturers?
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
The above resources accompany the Summer 2009 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Help Your Students Make Sense of the Economy
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Step One: What do you notice? (before the facts)
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: plastic water bottles, a huge pile of plastic bottles, Coke and Pepsi plastic bottles, sports drink bottles, a lot of plastic.
Step Two: What are you wondering? (thinking about the facts)
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions (Where did these bottles come from? Where is that giant pile of bottles right now? Do we really drink that much bottled water?). That’s curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
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Step Three: What next? (jumping off the facts)
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
What do you do with a plastic bottle when you’ve finished drinking from it?
Where do you think your plastic bottle goes after you put it in the recycling bin or trash can?
Do you need to drink your water or soda from a disposable plastic bottle? What are alternatives to bottled water?
Do you think it’s more effective to recycle or to cut down on what we consume?
Is bottled water better for you than your local tap water?
How willing are you to use a reusable water bottle?
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
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The above resources accompany the April 2009 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Who Makes Your Food?
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Step One: What do you notice? (before the facts)
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: metal cans of some kind of liquid, a hand, lettuce.
Step Two: What are you wondering? (thinking about the facts)
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions (What’s that liquid? Is this a cafeteria? Whose hand is this?). That’s curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
In Belo Horizonte, all school children eat for free.
In the United States, school children qualify for free or reduced lunch if they meet federal guidelines on household income and family size.
Brazil’s federal food policy on school lunches requires that 70% of the budget be spent on natural or minimally process foods. This means no canned or frozen products, nor packaged cookies. Whole or fresh foods are purchased from local farmers.
Belo Horizonte offers local family farmers choice spots of public space to sell their produce directly to urban consumers. In exchange for the use of these prime locations, the city requires farmers to drive produce trucks to poor neighborhoods on the margins of the city on weekends so everyone has access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Belo Horizonte has three Restaurante Popular or People’s Restaurants that serve 12,000 or more people each day for the equivalent of less than 50 cents a meal.
The cost of these efforts is less than 2 percent of the Belo city budget—about a penny a day per resident.
Step Three: What next? (jumping off the facts)
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
What kind of food does your school cafeteria serve? Where do you think this food comes from? If you had the opportunity to decide your school cafeteria’s menus, what would you offer?
How much hunger do you believe exists in your community? How does your community feed its hungry?
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
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The above resources accompany the March 2009 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Meal Plan: Resources for Teaching and Learning about Food
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Step One: What do you notice? (before the facts)
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: kids, soccer balls, signs with doves on them, men with dark skin.
Step Two: What are you wondering? (thinking about the facts)
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions (What do the signs mean? What country is this?) That’s curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
Step Three: What next? (jumping off the facts)
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
You are organizing an event to promote non-violence. Like the soccer game, what sort of activity would you organize?
What would it be like to live surrounded by violence?
An American organization called September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows have traveled to Iraq and other countries targeted in the “war on terror” in order to meet with victims of the United State’s aggression. They communicate with peace organizations worldwide to spread the word about La’Onf, and the groups organize events together. How could you reach out to victims of war and violence?
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
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The above resources accompany the January 2009 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Happy Teachers, Happy Students?
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Step One: What do you notice? (before the facts)
Ask your students to make sense of the photograph by trusting their instincts of observation and inference. In doing so, the photograph offers possibilities and interpretations beyond a typical reading where the reader glances at the picture to reinforce their interpretation of the picture’s title or caption. Do not introduce any facts, captions, or other written words outside of the image. You may hear: feathers, people pointing, bare stomach.
Step Two: What are you wondering? (thinking about the facts)
After you’ve heard what your students are noticing, you’ll probably hear the peppering of questions (What are they pointing at? Where is this crazy thing happening?). That’s curiosity or wonder—the intermixing of observations and questions. This is a good time to reveal the photo’s caption, accompanying quote, and facts about the actual situation. Watch how the conversation shifts from what they believe to be true to discerning the facts about the photo.
“Happiness is excitement that has found a settling place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.”
E.L. Konisburg, American author and illustrator
Step Three: What next? (jumping off the facts)
Learning more about a photo leads to bigger questions and an opportunity to discuss broader issues and perspectives.
Imagine you’re the photographer: What would your lens capture in this massive pillow fight?
What words come to mind or pop in you head to describe this image?
How might this activity build happiness?
If you were to create your own “happy” activity to bring people together, what would it be?
Thank you to educator Barry Hoonan for contributing to and shaping this lesson.
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The above resources accompany the December 2008 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
READ NEWSLETTER: Sustainable Happiness
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